In Despair, God Reminds Us of Freedom
in Salvation
“‘I tell you the truth everyone who sins is a slave
of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family but a son is part of
the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. But now you are free from the power of sin and have
become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result
in eternal life.’” John 8:34-36 and Romans 6:22 (NLT)
Khen Lim
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Image source: Shutterstock
Her side of their bed is now creaseless and her blanket
remains folded. That side has not been slept by anyone since. Similarly, her
bedside light has not been turned on and neither her reading glasses above her books
and periodicals been touched. Her slippers are still arranged neatly right next
to her side of the bed and the walking stick that we bought her – which she
never did use – remains where it has always been.
Since my mother passed away on October 22 2015 from duodenal
cancer, my father has not been the same, which is understandable considering
that they’d been married since 1957. That’s two short of sixty years together.
In the sixteen months since, dad has taken her absence not in a very constructive
way. It’s difficult to always try to talk him out of it because nagging just
won’t work if the heart’s not there but not being able to say anything purpose
to help him makes me helpless at the same time.
Being a very young Christian
who rarely reads God’s Word, dad’s spiritual immaturity means it’s not easy to
help him see things in the ways of Christ. And so we’re left to try to cope
with dad’s mood swings every day because some days, he’s fine but otherwise, he
can be so enormously difficult that struggle isn’t the word to describe what my
wife and I experience.
