Emphasis Preaching Journal

Don and Margaret had just lost their van. It had been repossessed. Even though Don was working three jobs, he could barely keep up with the bills. Running a household with three children was expensive these days and the extra medicine Margaret needed was killing them financially. Now, without a van he didn't know what he was going to do. He could walk to one of his jobs, but the other two were out of town, and he didn't even know to whom he could turn to get a ride. All Don could think about was ending his life. If he made it look like an accident, Margaret could at least claim the insurance money. Then Don made up his mind. That's what he would do. He'd end it all. He'd go to church one more time to ask forgiveness and then when he was splitting wood he'd let the saw slip and cut his wrist. It wouldn't be hard to arrange things so that no one would find him until it was too late. That Sunday in church all Don could think about was how he'd be up there in a coffin in three days. The idea felt so peaceful to him. The idea of sleeping without having to wake up to the thought of bills put a smile on his face. When he saw Margaret looking at him strangely, he realized that he was grinning from ear to ear. He knew he'd have to be more careful or someone would guess what he was up to and try to stop him. Maybe listening to the sermon would take his mind off the thought of his death. As Don began listening to the sermon he felt as if the pastor was talking right to him. "There are people here who are hurting," she said. "There are people here who are hurting so much that they don't even know how to begin to share their hurt with someone else. But, thanks be to God, they are not on their own. They are not on their own because God has filled them with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Jesus' gift to all those who believe in him. The Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of believers in such a way that streams of living water will flow out of their hearts, touching their lives and bringing them hope." Even as Don was thinking, "I don't want to have hope in life," he felt the ice around his heart start to break. The tears began to flow down his cheeks. He looked over at Margaret and the children and thought, "Maybe if I talk with the pastor, she can help me to bear this burden." Without knowing how it happened, Don began to focus on living. God's Spirit had brought new life into Don's life.
-- Conroy