The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

A seven year old boy at work the other day got his heart broken when kids wouldn’t play the game he wanted to play. He curled up in a ball against the wall and cried and yelled, “It’s not supposed to be this way. It’s not supposed to be this way. This shouldn’t be happening.” Meanwhile, a 10 year old girl was crying silently at a table, head down, tears covering her hands and Kleenex dotting the ground all around her. Her heart had been broken. Her mom’s boyfriend raped her and now she was in foster care, separated from her brother and mother. She stayed in this position for 2 and 1/2 hours. While she didn’t say a word, wouldn’t even respond to me at all, I would bet the cry of her heart was “this shouldn’t be happening. It’s not supposed to be this way.”

I thought of all the times I have curled up in a ball and cried and trying to wrap my mind around some awful truth with those same sentiments going through my mind.  It’s not supposed to be this way.  Maybe you’ve been there. There’s enough hurt going around that probably we have all experienced those moments of unbelief at a turn of events we didn’t see coming.

Friends are not supposed to betray us, ten year old girls aren’t supposed to be raped, spouses aren’t supposed to be unfaithful, guns aren’t supposed to be taken to schools, bodies aren’t supposed to be riddled with pain, families aren’t supposed to fall apart, and on and on, the list could go for a very long time. We all know of things that shouldn’t be happening that are. And it hurts. Sometimes that hurt causes us to scream out and yell and other times it causes silent tears. Pain so deep that words can’t heal, not now anyway. If there is a blessing that comes from being in pain, it is that I feel the hurts of others so much more deeply. Have you found that to be true?

This quote from A.A. Milne is one I have up on the bulletin board for kids to see at work and it seems appropriate to share it here:

Promise me you’ll always remember:

You’re braver than you believe,

and stronger than you seem,

and smarter than you think.

Christopher Robin to Pooh

For those of you who are going through a difficult time (and you know who you are), please be gentle with yourself.

God of all Comfort, please hold my friends and loved ones tightly. Embrace them as only You can do. Be their strength when they are weary, their hope when theirs is gone, the light that shines in their darkness, their ever present help in time of need. Please bring restoration to their lives; be their encourager and the lifter of their heads. I ask in name of Your beloved Son, Jesus. Amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.