“As for you , you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler ways of the world.” (Ephesians 2:1-2 NIV)

The story of my brother, Jimmy, has two more sad chapters. As I’ve already said, this is a very hard story to tell; but I feel God compelling me to tell you this story as an example of what can become of someone who knew God but refused His armor…

We pick up the story during a very sad time. My brother had begun to live with my mother in Belgium, and he was quickly going through all of the money my father had left her when he died. I was in the habit of calling my mom once a week, and one particular week when I called, my brother insisted on talking with me. He told me that my mother was bankrupt. “You’ll need to give her all your money so that she can survive,” he said.

All I could do was shake my head. I knew it wasn’t my mother who wanted the money, it was Jimmy. I also didn’t have any money to give him, and when he didn’t receive any money from us, he began to mock us, saying that any money we had was his, not ours. He even suggested that our savings for the university for our kids should go to him. “Your kids don’t need to go to university!”

Only a few weeks later, when I called to talk to my mom, Jimmy answered the phone. He told me our mother was too sick to come to the phone. When the same thing happened the following week, I became concerned. I contacted my uncle who lived in the same town. My uncle went to the apartment and knocked on the door, but no one answered. We contacted a lawyer who suggested contacting the police. In the end, the police had to forcibly break into the apartment. There they found my poor mother locked up in her bedroom. She had a raging bladder infection that had progressed so far that she was nearly septic. In the end, she had to have emergency surgery and intensive medical care to save her life.

When she was released from the hospital, we begged the doctors to declare that she couldn’t return to my brother’s care, but they wouldn’t listen. A few weeks later, we had to send the police–again–to break into the apartment–again–and rescue her from her room–again. She ended up in the hospital–again! She was then diagnosed with fast-progressing Alzheimer’s Disease, intensified by the stress that she had just undergone while in my brother’s care.

This time, the doctor declared that she could not go back home in his care. We proceeded to purchase the services of a lawyer who became her legal power of attorney, handling all of her finances. My mother was placed in a nursing home where we could feel sure that she was receiving the best possible care. Had the police not intervened when they did, my mother would have died of neglect and disease.

My wife and I tried to go to Belgium to see my mom as often as we could. She knew us still, and she was so happy to see us. We were very happy to see that the nurses at the home not only took care of her, but loved her. One of the nurses even said I was her brother and opened her home to us the next time we were in Belgium.

What happened to Jimmy?

He was convicted of sex trafficking of underaged girls and was put in prison. We could only hope that his stay in prison would get his attention. Unfortunately, it did not….

Friends, the saddest part of this story is that all of this was totally preventable. It was my brother’s choice to fall into the devil’s traps. God sent him warnings, he refused to heed them. He refused every piece of God’s armour, and in the end, his poor choices ended up controlling him. This is why we are admonished to, “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” (Eph. 6:10-11 NIV). When we do, we are fully protected against the kinds of traps the devil.

I am sorry to say there is still one more chapter to Jimmy’s sad, sad life. Please join us on Monday for God’s Armament, Part 15.

In His love,
Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “God’s Armament” mini-series, please click here.)