by aud8 37 Replies latest jw experiences
Can anyone out there ease my mind? I am about to disassociate myself and feel so scared. What if I'm making the wrong decision? Will it be worse for me at armageddon? What do I do when I am "out"? I feel so alone. I will miss my only two good friends in the cong. Will Satan have fair prey on me now? Its a very hard thing to do.
Aud8
Just walk away.
Satans always gonna be there to get you no matter what you do. Actually, I think its not Satan you really need to worry about, its other people who hide behind Satan. The ones who cant take responsibility for their own actions. Explains why theres so many demons in the congs...
Armageddon is a VERY long time away... over 1000 years... so dont worry about that.
If the 2 people in the cong are your true friends, then dont worry about walking away. Scripturally, they should NOT shun you.
Dont stay there just for 2 friends. If you dont believe it is the truth, then quit touching the unclean thing and get out of there.
How do you know armageddon is so far away?
aud8,
The end has been preached for over a 120 years. My mother's aunts became Witnesses when the religion was over 50 years old. The four of them have been dead now for many years. My mother became a Witness when the religion was 65 years old. She is dead as well. I was told at the age of 20 when I went to college that the end would come before I graduate. My friends who told me that are grand parents now. One of them is dead. Your sense of urgency is understandable. You are young, but please look at the history of the religion, not only in terms of the lenght of time, but in terms of the effect on people over that 120 year time period.
Armageddon is after the 1000 year reign. AGuest explained it in another thread somewhere.
aud8,
You do feel very alone when you leave, but you can talk to us here, and you can find good people in the world. Believe me, as one who used to feel alone, they are out there.
THe first thing you got to do is realize every religion since the beginning of time has preached about 'the end' and the JW's are no different. Every christian religion has some sort of fear of eternal punishment implanted into their followers to inspire compliance and obediance through fear. If you are still into being christian after you leave then do alot of research on independent reserach on the new and old testament as well as the dead sea scrolls. The beauty of being a human being is freedom of thought. YOu should be able to read the bible and interpret it yourself. The JW's have taught you for a long time that you could not possibly interpret it on your own, that god never intended it for individuals to understand. I don't beleive this is true at all. God made us intilligent didn't he? SO yeah, don't fear armageddon. Salvation is not belonging to a group of imperfect human's little club. Theres alot more to spirituality.
Aud8,
Just continue your praying relationship with God. I know you're thinking you can't have a relationship with God outside of the WTS, but you can! You will find (in time) that the world is full of people that are loving and want to care for you. You will make new friends and they will be closer to you than family. I promise you...just live one day at a time...pray daily...do good to others as much as possible on a daily basis. You're life will be more rewarding that you ever thought possible. It's okay to be scared. I was petrified! I lost ALL of my family and ALL of my friends. But God continued to take care of me - even when I didn't want Him to. Have faith - God will take care of you too!
You are in my prayers! Keep coming back to this board for healing! There are MANY people that have experienced what you're now experiencing. Let us encourage you and learn from our experiences.
Billygoat
I disassociated last November and for me personally it was a huge relief. Leaving friends behind is very difficult, I lost every friend I had - but i felt that I could not carry on devoting my whole life to something that was making me miserable, and my children miserable too. I am managing to build up a whole new group of friends, it's just a case of getting back out into the world and seeing whats out there. Its nice to have friends that like you for who you are, not just because you believe in the same things. I think the true sign of friendship is to accept people for who they are.
As for Satan having fair prey on you - my life has been nothing but brilliant since I left, I have so many good things to look forward to, new opportunities, things that I would have not dreamt of doing whilst being a Witness. Life has become really exciting and I am not afraid anymore.
I truly believe that a good and fair God would look into a persons heart, not at which church he attends.
Aud8,
I am in the same predicament as yourself. There times when I feel that I want to disassociate myself, but then I remember that I have many family and friends who are jws. So why don't u just try to fade away so that you will be able to talk to your friends? That's what I am strving to do. I have done it for almost 2 years.
Whichever course u choose to take, there are many people on here that will not abandon u.
