As I sit
here on a Friday evening and peruse through the abundance of Facebook comments
and pictures, I am struck with a thought. . . . again. . . of how each of us
live in our own world.
Yes, we live together, and
sometimes our lives do intersect at various moments. But essentially our lives are our own.
Tonight my mom shared with
me a tragic event that happened in a community they (my Dad & mom) once
served in. (Stanley Mission Deaths ) Several years ago, God blessed
them with the opportunity of ministering to people in Stanley Mission. This week, Stanley Mission was rocked with
the information that 3 of their youths committed suicide. Two of these little girls (12 and 14) were
granddaughters of a woman that my parents had befriended years ago. This woman had sought out my parents several
times, calling our home to find out when “John & Gretha were getting to
Saskatchewan”. This week she found out
that 2 of her grand babies died by suicide.
I cannot imagine her grief.
As I contemplated what
this dear Native grandmother must be going through, and as I saw the different scenarios
being played out on my Facebook screen – a precious daughter of friends dying
of cancer, a family enjoying an evening on their acreage, a family divided
because of sin that has caused pain, a family connecting from continents apart
because of the luxury of the internet, a marriage vow broken, a family grieving
the diagnosis of their father. . . . and the list continues - I wondered how it all played a part in MY life.
Each entity unto its
own. Each desperately trying to conjure
up the strength to continue. Each
calling on Jesus to take their pain. And
in these moments of joy and anguish, I again was reminded of the incredible
gift that we have been given of being able to talk to our Creator.
We can go to Him with our
joys, our sorrows, our anguish and our elation.
He is waiting for us to come to Him.
And He is waiting for us to come to Him on behalf of those that – for whatever
reason – cannot even emit the words to God.
I was also reminded that
so many times we see the façade that people present to the “world”, yet their
hearts are breaking. I see the happy
smiles on FB, yet I know the hurts run deep.
I see the family or school pictures and yet I know that beyond the
smile, is a sadness or a desperation, or an anguish that is unspoken. A difficulty unshared.
And so tonight I encourage
you to pray. Pray for your loved ones
close to you. Pray for those that you
know are hurting. But maybe more
importantly, pray for those that don’t appear “to need it”. Sometimes it’s those happy faces that we see
that need prayer the most.
Tonight, I am so grateful
for a Father that knows our heart. That
knows the needs of us that cannot be spoken.
I am grateful for a God that has gone ahead and knows precisely what we
need. But more importantly, I am
thankful for a God that listens. That
hears the anguished cries of each of our hearts. And hears the unspoken cries of those of us
that don’t have the words to speak. And
also hears the cries of the broken hearted, before we bring it to Him, but also
WHEN we bring it to Him.
I encourage you that
tonight, as you sit in the quiet, or as you lay quietly awaiting sleep, listen
to the names God brings to you tonight.
Listen and bring them to God. You
may be the one who is interceding for someone who can’t even speak the words to
our Lord. YOU may be the one who is
praying on their behalf.
What can you do tonight? Who can you pray for tonight?
