Psalm 55 verse 22
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
A dear friend who I love is in the throws of watching her granddaughter die of cancer. A mere child of nine, who hasn’t lived a long life but perhaps, has lived a full life by those who she has touched. I’ve never met this little girl in person, but through stories from her grandmother and writings by her mother I feel as if I’ve come to know her. I certainly feel like I better know my friend and her daughter. I certainly feel that my love for these people has deepened too.
The fullness of one’s life cannot be measured in years or time because quality is not temporal. To say that this little girl has been denied a long life is true, to say that her family has been denied is also true. This whole circumstance is wrong, un-natural and completely unfair. It is indeed a test of faith and leaves those of us at the periphery feeling at a loss as to what to say and when to say it. The phone lines and email circuits sizzle, when a crisis comes, with questions of what to do.
My counsel is to stand firm with this family; as the body of Christ and the living God we are called to comfort this family and let them cast some of their burden upon us. Some of us are naturally fearful that when we ask how things are; those questions will bring tears. We are trained as a society that causing another to cry is a bad thing; to that I say no it is the opposite. This family is hurting; they are holding it in when near one another and this little girl. They need friends and the body of Christ to lean on and cry out to. This makes them strong to face what they need to and to carry on in a busy and stressful time.
It is our task to take some of the burden from this family and lift them up in prayer because it is easy when facing crisis day in and out to forget to consciously pray. There are those times of unconscious prayer that happen routinely but I’m not sure those prayers comfort as much. Our prayers for this family embolden us to say to them that we love them, care for them, stand with them and in turn let them do the same for one another.
So, a little girl, whom I’ve never met, who is being tested beyond belief while I stand on the periphery has taught many immense lessons of love, support and understanding. In conscious prayer I lift her family up and in thought and deed I keep her and her family in my focus remembering to reach out to them so that they might be strong enough to face whatever is coming. To that end, have I lost hope; no. There is always hope because there is always God and in the end…something better.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
A dear friend who I love is in the throws of watching her granddaughter die of cancer. A mere child of nine, who hasn’t lived a long life but perhaps, has lived a full life by those who she has touched. I’ve never met this little girl in person, but through stories from her grandmother and writings by her mother I feel as if I’ve come to know her. I certainly feel like I better know my friend and her daughter. I certainly feel that my love for these people has deepened too.
The fullness of one’s life cannot be measured in years or time because quality is not temporal. To say that this little girl has been denied a long life is true, to say that her family has been denied is also true. This whole circumstance is wrong, un-natural and completely unfair. It is indeed a test of faith and leaves those of us at the periphery feeling at a loss as to what to say and when to say it. The phone lines and email circuits sizzle, when a crisis comes, with questions of what to do.
My counsel is to stand firm with this family; as the body of Christ and the living God we are called to comfort this family and let them cast some of their burden upon us. Some of us are naturally fearful that when we ask how things are; those questions will bring tears. We are trained as a society that causing another to cry is a bad thing; to that I say no it is the opposite. This family is hurting; they are holding it in when near one another and this little girl. They need friends and the body of Christ to lean on and cry out to. This makes them strong to face what they need to and to carry on in a busy and stressful time.
It is our task to take some of the burden from this family and lift them up in prayer because it is easy when facing crisis day in and out to forget to consciously pray. There are those times of unconscious prayer that happen routinely but I’m not sure those prayers comfort as much. Our prayers for this family embolden us to say to them that we love them, care for them, stand with them and in turn let them do the same for one another.
So, a little girl, whom I’ve never met, who is being tested beyond belief while I stand on the periphery has taught many immense lessons of love, support and understanding. In conscious prayer I lift her family up and in thought and deed I keep her and her family in my focus remembering to reach out to them so that they might be strong enough to face whatever is coming. To that end, have I lost hope; no. There is always hope because there is always God and in the end…something better.
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