宽容的母亲（第二部）

（接第一部分：査梅因在马来西亚向基督献身后，她意识到她需要按照第五诫命的指示来尊敬母亲。但是如何才能做到呢？）

我为自己的罪恒切地祈祷了两年，并时不时质疑上帝。

 “主啊，你要怎样改变我？”我祈祷。“请做点什么！”

2018年末，我的两个弟弟妹妹回到了马来西亚，参加家庭团聚。我的妹妹和她的丈夫是从美国回来的，我的弟弟是从泰国回来的。这是一个难得的机会，让整个家庭能聚在一起，因为我们平时都距离特别远。

我弟弟路德比我小11岁，他注意到我和母亲之间的矛盾。在他飞回泰国的那天，他在我的晨祷书上给我留下了一封信。第二天早上我发现了那封信。路德写道：

 “我怀着沉重的心情写这封信。我感谢赞美上帝，你学到了许多真理，这些真理给你的生活带来了积极的变化。看到我的姐姐走在侍奉的道路上，这确实是一种快乐，当我看着你，我感到骄傲和尊敬。荣耀赞美祂！

在我罪恶和不完全的状态祈祷和沉思之后，我鼓起勇气，发自内心的写信给你，谈论一下你和母亲的交往和关系。

我知道我们的母亲是不完美的。她有时会不讲理，让我们感到很紧张。然而，她是我们完美的上帝赐给我们的母亲，去爱，去尊重，去顺服。我很清楚我们的母亲有她的缺点，但她的意图始终是作为一个母亲对孩子的关心。也许我们可能没那么幸运完全理解她为什么这么做。我担心你没有意识到你对我们的母亲有一种冲动的态度，这种态度可能是不合理的，并且表现出不耐烦，自负和骄傲。我还担心，当你周围的人看到你如何对待和谈论我们的母亲时，这可能会成为他们潜在的绊脚石。

再一次，我怀着沉重的心情写这篇文章，为的是批评我所爱的和关心的姐姐。我可能没有很好地传达这一点，但我相信并祈祷圣灵会亲自对你的心说话，给你和解的精神。保重。

充满爱和祈祷，

你的宝贝弟弟。”

读完这封信后，我哭了一个多小时，恳求上帝的宽恕，同时感谢上帝借着弟弟对我说话。虽然我的肉体仍想羞辱我的母亲，但从那天起，我无法对母亲提高嗓门。上帝回应了我的祷告！正如他所应许的，“我要使他们有合一的心，也要将新灵放在他们里面，又从他们肉体中除掉石心，赐给他们肉心。”（结11:19）

我与母亲的脆弱关系通过圣灵的力量得以恢复。我赞美上帝在我离开家之前修复了我们的关系。在收到弟弟的信六天后，我飞往马来西亚西部，参加一所教会组织的《圣经》培训学校。妈妈带我去机场，我给了她一个大大的告别拥抱。这是我十多年来第一次拥抱她。六个月后，我搬到泰国，开始在考拉市的基督复临安息日会国际教会学校担任幼儿园教师。

如果我没有解决与母亲的冲突就离家，可能没人会责怪我。但上帝不允许我所怀有的罪得逞。在我搬到泰国之前，上帝在他的完美时间里创造了我生命中的奇迹，并在我搬到泰国之前让我的罪孽彻底洗净。

来源：本文译自《圣工消息》（社会青年季刊）2022年第一季

Forgiving Mother (Part 2)

 (From last week: After Charmaine surrendered her life to Christ in Malaysia, she realized that she needed to honor her mother as instructed by the Fifth Commandment. But how?)

I prayed fervently for two long years about this sin of mine, and sometimes I even questioned God.

 “O Lord, how are you going to change me?” I prayed. “Please do something!”

My two younger siblings returned home to Malaysia for a big family reunion in late 2018. My sister and her husband arrived from the United States, and my little brother came from Thailand. It was a rare occasion to have the whole family together because we lived so far apart.

My brother, Luther, who is 11 years younger than me, noticed my conflict with Mother. On the day that he flew back to Thailand, he left a letter for me in my morning devotional book. I found the letter the next morning. Luther wrote:

 “It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this letter. I give thanks and praise to God that you have learned many truths that have brought a positive change to your life. It is indeed a joy to see my sister walking in the path of ministry, something that I am proud of and look up to when I look at you. Glory and praise to Him!

 “After praying and contemplating in my sinful and imperfect state, I managed to muster up some courage to write to you from my heart regarding your dealings and relationship with our mother.

 “I understand that our mother is imperfect. She can be unreasonable at times, and she gets on our nerves. Yet, she is the mother that our perfect God has given to us, to love, to treat with respect, and to obey. I know it well that our mother has her flaws, but her intent is always as a mother toward a child whom she cares for. Perhaps we may never have the privilege of understanding fully why she does what she does. I fear that you do not realize that you have an impulsive attitude toward our mother that can be unreasonable and show fruits of impatience, ego, and pride. I fear also that this could be a potential stumbling block for people around you when they see how you treat and speak of our mother.

 “Again, I write this with a heavy heart, and with the intention of reprimanding my sister whom I love and care for. I may not have delivered this well, but I trust and pray that the Holy Spirit will personally speak to your heart and give you the spirit of reconciliation. Take care.

 “Much love and prayer,

 “Your baby brother.

After reading the letter, I wept for more than an hour, pleading with God for forgiveness and at the same time praising Him for speaking to me through my brother. While my carnal self still wants to dishonor my mother, I have not been able to raise my voice at Mother since that day. God answered my prayers! As He promised, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh” (Eze. 11:19).

My broken relationship with Mother was restored through the power of the Holy Spirit. I praise God for mending our relationship before I left home. Just six days after receiving my brother’s letter, I flew to western Malaysia to attend a church-organized Bible training school. Mother took me to the airport, and I gave her a big good-bye hug. It was the first hug that I had given her in more than 10 years. Six months later, I moved to Thailand and started working as a kindergarten teacher at the Adventist International Mission School in the city of Korat.

No one probably would have blamed me if I had left home without resolving the conflict with Mother. But God did not allow my cherished sin to prevail. God, in His perfect time, worked a miracle in my life and allowed this sin to be completely cleansed from me before I moved to Thailand.

Please find the original article at: https://am.adventistmission.org/mqa22q1-26