Lewis Boren and trusting God
with our loved ones
by Jen Shroder
12/31/11
A Christian contacted me recently, broken about
something she may have said 30 years ago that may have offended the
family of Lewis Boren, an old childhood friend of mine. He was
tragically killed by a great white shark on December 19, 1981 and she
was possibly his last girlfriend before it happened. She said during
her time with him that she “hated Christians” and now that she’s born
again, regrets she didn’t have the opportunity to share the Gospel
with him before he died. She fears he died without Christ.
I offer this as a comfort, not just to anyone
that knew Lewis but to family members of the lost with the same fears.
Who knows whether God opened up the heavens for Lewis to see just
before He took him? God opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant just
before battle (2
Kings 6:16), He opened the eyes of Stephen just before he
was martyred (Acts
7:54-56). Only God knows the exact moment that a man is
ready to come home, and for some reason, God chose my friend at age
22, alone on a surfboard just before Christmas. Maybe there was a
moment, a small window of time, when Lewis looked up to the heavens,
alone on that surfboard, surrounded by God’s ocean and everything in
it, and asked about the baby born in Bethlehem.
More than 20 years later, I led a group of
footwashers to witness Christ at
Renaissance Faires. You see I used to read Tarot cards and dabbled in
astrology before I was born again. Once I realized how much sorcery
grieved God, I went back to those faires and other places and
witnessed Jesus Christ in a unique way, washing feet as we shared the
Gospel. It was an amazing time when I saw God move in so many ways.
I’ve had prophetic dreams since then, but the one with Lewis was one
of the first, and it was, as they say, “on steroids.”
There was no reason for me to think about Lew at
that time. I hadn’t thought of him in years and had no idea his
salvation might be questioned by some. In the dream it was
pouring rain, mud splattering everywhere and dark. I was under a sort
of make-shift tent without walls really. It had 4 thick posts and a
white linen roof, low sloping and one of many in a row. It was dry in
this place and everything felt close. Lewis was there, and he looked
at me and his eyes were so green and translucent like green grapes. I
don’t think I could have told you what color of eyes he had before
this dream, but memories flooded back so strong, I must have known the
color of his eyes when I was in the 4th grade and his sister confirmed
it later. He was smiling when he looked at me with those eyes and I
could tell he meant that smile, and he said “Everything is okay.”
I was flooded with such a comforted feeling, I
didn’t want to leave. There was security there, there was joy. It’s
description sounds bad…dark, muddy and stormy without walls, but it
wasn’t, it was an amazing comforting place. Not because of Lew but
because it was sheltered and the joy of the Lord was there. I woke up
right after Lew said everything was okay, it was short and sweet and
it really affected me at the time.
I think I’ve seen Scriptures that say we sleep
until Christ comes again. Others believe we are instantly in the
presence of God. I don’t know. All this sort of hits home to me
because right now, one of my own sons told me just a few days before
Christmas that he doesn’t believe in God. This is incomprehensible to
me because this son had been directly involved with God in some
things. I used to ask God why his little brother didn’t get to see
some of the things that he saw, and now I know why. His little brother
is firm in his faith, this one needs those seeds to fall back on. I
guess if the Israelites could see the parting of the Red Sea and
rebel, so could my son, and he has.
I want to go further into this and at the end I
think you might understand why. I had a meltdown of a Christmas over
my son rejecting God and I asked God WHY did He miraculously save me
and my sons on a highway when they were little, if either was going to
grow up and reject Him? If we had died that day, my sons would have an
eternal future and this may shock some but I would have rather we
died. Eternity is FOREVER. This life is NOTHING compared to what God
has in store for us!
The answer is simple. God is not done with my
son. I don’t trust my son, I trust God and His timing. And God’s
purposes are not about this life, it’s about eternity with Him. He
knows all futures and outcomes, and even though I don’t get to know
the whys, He has a purpose and a plan, and it is good.
I know this for a fact. I have put my life and
my son’s lives on the line before because I’ve been saved
supernaturally and seen things that few have. I’ve learned not to talk
about the miracles that I’ve seen except on my website. It’s too hard
for people to believe. I wouldn’t believe it either, but they are true
so I have to tell them at times, regardless of how it makes me look.
God IS. And His passion is for us. His passion is for Lewis and our
children and an eternity in the glory of God.
I know that might be hard for a mother to hear,
that our loved ones are better off with Him than with us. My other son
has put his life on the line recently, he just joined the military. I
have my reasons for thinking he might actually have to make the
ultimate sacrifice and I can’t tell you how that feels. But I know GOD
IS and I trust Him, even in this. Not that He will keep my son alive,
but that He has a purpose and a plan and I face that every time he
leaves again. Because there is so much more to life than this short
life. And I am convinced that Lewis knows this too. Because in the
dream Lew's "tent" was covered by white linen which has huge
significance in the Bible, it signifies righteousness; it is the
righteousness of the saints. It was removed when Adam fell and it was
bought back by Christ when He suffered, died and rose again. And I
don’t care what anybody says, Lewis is covered by that right now. And
I can’t wait to see him again and so many others.
Lewis is not over. He is waiting. So are we. God
doesn’t ask us to live on this planet because we are good. He asks us
to live because we still have work to do, or because we still have
time to know Him. Because THIS is not the reward. THIS LIFE is not all
there is. Not even close. In this life there is hardship and pain and
suffering and evil. If we truly understood, we would celebrate when
life here ends. But we can’t. Because we miss those who have left to
stand in His glory. And we get angry at God for taking them.
It’s hard to let go. And as my son prepares for
war, I think I have a valley in front of me that threatens to
overwhelm me. But I trust Him. I hope you can too.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29
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