When Words Fail in Hard Times
11:45 AMHeatherIf you're a regular reader, you know that my posts this summer have been less frequent. Part of that is because it's summer and my routine is thrown off a bit. But to be honest, part of it is because I'm sorta out of words this summer. I just have had trouble forming coherent sentences for a lot of reasons. So, I've been asking the Lord to give me his words that would be blog post worthy. Because I don't want to write just to write. I want to blog words that are worthy of your time and energy.
So, I was feeling pretty content on the thoughts that were forming to share today. I had another blog post in mind.
And then, a dear precious friend texted me about an incredibly hard thing she is in the middle of right now.
Somehow my previous thoughts seemed insignificant. And I'm not sure that I can accurately articulate what I want to say for her today, but I feel I owe it to her to try.
Something tells me that she isn't alone in walking through a dark place. Maybe you are also in the pit today.
Feel free to listen in.
To my dear friend-- let me say that words just don't cut it. There are no words for how my heart breaks for your current circumstances. They all feel so trite...so cliche.
It's a nightmare.
I'm so sorry.
My heart hurts for you.
This really sucks.
I'm praying for you.
God won't let you down.
None of it. No words can adequately express either my sorrow for your pain or express any level of comfort to relieve it. I just can't imagine how you feel. How dark this place must feel. But, I'm trying. I'm trying to empathize and put myself in your shoes.
I'd imagine this place feels pitch dark. Scary--because you can't see one minute ahead of you. One step ahead of you. Anything that lies ahead in this darkness. It must feel suffocating and shocking to just be laid so very low in life. It must feel lonely. I think I'd feel abandoned by the God we serve. But I don't want to put words in your mouth.
I simply want you to know that I'm here. Where words fail to ease your suffering, I'll place them into prayers instead. And I want you know that I'm doing just that. I'm storming the Throne Room of heaven on your behalf and I'm pleading with him to pour out healing and hope into your dark places. I'm begging him to break through the darkness with even the tiniest pin prick of His light. I'm reminding him that he is the light and you need that so very much right now, in this place. I'm asking him to be the lifter of your head. I'm asking him to be your strong tower, your refuge, your strength.
I'm asking God to go before you and order every step in this journey so that relief and healing can come. Quickly.
What I'm not asking is for him to be with you. Because he already is. I don't have to ask that. He promises that he is with us. I'm banking on that promise and instead I'm asking him to make his presence so palpable, so real, so tangible that it is felt without a doubt. I'm asking him to put people and words and songs and circumstances so divinely appointed that you know it's him. That you know he is there. Right next to you.
And in the midst of this battle, I'm seeking to be a prayer warrior you can count on. I'm asking our Father -- the Almighty God-- to bind the enemy and all his attacks on you. To be quite frank, if I may, I'm asking the enemy to go to hell. To leave you alone and to be bound by the blood of Jesus from all the ways he is seeking to kill, steal and destroy. I'm telling him clearly that he has no place here. Because you belong to the Lamb who gave it all to make you His.
And when I run out of words, I'm praying Scripture for you. There's power in the words of God. So I'm reciting them back to him.
Lord, be the God who hears the cries of these friends of mine. Just as David said, "In my distress, I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears," Psalm 18:6. Lord, please let my friend know that you do hear. Her every desperate plea.
Abba, let them know you are there with them. Remind them--make it clear-- that you are their protection and safety. For you say, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, YOU ARE MINE. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you," Isaiah 43:1-4.
Yes, Lord--all of that for them. Redeem them. Remind her that she is yours. Let her know you are here in these waters she is passing through. Do not let the rivers sweep over her. Do not let her be burned, do not let her feel the fire consuming her. Remind her that she is precious and honored and loved. And that you, in fact, gave your very Son in exchange for her.
And God, I'm begging you to redeem her life from the pit--to crown her with love and compassion and to satisfy her desires with good things, as written in Psalm 103:4-5.
Dear friend of mine--these are the prayers rolling around my head. Rest assured that the Holy Spirit is prompting me to pray frequently, even in the wee hours of the night, on your behalf. I say that not for any renown of my own...but to let you know that you are so very dear to your God that he is raising up his people to pray on your behalf. He is working and acting to surround you with prayer cover through the body of Christ.
While my words are so inadequate to offer any relief or help, please hear this. I'm in this fight with you. And I'm not going anywhere. I've got your back. No matter how long this journey is, or how dark and uncomfortable. You are not alone. I'll sit by your side silently in the pain. Or, I'll give your distance. Or, I'll bring you dinner. Or hold your hand. Or answer the phone anytime, day or night.
This life is so full of unexpected twists and turns and pains and sufferings. And I just want to remind you. That God intends to right all that is wrong. He has a plan to destroy all that is messed up and to redeem all the years the locusts have destroyed. He promises that at the end of the day, He wins.
Dear friend, He wins. His victory is sure in this war,despite any hard fought battles in between. The enemy WILL BE defeated. God is our Rock and our Redeemer. He is our strength. He is big enough to take all your emotions--whether you feel angry at him, or you are questioning him, or you are wrestling with him, or you are simply sitting at his feet.
He's got you.
Please let me remind you. The God you are crying out to is here, in this dark place--He is the God who spoke the world into existence with a word. He is the God who trumped a giant with a stone in the hands of a shepherd boy. He is the God who brought Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego out of a fiery furnace and they didn't even smell like smoke.
In fact, he stood in the furnace with them.
Just as he stands in this fiery trial with you. He is next to you, whether you feel it or not.
He is the God who brought forth a promised son to an aged man and woman. He is the God who defeated armies of thousands through even the questioning and shaky faith of Gideon. He is the God who rescued his people from captivity, freeing them from bondage that seemed relentless. He is the God who provided for forty years in the wilderness and their sandals didn't even wear out. He is the God who shut the mouths of lions who sought to devour his faithful servant. He is the God who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind and raised the dead to life.
That's your God. He will keep his promises, He will rescue, He will provide, He will protect, He will heal, and He will resurrect the dying places here in this pit. This test can indeed become a testimony some day.
But for today, just feel the feelings. Just keep crying out honestly and genuinely. Just let your friends know how to hold you up. Just remember you are not alone. Just keep taking one breath at a time.
My words fail, dear friend. But it's not going to stop me from praying my prayers. On your behalf.
You are loved to death. By a Savior who gave it all. By a God who hears and sees. You can rest assured that he does hear you. He does see you.
So we shall keep crying out to him. When words fail, the Holy Spirit prays on our behalf. And Jesus lives to intercede, every moment of every day, for you. In this very situation.
Where our words are inadequate, the Living Word is enough.
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