The Clergyman Gets Answers

One day when Eliso, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was conducting a Bible study in the home of an interested woman, the woman had unexpected visitors. There at the door, accompanied by his wife, was a clergyman. Eliso had heard that this couple had recently lost their only son in death.

When Eliso offered sincere condolences over the loss of their son, the clergyman and his wife began to cry bitterly. Then, angrily the clergyman said: “I can’t understand why God allowed such a trial! How could he take away my only son? I’ve been serving God for 28 years, doing a lot of good things, and this is how he has repaid me! Why did God kill my son?”

Eliso explained to the couple that God did not take their son. She also discussed such topics as the ransom, the resurrection, and reasons why God allows bad things to happen. Both the clergyman and his wife told Eliso that she had just given them the answers they had been praying for.

The following week the clergyman and his wife returned and joined the woman’s Bible study. Eliso was discussing the chapter “Real Hope for Your Loved Ones Who Have Died,” in the book What Does the Bible Really Teach? The couple eagerly participated in the discussion.

Both of them later attended the special convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tbilisi, Georgia, and they were deeply moved by the outstanding love and unity they observed—qualities that they had long tried to instill in their church members, but without success.