I received a phone message on Saturday evening.
A disturbing phone message.
My brother had died earlier in the day.
I have not seen my brother in over thirty-five years.
Although I have spoken with him on the telephone, it was never a pleasant conversation.
My brother walked away from our family those many years ago. Why he turned his back on me remains a mystery to me to this day. I will never have the opportunity again to speak with him to find out what happened to bring this about.
Truthfully, I probably would never have found out anyway. But now, it is for certain that I will never know.
I have been heard to say, over the past years, that my brother is dead to me. This has been obvious because of his extended departure from my life.
In fact, I would also say, I have no idea if he is still alive.
When I said those words, I had believed at the time that it would not matter to me. Our family had been dead to him; there had been no relationship, no respect, zilch. Why then, should his possible demise ever infringe on my life?
But, it did. It still does.
He was my brother.
My flesh and blood.
He was disturbed and battled many demons.
I do feel badly now. I find myself shifting back and forth between the good and bad memories of us when we were younger.
Sadly, there were not many good memories.
Nevertheless, he was my brother. He was also God’s creature. Created by God; made in the image of God. He was made to do good works.
I had prayed for him sporadically, over the years; but not recently.
I don’t know where he is now. I don’t know if he ever turned towards the Lord.
But, in recent weeks, the Lord had put him on my heart to pray for him. I did.
I prayed for his salvation; I prayed he would come to know the Lord.
It is our prayers that make God work. We need to pray for others, and not rethink it past that biblical truth.
Don’t think about it. Just pray. Just love. Love enough to get just an inkling of the love the Lord has for us…
…before it is too late.
I am thankful that I obeyed the Lord’s prompting and prayed for my brother.
What an honor it would be to be used by God to help bring eternal peace to one of his children that had no peace while in this life.
One who is not prayed for….has no hope.
Hi Judi,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that your brother pasted away. It's good that you prayed for him when you felt it weighing heavy on your heart. My husband has an older brother he hasn't talked to for over 4 years. My husband and his brother are both very strong well, self absorbed people. Always blaming everyone else for their problems. Recently, my husband asked his brother to be his friend on FB and the message back to him was “can you handle me?” Anyways, I pray that someday they can makeup and move on from the past. It’s really hard when we all have small children and are missing out on their life just because of the stubbornness. I just hope that something doesn’t happen to one of them and there is regret. Just hold on to the good memories and know that you will see him one day in heaven. Take Care.
Rachel - Columbia, SC
Hello Rachel ~
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for caring words.
I am so sorry to hear of the problems with your husband and his brother. We are such a stubborn and proud bunch, aren't we? I don't think any of us look in the mirror often enough. LOL
I pray that facebook will be used to bring your husband and his brother back together. Sounds like your husband humbled himself. Good for him! The Lord works miracles when we humble ourselves.
I said a prayer for both your families just now.
God Bless, Judi.