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Choose Life
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Choose Life
Marsha is a Christian, widow, an entrepreneur, and a mother of a 22 year old son. I would guess her to be in her early forties. She was attractive and looked relaxed and happy.
I met her while wondering through an interesting dress shop in a hotel. This dress shop had the very dramatic and unusual clothes and jewelry that always catch my attention. Marsha is the owner of the shop.
I enjoyed talking with Marsha and she gave me suggestions about where else to visit in the city. She was very helpful so I decided to ask her advice. Someone had invited me to the church across the street but I did not know anything about the church. I drove by it and could not find out anything. I was a little uncomfortable and I asked her what she knew about it.
She laughed and said I only should go to that church if I was extremely “charismatic.” She said they had drug a friend of hers up on stage to try to help her find the “holy spirit.” The incident involved touching, shaking, and chanting. That was not quite the worship experience I had in mind so I asked for another suggestion.
She asked if I liked a worship experience that was solemn, stiff, and sang slowly from a hymnbook or one that involved praise choruses, excitement, and hand clapping.
I have to admit she was leading the witness a little. She pantomimed as she described the two churches. It reminded me of when I gave my children choices as a child.
“Do you want to go to that yucky old _________, or do you want to go to that wonderful, fabulous, fantastic ____________.”
Naturally, I chose her second option. That happened to be her church and as she described it, I knew I had found a place to worship. She had described it accurately and it was a wonderful worship experience.
I confirmed that she was a Christian and her entire face lit up. Marsha has been a Christian since she was a child. She said that Christ was the center of her life and was everything to her. She had already mentioned a 22-year-old Christian so I asked if she was married and if her husband was a Christian.
There is a rule in communication. That rule is to ask one question at a time. I confused the “witness.”
She immediately said yes and then laughed. She said she had better explain. Yes, her husband was a Christian. While she still felt married, she was actually a widow. Her husband was killed 17 years ago.
Marsha was a young wife very much in love with her husband. She had a five-year-old son. She was very proud of her husband. He worked for the government and was actually very important to our country. She worried about him because she knew his job was dangerous.
She was unable to give details but the short version of the story is that her husband was assassinated. That is such an ugly word and it startled me. I gasped.
Sadly, she smiled and nodded. She assured me that God knew what he was doing and that she had a very good life. She said much good had come out of it and she was stronger and closer to God as a result.
She said that her husband was working on a big case and got some very dangerous people upset.
The government wanted the three of them to go into the witness protection program but her husband refused. He felt like it was unfair to ask his wife to give up her family and her life.
The government did insist on separating the family for their protection so she was not even with her husband those last few weeks. The people he planned to testify against killed her husband.
Marsha was devastated but determined that this was not going to ruin her life. She had a son who had just lost one parent. She did not want him to lose two parents. She immediately moved away.
She moved away for three reasons.
The first reason was that she was scared. Because they had been separated, there was no fear that she had information that could be dangerous for her. While there did not seem to be any real threat to her life, she was frightened anyway.
Another reason she moved away is that the entire town thought of her husband as a hero. They romanticized the event and talked about it constantly. She was afraid that if her son grew up hearing such dramatic stories about his father, he might decide to choose the life that his father chose. She wanted a different and safe life for her son.
She also knew that if she was going to get over this and be a mother to her child, she needed to get away from a town that would remind her of the situation constantly. She stayed away for several years but eventually felt safe enough to go home for visits. She says her decision was a good one because even now, when she returns home, everyone still talks about her husband.
She moved to a small town and started looking for a job. She was praying constantly about what to do. Her only experience was working retail in the clothing industry so the most she was offered was $8 per hour. She saw that as a dead end for both her and her son and wanted more for them both. God wanted more for her as well.
She had remembered working retail and helping with the buying in the small dress shop where she worked. She knew she had a talent for buying. It dawned on her that she could possibly own her own dress shop.
She probably had some from her husband’s death and the temptation must have been to hang onto it for a safety net. Instead, she decided to put that money to work for her. She found a space in a very old and dilapidated hotel for only $200. This historic hotel was going to be remodeled. After prayer, she decided that she believed the newly remodeled hotel was going to attract a crowd. She said that if she could not make a profit on $200 rent, she should just “go home” anyway.
She ordered her clothes and set up her store. The large hotel did indeed make a comeback and stays very busy. She is very talented and her inventory attracts many visitors. The shop has been very successful. She sells to hotel guests and to the community.
Marsha also got involved in a Christian church. The church helped her deal with the grief she was experiencing as she began her new life. She made sure her son was involved in all of the activities in the church. The church became a family for them both. They still go to church together every Sunday.
Much to the relief of Marsha, her son majored in technology and works with computers. He is a Christian and is soon to be married to a sweet Christian woman who attends the very same church. She is very proud of him.
Marsha said that at the time, losing her husband seemed like the worst thing that could happen to her. What she has found out is that she can depend on God and that together, she and God can do anything.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
NKJV
God had a wonderful life planned for her and all she had to do was accept it. God had things planned for her that she could not have imagined. She was faithful in looking to Him and he revealed His plan to her a little at a time.
1 Corinthians 2:9
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-
(from New International Version)
We are created to give God glory. Marsha’s life glorifies God. What happened to Marsha was very unfair by any set of earthy standards. They were doing everything right. Her husband was on the side of “right.” He had faith that God would take care of them and he yet was killed.
Isaiah 43:7
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
(from New International Version)
How tempting it must have been to lose faith and be bitter. Bitterness could have stolen both her happiness and the happiness of her son. How dark those first days must have been. How she must have cried out to God.
Lamentations 3:5-6
He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.
(from New International Version)
And yet, she had hope. The very act of crying out to God was one of hope. She knew she had to choose life. She wanted life and happiness for her and for her son. While still grieving, she did the footwork. She took action while she waited on God.
Lam 3:19-24
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
(from New International Version)
Grief did not consume her. She knew that God’s great love for her was new every morning and knew He is faithful. She has a full life here on earth and is full of joy. She feels blessed.
She is blessed. She mourned and she was comforted. She was pure of heart and she sees God. She was poor in spirit and she has the kingdom of heaven in her earthly life.
Her husband was persecuted for the sake of righteousness and he is with God in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Marsha turned to God and she knows a peace and happiness she would have never known otherwise. Praise God.
Matthew 5:3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(from New International Version)
If you are facing something difficult in your life, choose life.
Like Marsha, get on your knees. Do the footwork while you are waiting on God.
No matter what has happened or what you have lost, God’s love is sufficient. God has such plans for your life. These plans include joy, peace, and happiness.
Turn to Him and let Him take care of you.
Visit Him in the sanctuary of His love and behold his power and his glory. Learn what Marsha has found out. His love is better than life. Join Marsha and begin to sing again.
Psalms 63:2-5
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Ii will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
(from New International Version)
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