“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Becoming a new creation involves a radical transformation. As C. S. Lewis famously noted, the Christian life is a process of having the natural self changed into a Christ-like self, reaching deep into our most private wishes and points of view.
It is a great encouragement that no one is ever too old or too set in their ways for the Holy Spirit to change their heart. This truth is beautifully illustrated by a story a reader shared on my Facebook page, proving once again that God uses ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary purposes.
“I would like to share my mother’s testimony,” the reader wrote. “My parents, in their 90s, moved into a nursing home when I could no longer physically care for them. After my father passed away six months later, my mother struggled with depression and hallucinations. While many suggested I simply humor her, it took prayer, long talks, and visits to the cemetery for her to embrace the truth. It serves as a humble neighbor testimony of God’s grace.”
“She then began asking about salvation and about my father in Heaven. He had accepted Christ as his Savior. I gave my mom your Heaven book, and it has helped change her life. Before I never really knew if she was saved, but she is now openly telling everyone that Jesus is her Savior. She is telling nurses and residents about salvation and Heaven. She has gone from staying in her room to actively participating in activities and meeting people. I’ve seen the Holy Spirit move in her as she slowly walks the halls with her walker going in residents’ rooms, spending time with them, and covering up someone in bed if their blanket has fallen off.
“My mother at 93 is ministering to others and telling them about Heaven. No one is ever too old to be used by God for His purposes. I had given up on my mom ever changing but with the Holy Spirit in her heart now she is truly a new creation. Randy Alcorn, thank you for ministering through your book to my mother and others.”
After reading her story, I thought about how I often hear (and totally understand) why people say, “When someone has dementia, don’t feel the need to correct the untrue things they are saying. That will only frustrate them.” Many years ago, when Nanci’s dad kept looking out the window and seeing his wife who had died, and other family members and friends, many of them deceased, and saying various people had come to visit him, Nanci and I just nodded. We learned early on that if we pushed back, it would hurt him and make him think we didn’t trust him. So it was only the really BIG things that mattered when we would offer gentle correction.
However, what strikes me about this reader’s story is that she took her mom to her dad’s grave to help her understand he had died. It was then that “She began asking about salvation and about my father in Heaven.”
Suppose she had taken people’s usual advice and not “bothered” her mother with the truth that her husband had died. Would that have meant her mother wouldn’t have asked about salvation in Heaven that led to a relationship with Jesus? Something to think about.
But for sure, let’s never give up on our family and friends who don’t know Jesus, even those with dementia. Let’s keep pointing them to Him and trusting that the Holy Spirit is at work, even when we can’t always see it.
This article originally appeared on epm.org and is reposted here by permission.