They say that family members(extended family too) are the hardest to bring to Christ. I don't have a reason why this is true, but it is just that. Hopefully this post and my following blog post this week will help and encourage you if you're dealing with this in your own family.
I am one of 5 kids raised in a Christian home. I am one of 30 grandkids, some not raised in a Christian home, but they all heard the gospel through my grandfather, the preacher, who spent 2 hours a day literally praying for all of us.. Like all kids when they reach that "conquer the world" age of 18, we have a tendency to want to check out the surrounding waters of life. Dabble into what the world has to offer. Not all kids do this, but a high percentage of them will. I've had several preacher kids as friends, all of them tested the waters,but eventually got back to their roots, and what they were taught. And the reason why? Somebody was praying for them.. I am not a parent but I do know the one thing any good parent knows: to pray, pray, and pray for their sons and daughters. We all need to have a prayer attitude, or what I like to call a Prayertitude
It was 14 years ago when I had a spiritual encounter with God that changed my life forever.
I was at my grandfather's funeral, he lived a full life to the age of 95. Not everyone in the family took it as hard as I did, sure, everybody loved him, but they knew he lived a full life and was heading to where he most wanted to be. I really can't explain what happened to me that day, but I'll never forget all the tears I had. Some family members asked what was wrong, I had no explanation for them. I had always frequently visited my grandparents, sometimes more than my siblings. I even got to say goodbye to him 5 days earlier, when they knew his life was getting shorter. I spent alot of my childhood with him, so we were close, but still, I had no answer into what was going on. I had a feeling God had something to do with the way I was feeling.
That night I remember so vividly: I coudn't sleep, I was tossing and turning constantly, punching the pillows in anger for not being able to sleep. As soon as I did actualy doze off, I awoke, the room kind of lit up a little, and sure enough it was God speaking to me. Now up to this point I guess you could say I wasnt as strong a Christian as I should've been from growing up in a Christian home, nor was I practicing going to church on a regular basis. So this was the Big One!!
God spoke, and put me back into place. God pretty much told me the torch is being passed onto you, so what are you going to do with?
On a previous post I had wrote that it took faith to have a spiritual encounter. I think I was mistaken. Because I definitely wasn't expecting this encounter. But it does take faith to accept and receive your encounter and move forward with the action that God expects from you. I don't know why I was chosen to continue my grandfather's work, I don't think he prayed for me any more than the others in the family. But, I have such fond memories of him, and the things I saw God do through him, I must've had to have been there for a reason. Just recently I heard a scripture verse mentioned in church, one I had never heard before:
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works will follow them." (Rev.14:13)
Whatever works in the Lord you do, someone close to you will carry on that torch after you've gone home to be with the Lord. All you need to do is continue in faith with that torch, and don't ever stop praying for your family. Have a prayertitude.
More on how to reach others in your family on my next posting.
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