Another Loss

I recently lost a nephew. Whenever you lose a loved one, your heart is in pain. This loss was a particularly difficult one. My nephew, Steve, was 49 years old and an addict for over 3/4 of his life. He was found dead behind a warehouse with a bottle of booze in his hand. He died helpless and hopeless. This just breaks my heart....

I spoke to Steve a little over a year ago. I had hoped to get him to come to the Colony of Mercy. He had been to dozens of rehabs over his lifetime and was kicked out of more than he could remember. I shared with him that Jesus was the only one that could set him free from his addiction but he never called me back. He felt hopeless and I guess my words failed to reach his hopeless heart.

My position at the Colony of Mercy is as the Intake Coordinator. I speak to hundreds of people...men who want to come to the Colony, family members hoping to have their dad, husband, son or brother come to the Colony. I share the hope of victory and freedom through Christ; I pray with them, I give them hope from the Word of God. I can help others but my own family members reject the hope of Christ. Perhaps you know the feeling of trying to share the love of Jesus, the gospel message with those who are closest and dearest to your heart only to have them reject it or think you're out of your mind.

Chaplain Jim reminded me that my Savior was rejected by his own family. They thought He was out of his mind.

Mark 3:20-21 "Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'"

How sad, how the heart of Jesus must have been broken...this was His mother Mary, His brothers and sisters and they thought He was crazy! He was fully human and fully God. And in His humanness I can imagine how deeply this hurt Him. I don't dare compare my pain of family rejection to His, but my Jesus knows how I feel.

The attitudes of Jesus' friends and relatives in His hometown even limited what He could do there. I'm sure He wanted to help each one in His hometown, yet couldn't.

Mark 6:4-5 "Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house, is a prophet without honor.' He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them."

Jesus could have taken the rejection to heart and allowed it to affect His ministry. Yet Jesus knew that there was much work to be accomplished in the short time He had. So He continued to spend time with His Father in prayer and receive the strength and power to do His Father's will. So that when His ministry on earth was done and He hung on the cross, Jesus was able to say "it is finished."

I want to be found faithful for the task the Lord has for me as well....but it's difficult and at times discouraging. So I can do no less than follow the example that Jesus left for me. I, too, need to seek the Lord through prayer and spend time with God...I can't do what God has called me to do except for Jesus who lives in me.

Praise the Lord for the promise in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

MaryAnn

MaryAnn and John Kiernan have been married for 35 years, have 2 grown/married sons and are the proud grandparents of two grandsons. She serves at America's Keswick as a Biblical Counselor and also as Intake Coordinator for the Colony of Mercy. Her life verse is Romans 8:28.