Healed From the Pain of Death

You know, yesterday (September 2, 2020), the craziest thing happened to me. I called my Mom just to check on her, you know, to see how she was doing and I didn't think much about the specific day other than the fact that I had not spoken to her in a while. What was strange about the conversation was that at the end she said that she was doing fine and then she asked how was I doing today? So, I thought it was the weirdest thing because we had already spoken on the phone for about 40 minutes. And then it hit me: yesterday would have been five years ago that my father passed away. 

Typically, on that day I would call my Mom to check on her just to make sure that she was okay. So, I told her that until she mention it that it was the first time I had even thought about it at all. At first, I felt bad for not recognizing the day and so after I got off the phone with her, I texted my brother to check on him (we had made it customary to just check on each other). To my surprise, he had the same reaction that I had - until I mentioned it he had not thought of the specific day either! 

This made both my brother and I realize that there had been some healing for us. No longer did the sting of the day of our father's death impact us. It took us five years to get to this point and this is not to say that we will ever think about it again, but this was the first time it had never crossed our minds on the day. This is the beauty about our Lord and the Holy Spirit. Yes, we as humans will grieve and we will deal with human emotions, but in due time God will take away the pain that we've felt due to the loss of a loved one. We will never forget them, but the pain that we felt on that day no longer holds us captive and that is healing only God can provide. I think my brother summed it up best when he said,

...to me I don't want to think about today if I don't have to, don't want to think about the sad thing about daddy but celebrate the happy moments... --Adrian Hall

If you have suffered the loss of a loved one, I know that we heal in our own times, but I would encourage you to think how my brother stated it.  Celebrate the happy moments and don't focus on the sting of the sadness of loss. I guarantee there is more celebrate than the one day of pain.

Be Blessed Folks.

Antoine E. Hall

Read More

Out of Grief and into Comfort

Let's face it. This year, 2020, has been a doozy. It seems like Murphy's Law definitely applies for this year. It is as if anything that you can think could go wrong, seems to have gone wrong up to this point. With shock and awe in society, racial tensions, numerous public figure deaths, family deaths and economic uncertainty, I feel that one of the emotions that may describe many of us at this time is one of grief. Grief can be described as "an emotional reaction to change. It may entail many different feelings or changes in behavior. You may grieve a loss that has happened or one that you know is coming if, for example, a loved one is terminally ill. Depending on how close you were to the person who passed, you will notice varying degrees of grief." (from Mary Elizabeth Dean's article "Learning The Grief Definition Is The First Step To Finding Peace" at BetterHelp.com). I mean, we are human beings and as such we will experience various ranges of emotions. The bigger question is one of how we deal with them. However, no matter what we may be experiencing, there is One who can comfort us at all times. Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us and as we become better, we learn how to help comfort others during times of trials. Yes, these are trying times, but we cannot lose faith and hope in God who knows it all. Again, it has been a crazy year, but the things we are experiencing are not above the power of Yahweh. If we are at the end of the rope, in despair, and believing nothing can fix us, then we are saying that God has a limitation which is far from the truth. Know that He knows where you are and He knows how much you can bear. It is up to us to trust that God's love, mercy, and grace is sufficient enough to get you through these times and as you are built up, you are able to help lift up someone else as well. Be Blessed Folks. Antoine Hall

Read More

Do Not Quench the Spirit

You know, it's funny how the Holy Spirit works. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to read from 1 Thessalonians (I mistakenly stated that it was from 2 Thessalonians) and a part of that included verse 19. Something about that verse stuck out to me among the others, so I intended to come back to it for study.  I mean it seemed so simple and straight to the point, I wanted to double check that I wasn't missing something.

Well, little did I know that the Holy Spirit would bring me back here because of my own thought process.

Back Story

Since we have been back to Raleigh, NC back in 2013, we have been renting our home. We have taken slow steps of getting to build, but it has taken a lot longer than we'd liked.  We have gone into purchased land which we maintain, but we do not live on at the moment.  We've been looking at plans, we've talked to builders, but just waiting for all the finances to line up for us. Again it's goinn slowly that we would like.

Last Night

So, being the High-I (Optimistic, Influencing, Outgoing, Visionary) type personality that my wife is, she boldly says (and I am paraphrasing some):

What month is it? Oh yeah, we need to get started building by next month.

My response?

Well, we will see what this economy does first.

She says, "Oh, forgot about that" and we moved on to other things. Considering that we are in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 and pretty much the US economy has shut down, I am thinking about the residual effect of the economy. You see, I am the High-C (Contemplating, Cautious, Detailed Oriented) type personality and I think about the "down-the-road" scenarios.  For us, while our personality types differ, they help us to balance each other out.  While I might overthink things and have analysis paralysis, she can see above the details and drag me out of being stuck. While she is the visionary and might not think of the details at times, I can add some "meat" around her ideas to help understand the small stuff.  We balance each other out.

Dousing the Fire

Now that you understand our relationship dynamic, you might see my response as "thinking about the details".  However, if you don't look further, you may miss how my response could have squelched her enthusiasm. This very same idea is what is meant by quenching the spirit.  The Holy Spirit is like a fire and He moves and guides us, but we at times put our own reasoning above the movement of the Holy Spirit. By my response, I pretty much ruled out the fact that my wife's bold statement may have been from the Holy Spirit. Despite what the economy looks like or what happens around us, what is planned for us is for us. I may be standing in my own way and putting out that fire of the Holy Spirit to do the good that is meant for my family!

The Conclusion

In Matthew Henry's commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5, I think he summed it up best by saying:

"...it is this Spirit of grace and supplication that helpeth our infirmities, that assisteth us in our prayers and thanksgivings. Christians are said to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He worketh as fire, by enlightening, enlivening, and purifying the souls of men. We must be careful not to quench this holy fire. As fire is put out by withdrawing fuel, so we quench the Spirit if we do not stir up our spirits, and all that is within us, to comply with the motions of the good Spirit; and as fire is quenched by pouring water, or putting a great quantity of dirt upon it, so we must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by indulging carnal lusts and affections, or minding only earthly things."

We all make mistakes, but this is also why it is good to have the humility to admit when you're wrong. I was wrong to assume that my thought process was the right one. I mean, even the best of us have the best intentions, but our plans are many...it is God's plan which must ultimately prevail.

Be Blessed Folks.

Antoine

Read More