Almost everyone I know is suffering in way one or another whether it be physically, emotionally or spiritually. The pain and hardship is real and is very overwhelming. These hardships come in many forms...grief, marriage difficulties, financial stress, abuse and neglect, illnesses, crippling pain, disabilities, depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol addiction, people are starving and homeless, losing their jobs, homes and families, and many are so hopeless they are taking their own lives because the pain and suffering is to much and they see no other way out, leaving their loved ones behind.. confused and devastated.
Some are suffering because of bad choices they have made, some are suffering because of other peoples choices they have inflicted on them, and some are suffering because they are victims of circumstances which they cannot control..... regardless they are suffering.
We all have questions as to why there is so much suffering and why is God allowing it if he loves us and has the ability to stop it? We wonder if we are being punished. We wonder why he is not helping us or answering our prayers. We wonder what we did to deserve all the pain, suffering and heartache we are experiencing. Sometimes we even blame God and sometimes we even doubt there is a God. God said in the end times that the world will get increasing worse...Matthew 24:1-13,33,34, 2 Timothy 3:1-5. God also says that Satan is roaming around wanting to seek and destroy us. 1 Peter 5:8
All the pain, heartache and suffering really began to overwhelm me and I realized I needed to ask God what it was I was suppose to do to help my loved ones... what was my part in all of this? Through prayer and reading God revealed to me that I could do something and that I needed to remember and remind my loved ones that God is with us always and if we allow Him to He will give us strength, peace and comfort through our storms. He is our Father and He hurts when He sees his children suffering. He is there in our joy AND in our darkest hours. We need to learn to cast our burdens, pain and sorrow upon Him. God wants us to cry out to Him, to trust Him, depend on Him, and to draw close to Him. He also wants to teach us to be compassionate people, to have sympathy and empathy for one another. He wants us to reach out to others and use our experiences, trials and tribulations to help others through their storms. He wants our eyes to be opened to the hurt, pain and suffering that people are going through and help them in whatever way we can. He wants us to stop being so complacent and non-chalent when we hear of yet again another tragedy. He wants us to wake up and quit being so wrapped up in our busy worlds so that we can see all he hurting people around us and do something to help them instead of saying.... "Oh that's so sad and moving on." He wants us to not only say we will pray for them but that we will actually PRAY for them!
We are bombarded with so many people suffering on a daily basis. We NEED to take action in the lives of those that God places on our hearts. We need to be there to comfort, offer a helping hand and a listening ear to the hopeless, grief stricken, and suffering people in our lives. We need to stop just saying we are there for them and really start being there for them in any way we can! We need to encourage our loved ones and build them up. We need to tell them we love them more often and tell them all the reasons why we love them. We need to let them know we appreciate them more. We need to forgive people and quit taking offense to everything everybody does and says. We need to show more grace and compassion to one another. We are all way to hard on each other. We need to start paying more attention to people bottom line. ESPECIALLY OUR OWN CHILDREN OUR SPOUSES AND IMMEDIATE FAMILY!
The suffering is REAL and people are often times alone because we just don't have time to serve and love them as God has called us to do and the cost is high. People are taking their lives because they feel hopeless, alone and afraid. People are anxious, overwhelmed and depressed and we are all to busy to see it. People's marriages are falling apart, they are struggling financially, they are in physical and emotional turmoil and we are not helping them because we are to busy! Satan is reeking havect on this nation. He is killing and destroying us and his goal is to distract us so he can keep us from doing what God has called us to do... which is to love God, love others, to help and serve others, to build relationship with others and truly invest in their lives. We need to know that people care so we don't feel so alone in this crazy world.
Friends and Family its time to wake up! There is a war on for our lives, much is at stake and it is only going to get worse! Let's take a stand against Satan, let's open our eyes to the hurt and suffering and be obedient to God and do something for his children. Let's pray for opportunities and for God to free up some of our time so we can reach out to others and help them. Let's be bold enough to point these people we love to Jesus and assure them and give them hope that someday we will leave this pain and suffering behind once and for all and we will go to a place where there will be no more! Let's tell them about Heaven and how Glorious it will be and that they need to stay focused on the fact we are only here on this Earth for a short time and we will get to spend eternity in Heaven someday with our Lord! We need to take our eyes off ourselves and our problems for awhile and help others and I promise you it will help you in turn as well.
I am truly heartbroken for all those that are suffering. I cry out to God daily for those I love for some sort of relief and healing from it. But am I doing more than just praying for those that are hurting? NO! I don't understand it and often times I am very overwhelmed by all of it. I desperately want to help but don't know how so I will pray for God to show me how and he will if I ask. He places people on my mind and I try not to ignore the Holy Spirit and in that moment I will reach out... because if I don't right then and there I will forget or get to busy and move on. Listen to Him prompting you... if He brings someone to your mind there is a reason. Don't ignore it! Act on it right then if possible!
Lord, please come quickly and in the meantime help us help others see you and trust in you in the midst of all their pain. Help us to serve, listen and be more aware of the hurt, pain and suffering around us and help us to remember you have a plan for our future!
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. In those days when you pray I will listen. If you look wholeheartedly for me you will find me. Jeremiah 29:11
God Bless,
Angie Goucher
________________________________________________________________________________
It really bothers me when people say oh my God or OMG! That can be offensive to a lot of people and it is taking the Lords name in vain. Its one of the 10 commandments and you aren't supposed to say that. Its the 3rd commandment and it says "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." It's in the Bible.... here is the verse: Exodus (20: 2-17) Someone at my youth group said oh my God and my youth group leader said that that was very offensive to a lot of people and that it was very rude to God. I always correct my friends about it because it bothers me, its very sad. Everywhere I go someone always has to be there to say it... no matter where I go youth group, school, sometimes church. Almost everyone does it. Sad to think about but, so true that's the world that we live in. How about we show our creator some respect.
God Bless,
Mariah Goucher.
He Knows...Jeremy Camp
Thank you ladies, very well said;)
ReplyDelete