True Account of A Mother's Love - Soul Choice Ministries

I’d like to share a true personal account of my mother’s love and devotion toward my younger brother. My brother died of cancer at the age of 53.

Losing an immediate family member is a very heart-wrenching matter to endure, as you may know. We all miss him very much. He was a kind person, he had a good heart, and he would do anything for you. He was a hard worker, and he cared greatly for his four children. He had been divorced many years back, which was extremely difficult for him to handle, mainly because of his children.

One day he lost his job in the economic slump. He was a roofer, which is very hard work, especially in Florida where it gets extremely hot in the summer. He was now only getting the really poor jobs that nobody wanted, but he would take them just to make some income. He had always been a respected roofer in the industry, and he was known for his excellent work. It was sad to see him have to take such lowly jobs, with all his talent. He was also getting too old to continue doing such hard work.

He also had very serious injuries, previous broken bones and the like, and the doctor told him not to work any longer. But he was determined to give as much as possible to his family. His children were the pride of his life. He was in a lot of pain now, and it was getting almost impossible to do the work. He normally would come home from a hard day on the roof, and he would find relaxation in a few cigarettes and a couple of beers, which wasn’t a good practice. As it became even more difficult to find work, he became depressed, and started drinking and smoking more and more. He was now in a lot of debt, and he couldn’t earn nearly enough to keep up with it all. His car repossessed, his credit was ruined, and there were unpaid bills everywhere. This went on for some years.

He had to give up the place he lived in, and had to move back in with our parents. He had many disagreements with our dad, which just added to the stress he already had.

My wife and I would talk to him about Jesus over the years. He respected us, and he loved us very much, but he wasn’t interested in God or in giving up his lifestyle. He also wasn’t willing to give up smoking and drinking. He had done both since he was a teen, but now he had gotten much worse. He was a two to three packs per day and a dozen beers every night. We tried to convince him to quit, but he didn’t think it would hurt him. We spent hours explaining just what he could do, but he took none of our advice. We continued to pray for him, and even help him financially at times.

One day he found out he had cancer of the liver, lungs, and throat. We prayed for him every day, and we met with him to explain that God could deliver him from that disease, if he would change and trust Him.

After forty years of my mother praying for him, he did finally confess a prayer with us accepting Jesus into his heart, but he still wasn’t willing to change his lifestyle.

I believe he truly acknowledged Jesus as the Savior and Son of God, and he believed that He died for our sins. He mentally assented to this fact, but it was not a heartfelt acceptance of Jesus. He did not make Him Lord over his life. He was not willing to repent (Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30), which is a willingness to walk away from a sinful lifestyle (John 5:14, 8:11).

My brother wasn’t willing to make a commitment to live for God. He wasn’t interested in going to church, reading the Bible, finding new Christian friends, or getting to know God in any way. He also would not even consider giving up his beer and his cigarettes, his cursing, and the occasional promiscuous encounters with women. We told him that God would help him change and give him the grace and strength to quit, but he was unwilling. He didn’t think it was wrong, and he didn’t think it would kill him.

My mother, who was truly a saint if there ever was one, had been faithful to pray for my brother every day, for many hours a day for over forty years. She stayed with him in the hospital around the clock for over two months. During the last two to three months, he was in absolute agony, and pain medication no longer worked. It was so difficult to see him in such severe pain, and it was especially hard on my mother.

In the hospital, he had lost all strength, and he had no voice as the cancer destroyed his vocal cords. The last few days he went into a coma. After three days, in the coma, he suddenly sat up in the bed, cried out, and said, “Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.” Then he fell back on the bed and died.

God, by a miracle, had him speak out of a coma in order to let our mother know that he had finally cried out to Jesus. He must have seen Jesus and known Jesus loved him and was taking him to heaven. God is so merciful to save him at the last minute. My mom wouldn’t give up, and neither did Jesus. We are so grateful for God’s mercy and goodness.

Every one of us must repent and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It has nothing to do with how good we are. It is based on our relationship with Him (John 11:25–26; Acts 4:12). Good works should follow our commitment to the Lord, but good works won’t save us. God will give every one every last possible opportunity to repent and receive His Son as their Lord and Savior. He is merciful and longsuffering, as the Bible states! It is we who are stubborn and resistant to His Word.