Grieving over someone I knew

[dabro]

His name was Don. He was an atheist which has made me feel alot of condemnation over his passing. He died on Nov 3rd but I didn't hear about it until Jan. Now I have never lost anybody that I knew for yr's and I witmanns but, The last few yr's of his life I started to backslide and I would go to his house and drink. It just makes me feel I didn't do enough to help him. Even tho I know the Holy Ghost is who convicts maybe my planted seed grew before he died. I can't be sure and what I am most grieving for is that he passed away not knowing Christ. I just can't stand the thought of him suffering and it has just been on my mind alot. So is there anyway to deal with this the right way. Rememeber I have never had any one close to me pass away so I really don't know how to deal with it.

 

[Spunkn]

There's no easy way to deal with. Ultimately God says everyone has had a chance to come to know Him before they pass away. No one goes to hell without a chance to know Him.

We cannot argue someone into Heaven. We cannot convince them ourselves. Only God has the power to truly convict people and change their hearts. Though He chooses to use us, it's His power and grace that we are saved. It's a miracle in itself that we ourselves came to Christ. We will probably not realize how big of one it was until we get to Heaven.

We all deserve to go to hell, and yet He chooses to allow us to accept Jesus as our savior and save us from damnation. All of us deserve eternal punishment and yet in His grace and love He allows us to be saved.

It's not your fault if your friend did not accept Christ. Perhaps before he died, he did accept Christ through something he saw in your life. Only God truly knows. The thief on the cross accepted Jesus right before he died, but it has to be sincere and from the heart.

It is not your responsibility to change people's hearts. It's only your responsibility to live in a Christlike way, to bring glory to God through your life. Giving the opportunity you should tell people about Christ and your faith, but what they decide to do with it is out of your hands.

Hope this helps a little

 

[SMacGregor]

Eventually it is important to “Let go and let God” so that we can move on with life.
Let go of the sadness from the experience and move on to become a better, stronger person with a greater sense of purpose in life as a result.

Regards,
Sandy MacGregor