This post is why it is SO π important π to actually practice the faith that we identify with -- starting with reading the Bible.
(You may already recognize this mother because the family is quite popular on social media. This post isn't meant to attack the family, but guide others in the Christian faith.)
A few months ago, this family lost their 9-year-old daughter to cancer. The loss is fresh, they are in pain, and they're trying to navigate their grief in the best ways that they can.
However, the mother shared that a "spiritualist," a medium, reached out to her, letting her know that her daughter is safe and in the "learning stages" of Heaven, but that she should be able to start sending signs soon.
(Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU1YcL-kvLu/?igsh=MWtxMTgydmJ3MWJzbw==)
β οΈ This is EXTREMELY dangerous, and I will explain why... β οΈ
After God helped the Israelites escape Egypt, He gave them the Ten Commandments, as well as a list of other rules for day-to-day life. Of these rules, God explicitly forbade the practices of the occult:
"Let no one be found among you ... who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)
Our Lord is so great that He gave us this rule in advance, because He recognized the dangers it would impose upon us, with the mother proving it with her very own words:
"Her message brought me comfort, and what kind of person would take away comfort from a grieving mother?"
Because YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SEEK THAT COMFORT FROM GOD! π« not mortal men's words...
How can we know that a medium's words are sincere? How many police investigations used mediums, only for their words to be false? Why should loved ones speak through her, when God tells us that HE will answer our prayers so long as we ask wholeheartedly? How do we know that she is speaking to the daughter, and not someone (or something) else simply telling the mother what she would like to hear, so that she will CONTINUE to listen and turn away from God?
These "methods" are not consistent, but worst of all, they cause us to seek comfort from other things, as opposed to our one true God.
"... brought me comfort" -- y'know where else people find comfort while they're grieving? Drugs. Cheating. Gambling. Suicide. Ouija boards! π© Yet, we should simply allow those things because they bring the griever comfort?...
(These were from her Instagram story, which has since disappeared)
Even if we take the "but that's the Old Testament, and our relationship with God was revitalized through Jesus." Sure, what we eat and the fabrics we wear -- not for sins that still turn us away from God. Wearing polyester might not fraught my relationship in the same way that worshipping the dead could... (unless I REALLY loved polyester! π )
We can imagine and think about what goes on in Heaven, but we do not get to attach our "facts" to said idea. Assuming that we know what takes place in Heaven, is dangerous. Attaching our ideas of what angels' roles are, is dangerous. I have seen a man canonize his own son, of his own accord, wrote him his very own prayer, because HE believes that his son has the authority to "intercede prayers to God on others' behalf."
And who told him his son had the power to do that? A medium?! π«π€¦ββοΈ
I do not claim to know the afterlife either. Psalms 91 tells us this:
"For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Psalms 91:10-11)
The imagery in Revelation reveals this:
"And when He had taken the book, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints (God's people)." (Revelation 5:8)
What I DO know, is that grief is perhaps the greatest dividing factor for faith -- it will either completely turn you away from God, OR it can make God the constant Rock in your life. How blessed are those who continue to turn to God in their suffering! π
Do not turn away from Him for the sake of "comfort" -- there will be all of that, and more, with Him in the afterlife. Please, He knew how dangerous false worship would be. Turn to God with your entire heart, knowing that the deceased are SAFE with Him, and continue to give YOUR LIFE, ON THIS EARTH, to Him!! ππβοΈ
A blessed Sunday to you all! πβ€οΈ And thank you for checking out this week's post. I have been dealing with a lot of emotions lately, with our son's upcoming due date approaching (we lost him at 14-weeks-old...). So, seeing something like this really solidifies for me, that it is all the more reason to turn to God. I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! πββοΈ