Answer

I have and I am experiencing what you've experienced at this very moment.   

About seven months ago my mother was diagnosed with a very rare liver cancer that has no known cure.  All doctors involved gave her two to six months to live.  That was nine months ago.   

I am very close to her and have sacrificed much to keep her alive this long.  We travel frequently for specialized treatment in another state that promises only to delay the inevitable.    

I also have had her prayed for by every minister and friend I know.  She's on numerous prayer lists and we prayer daily for her complete healing.   

Daily, she is sick with nausea and continues to suffer throughout her body.  She's not an old woman and was in perfect health before this hit her.    

She served the Lord as a pastor's wife and gospel singer for nearly fifty years and continues to do so even in her state.  She was a faithful wife and mother to her husband and five children.   

She could easily choose to say 'why me Lord' and curse God and die, but has chosen to see what His will in this situation is as long as it takes.  Of course, she would prefer immediate healing and has strong faith that He will heal her.    

It has been painful, devastating, and disheartening at times, but I do expect God to heal my mother and bring her out of this horrible state just as you did.    

But at the same time, she will one day die, like everyone does, whether it be from this horrible disease or something else.  She understands that and so do I.    

What I understand more is that it would devastate my mother if at her death (whenever that maybe) I choose to fall away from the Lord.   

You see, her and my father spent their lives serving and leading others to Christ.  That was their life message to me and I have to believe that that was your mother's life message to you.   

Certainly, God is love, and He proved it by sending His Son to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16-17).  I don't understand why and may never until I get to heaven.  If your mother was a Christian, and it sounds like she was, that was what she lived for as well.   

I nor anyone else can fully understand why there is a hell or a lake of fire but God does.  What we must come to understand is that God has a perfect purpose for everything including these horrible places.    

I can tell that you really loved your mother and loved the Lord very much at sometime in your life.     

I can assure you that God still loves you and the Holy Spirit is still working in your life even though you are away from Him...for it's no accident that you contacted me.    

As a Christian, I gave my life to Christ.  He watches over me and brings things into my life that I don't always agree with Him on in the short-run.  But God has a long-range plan for me, you, and our mother's that stretches into eternity.  It doesn't always meet our approval but it is always for our good (Romans 8:28-29) and the best plan for our lives.  In this world of immediate gratification we fail to see and many times care about God's long-term plan.   

I can assure you God does answer prayer.  He saved me when He didn't have to, and today, He can bring you back into fellowship with Him if you only ask.    

I realize this Sunday is Mother's Day and brings terrible feelings of loss to you.  But the greatest Mother's Day gift you could give your mother today is to get on your knees and cry out to the Lord to help you.  He already knows about your bitterness and pain, and about your disappointments.  He wants to help you if you will only let Him.    

Do it today...it will be the greatest Mother's Day present you could ever give your mother.    

I hope this has helped you and feel free to email me again.  

Pastor Malone