LightGrams
January 22, 2026
Volume 30, Number 4
“Giving Up Too Soon”
The paramedics did their best, but they couldn’t revive 20-year-old Timesha Beauchamp. A doctor pronounced the time of death, but he did it over the phone; he had not examined the patient in person. A little while later a worker at the funeral home to which the “remains” had been delivered unzipped the body bag. Timesha gasped for air and opened her eyes! She was immediately rushed to a local hospital, but she died a few weeks later.
The Detroit suburb of Southfield recently agreed to a $3.5 million settlement for this August 2020 ordeal. Timesha had gone through unimaginable difficulties because of the muscular dystrophy from which she suffered, but being declared dead when her body was still alive had to have been traumatic. The family surely suffered, too, as a result of this mistake.
I was with a patient once who was near death. As I visited with family members, it appeared they had passed; no sign of breathing or movement was present. Then the patient took a deep breath and life continued – for a little while. But my experience demonstrates that someone still living can appear to be lifeless. Of course, I’m not a professional; we were about to call for help.
Do we sometimes give up on others before we should? It’s hard to not make judgments of others, and there are some who appear to have no capacity for change. Shouldn’t we just give up on them and move on?
A man described in Luke 8 was misjudged. When Jesus met him, he was possessed by a legion of demons. Luke reported that “he wore no clothes” and lived among the tombs (v. 27); people in the nearby town had tried to restrain him with chains and shackles, but he broke them with super-human strength (v. 29). Jesus cast out the demons, and the man was transformed. When people came to see what all the excitement was about, they “found the man … sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind” (v. 35). If any had given up on this man, they gave up too soon.
Who would have believed that Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who passionately hunted Christians to turn them from their “heresy”, to ever become a Christian himself? But that’s just what happened, and he became one of the most ardent advocates of faith in Jesus. As he wrote in Galatians 1:23, “They were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.’” How many people pronounced Saul / Paul as “dead”?
Sarah had given up hope of ever bearing a child. But God responded to her skeptical laughter with this observation: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). Less than a year later, Sarah was holding her son Isaac in her lap!
Before you conclude that someone is beyond hope, stop and reflect on these things. With our efforts and with God’s help, people we once thought were unreachable just might come to know the Lord!
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2026, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “Tim@GraceMine.org” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
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