In November, 2004, Cassey Monaghan, 17 attended the funeral of a church member whose son had been killed in Iraq. For reasons unknown to Cassey, the soldier’s mother turned to her then said: “I don’t know why God allows things like this to happen! My son was an outstanding husband, loving father to his children and a model brother to his brother and sisters. Why did he have to die because of the cruelty of a dictator towards his people? They’re not our responsibility.”
Although Cassey and many other church members prayed with the mother, she seemed unable to let go of her anger with God and the resentment held in every fiber of her being. To her, God was not a loving Father. In her grief God has become some thing who was distant, aloof and merciless.
Five days after Easter in 2005. Cassey received a letter from the grieving mother in which she wrote: “During Good Friday, as the priest talked about God’s Son, Jesus Christ, was accused of blasphemy and lying when he did no such acts; was beaten half to death, spit on, mocked; made to walk to the place of His execution while being beaten some more, and then nailed naked to a cross for the sins of the world—sins he never committed. It suddenly struck me that THAT wasn’t right nor was it fair either. Why should Jesus, God’s Son, Who is perfect love and without sin, have died for others’ hatred, sin and ugliness? And yet He did. With that in mind, I cried, told God how sorry I was for hating Him and put all of my hatred up there on the Cross with Jesus. Suddenly, all of my evil thoughts and feelings seemed to melt under His sacrifice for me. Though my son has died, I feel alive again—somehow resurrected---a new person!”
The grieving mother’s letter made Cassey think about all of the people she held grudges against for one reason or another and injustice that she nursed. Such as falsely accusing another girl of taking money from her purse, lying about when her friend was to pay back an old score or cussing out a teacher because he would not give her the “A” grade she thought she deserved in Algebra I
No, life isn’t always fair. That is why Jesus died for us. All things that burden me and you CAN be removed through reconciliation of yourself with Jesus and being born again through His work on the Cross—not what you think you can do!
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