My soul is . . . very vexed; but thou, O LORD, how long? (Psalm 6:3)
When our daughter Wendi became pregnant at age 16, Dan and I found ourselves thrown into a life-situation we were totally unprepared for. A death-grip of the world, the flesh, and the devil had seized our daughter’s heart and began to squeeze the very life out of her. Emotional pain such as we had never experienced before sucked the joy out of life. Peace seemed elusive. Instead, sorrow, fears, and even moments of despair clung to us like smelly wet garments. Nine months later her beautiful boy was born and placed up for adoption. With broken hearts we continued our prayer vigil for Wendi and hoped for a new dawn in our storm.
What a long, agonizing year! Would the experience of bearing a child be Wendi’s wake-up call? Would her heart turn back to the Lord as she faced this heart-rending consequence of her rebellious heart? Ah, no . . . another spiral downward would cast her into a level of drugs and alcohol that nearly destroyed her. Where are you, God? I thought you cared! Please hear our cries. How long, O Lord, how long?
God did answer our prayers. But His timetable was different than ours. Read the rest…
“Oh Lord, Kathy is sure a bad influence on my daughter. Would you please break up their friendship before my girl gets hurt . . .”
O-o-h, that sounds kind of harsh. “Uh, Lord . . . I know Kathy has a rebellious attitude because of her parents’ divorce and because she doesn’t know You. Would you please let us have a positive influence for Christ so she could get saved . . .
“Well, actually Lord, I’m a little confused. You know I’m concerned for my daughter; but I also would love to see Kathy find Christ. Please help me know what to pray.”
Have you ever prayed a prayer like that? I wish I had the proverbial nickel for every time I haven’t known what to pray. It probably wouldn’t make me rich, but it would undoubtedly be enough to take my wife Karilee out for a nice evening and dinner.
Well, God understands our dilemma. Trying to balance the sovereign actions of God with our willful desires is probably the most common problem in our prayers. So God has taken the initiative to help us by assigning a special ministry of prayer to the Holy Spirit on our behalf: Read the rest…
Encouragements
In life there are those who touch our hearts unintentionally. It may be through a seemingly tiny act of kindness shown during a time of need (perhaps it came during that day which threatened to never end, and a kind stranger allowed you to skip in front of her in the grocery line). Or just an unexpected kind word or warm smile.
At times, we all need encouragement.
During the years that I wandered further and further from Christ, He was faithful to touch my heart with many such encouragers. Some were my friends whom I continued to push away by my bad choices. Others were those I silently watched from a distance as their lives portrayed Christ’s humble grace.
Today I would like to bring encouragement to you (each one who unknowingly touched my life personally)—with my thanks.
The Girl Who Said No
It was the summer of ‘85 and I was attending a two-week Christian camp for teens. Boredom had set in. But not to worry, I had devised a plan. I had finagled a one night pass for my friend Cassie (from school) to come stay at camp. I had also handpicked two other friends to come along. Suzi was a childhood friend from Madison and Sydney a party girl from Milwaukee I had just met.
The plan: after “lights-out” I would lay awake for 45 minutes to be sure everyone in the cabin was sleeping. Then I would tap each of the other three in their beds and we would quietly sneak out and down to the water front. Read the rest…
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him (Psalm 42:11-ESV).
A concerned mother of a wayward child recently wrote to our ministry. “Your book gave me hope,” she began as she shared her personal prodigal story. That’s encouraging to our hearts, because the primary focus of our new ministry is to help families of prodigals discover and maintain hope amidst their pain.
So today I speak to the discouraged parent – the tired, the disheartened, perhaps even bitter mother or father – individuals who have prayed earnestly, diligently, for a wayward son or daughter, yet still await that prayer to be answered. Where is God? Does He truly care? Why does my child continue to snub his or her nose at the things we as parents have taught? Does God hear my prayers?
Ah, yes. The journey along side a “wild child” is, many times, excruciating. Hopes turn to disappointment and heartbreak, engulfing the souls – the daily lives – of mothers and fathers who love their child unreservedly.
Oh, how you long for your beloved child to come home to the Savior…to discover purpose and fulfillment in life…to find relief from self-destructive behavior. Oh, how you love!
And oh, how you cringe. How angry you sometimes feel! Yet, how saddened… Your child has not only failed to come home, but things have gotten worse. Perhaps despair has settled into the corners of life. Bitter thoughts flick through your mind. “God, you’ve really let me down. Do you not care?” Read the rest…
