A friend of my is having a very hard time the past few weeks with work, school, and her personal life. She has been confiding in me, seeking advice on her relationship and also about her faith. She feels very hurt for the things that have gone wrong in her life that she can not stop asking why or blaming god. She needs the word of god but at the same time how can I minister to her when I feel the same pain in my life, the same questions, how can I talk with someone about growing in the spirit and the importance of a relationship with god when I feel so empty inside.
I try to picture my future with success, a loving husband, children, and a great relationship with my family but my self deprecating thoughts brings all hope and dreams to a stop. The worst part of these thoughts is that I think I deserve the pain I feel. It is so hard to be a christian, it is so hard to let go and trust in God when you need your faith the most, when the world around you seems to be falling apart. I feel like I am in a roller coaster with ups and downs except that they keep getting deeper and deeper.
I need your prayers to help my friend. She has been such a great friend that I just couldn't forgive my self if I hurt her in any way because of my own weakness. I just really need to be there for her in so many ways. Hearing her thoughts just hurt so much because I have been putting my self through the same thing for some time know.
Victor and his friend are having a bad time. They feel adrift in this world and feel like they have no "right" to cry out to You for help. Show them that through Your love in Christ, You have given them EVERY right to call themselves Your children. Show them that they don't have to be "super-saints" to love and follow after You. The caring between them is witness enough. Thank You, Lord, for showing us all humans through Your word that all that is needed to be Your kids...is to just love You and to love one another. Nothing fancy...nothing extreme...JUST LOVE! Continue to help us all to live and walk in Your love. Rain showers of grace upon Victor and his friend. Bless them both with the knowledge that You will ALWAYS love them; and that that love is never earned, but freely given to us all. For in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
I'm so sorry you and your friend are struggling. I know it can be so hard to trust when it seems like God is so distant. If it helps, I will tell you that there have been several times in my life when I thought God was gone. They were the darkest times of my life, and I didn't think there was a way out of the darkness. Sometimes, the dark times lasted a long time. But in each & every period of darkness, there came a time when God spoke to me. One time was in a sermon, when I finally felt I could walk into a church again! Another time was a song on the radio at some obscure time of the night. The song sounded like it was written by God just for me. Each time when God spoke, it let in a little light, and that was all that was needed for me to begin to trust again.
I tell you this because I have hope that no matter how dark your world seems right now, God is right there with you. And when you are ready, He will tap you on the shoulder and open His arms for you! Just hang in there.
Please know that I'm always available to talk. Feel free to give your friend my email address if she would like to talk to me. I would love to offer her some encouragement too.
I'll be praying for both of you. You know where to find me if you need me!
Blessings,
Lisa
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
