Living in the Last Hour

that place can be different for all of us. Where is that place for you? When do you find yourself in that place? I find myself there when I am overwhelmed with financial responsibilities and no means. Unemployment leads me there. I get to the point where I just don’t want to face another creditor. I tell them I lost my job, but they don’t seem to care. Friend and foe find it easy to blame me for my difficulties, which only serves to make me feel worse about my situation. I have to work hard at keeping creditors at bay, but it gets tiring. Depression, Hopelessness and Powerlessness  are close friends. And they want to pull me into the abyss of despair any time they are close by. They are relentless. They shoot fiery arrows continuously and even the most innocent are used as catapults. When they are around death is a welcomed alternative. It’s not always a suicidal mind… Death is just preferable to dealing with so much strife…a.k.a trial and tribulation. If it were as easy as closing and opening the eyes to find oneself in the presence of the Lord, that would be ideal. Alas, death is not so compassionate. Compassion seems to jump out the window when trials and tribulations are present.

Praise God that we have a Comforter! We have One that gives peace that surpasses all understanding. When we face trials of every sort we are to count it all joy, says James.

^(1:vs.2-3) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

I have a friend that is in that place. Illness lead her to that place. She was doing OK keeping Depression, Hopelessness and Powerlessness  at bay, but an injury got the best of her. Somehow, her injury turned into a staph infection that required hospitalization in ICU. That was two months ago. She is still there. The doctors tell me she should be up and about. The only drugs she is on are antibiotics for the infection. She should be alert, but instead she is unresponsive most of the time. They have to tube feed her and she is on oxygen. Doctors are clueless. When I mentioned the possibility of depression, they quickly agreed. Yet, her depression was not being addressed.

In previous visits she had been somewhat engaged during our visit. We listened to Rich Mullins music which she enjoyed. She had a difficult time talking because she was so weak, but we managed. Today, she was the most unresponsive since she went downhill. I asked her if she had given up and she nodded yes. Because she has been ill for some years, she had talked with me often about going into this dark place where she did not allow anyone to enter.She alienated herself. She had been taking medications for depression but she did not really care for the way they made her feel. So, today I asked her if she was in that place, she nodded yes. I asked her if she believed Jesus was with her and she nodded yes. That our God is an awesome God, she lit up a smile. At this point, as much as she wants to live, she is tired of being in this sort of vegetative state. She is feeling abandoned, alone and tired. I told her she is in that place between life and death. Kinda like that place between awake and asleep. She wants to live, but death seems much more inviting. I prayed for her and she seemed to take it all in. For brief moments she was with me. Even her nurse noticed her come to life, but it did not last long. She quickly withdrew back into that dark place. She was too weak to hold on. I sat with her for two hours and maybe she spent 15 minutes with me. In that time, she admitted she was depressed. She felt abandoned. She was in that dark place and could not pull herself out. I prayed.

I told her I was going to alert all believers to pray for her, to do battle for her, because she could not do it alone.

The Lord is my Shepherd…

2 Chronicles 20:15 – And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle [is] not yours, but God’s.

Ephesians 6:12 – For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

Will you pray with me for my friend Guadalupe Lacy?

Scripture reference welcomed.  Thank you for reading. Be blessed.