✉︎ 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 ✉︎

Suffering With Loss

What does the Bible say about struggling? 
Here are a few examples:

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10

"Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God."
Philippians 2:17

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Before everyone began schooling and working from home, I was in a club at my school. It was a club for Christians and I was blessed to have an option to worship at a public school. One morning when we gathered together, there was a young man who spoke for us. He spoke about loss, and what losing someone really means. 

  "When we face struggles, we often wonder, why? Years from now, though, we may realize that it was those struggles that taught us something we could not have otherwise learned- that there was a purpose in our pain. 
   God's purpose is greater than your pain, and he has a greater purpose than your problems."
     ~Everyday Blessings: Max Lucado~

The boy who spoke to us, let's call him Liam, helped me realize something. He told a story of how when he was younger, he had a cousin that he was really close with. She was Liam's best friend; they were inseparable. But one day she was diagnosed with an illness, and later passed away. It made Liam angry and confused, wondering why she had to be snatched from his life. The girl wasn't much older than he was, but her life got cut short and Liam didn't understand why. 

He was confused on his suffering and the purpose of it. He wanted to believe there was a reason he was going through the loss of a best friend. Losing someone is hard, especially when the pain seems eternal. Years later, he figured out why he was going through such a hard time.

There was a little girl in Liam's Sunday school class who needed advice on her cousin who had recently passed away. The young girl went to Liam for support and he was able to give it to her. He explained to the little girl that he had once been in that same situation and gave the girl hope for better. Liam told us about how losing someone is hard enough as it it, but when you feel alone it's even harder. He was able to be the support that little girl needed. Liam told the little girl that it's not eternal and that the pain will subside. 

Liam suffered the loss of a loved one so that in the future, he would be able to help another overcome the same circumstance.

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  "Ever feel as if you need to get away? So did Jesus. (Mark 1:35)
Ever have so many demands that you can't stop for lunch? He can relate. (Mark 6:31)
Do your friends ever let you down? When Christ needed help, his friends dozed off. (Matthew 26:40)
When you turn to Him for help, He runs to help. Why? He knows how you feel. He's been there... so go to Him."
    ~Everyday Blessings: Max Lucado~

Whatever struggles you may be facing, God wants to help. Let him.

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Let's take a moment to say a quick prayer:

God of love and mercy, embrace all those whose hearts today overflowed with hurt, unanswered questions and such sense of loss. Grant them space to express their tears. Hold them close through the coming days.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

__Elle Blane