Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
My experience has been very similar. From Ezekiel:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Could it be that, through the removal of God from the public square, and the general acceptance of abortion and other self-centered behavior, our hearts have been hardened? Perhaps we are all receiving “hearts of flesh.”
The loss of a child in such a horrible way has broken our hearts. God has entered into my sorrow, or perhaps has allowed me to enter into His. My tears are not only mine but His as well. I cry to Him to break my heart more and more. What can I do FOR YOU, oh my Lord and my God?! I know that His love is so much greater than mine and I trust in His words. Like the Roman centurion who asked for his servant to be healed, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Then, in faith, I ask Jesus to heal my daughter. I know that He can do as He wills. So I beg Him to heal her. It may not happen while I am here on this earth, but it will happen. Hope does not disappoint. Keep crying out to God. For the sake of your children and this world, but mainly for the love of our God who willingly gave His own Son to save us, get on your knees and cry out to the One who loves you.
This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit. Save our children from the clutches of the evil one. Remove their hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. Bring them home. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
It strikes me that you mentioned Ezekiel because I have been working on another piece inspired by a verse in Ezekiel. It feels like spiritual confirmation from the Lord to keep working on it!
I think this experience gives us more than a heart of flesh, it gives us a piece of the heart of God—a unique opportunity to see through his eyes, how he sees his children, and how long suffering he is— and how foolish and rebellious we are!
May the Holy Spirit soften our children’s hearts and remove the scales from their eyes so that they may see, taste, and know that God is real and loves them dearly. And may they long to know that love above all else!
Thank you for the encouragement. I’ve been struggling to find my voice for years and it feels good to write and be heard. I greatly appreciate the feedback.
Thank you! This post plus comments has some of the best Bible verses to refocus our eyes on Him and get glimpses of how much He loves us. I feel less alone and I have hope! I know the Spirit is my strength when I have "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22) in the middle of this messed up situation. Only God can give me these things and it is quite a miracle when it happens. Show gentleness to my angry teen, what?? Anyway, I will be sharing this post with my support group, Connected Through Christ. We are praying for all our children, especially for our gentleness, love and peace to bring them back to us.
This is so beautiful, so touching, and so truthful: "I’ve come to understand that God’s love is deeper than ours, His grief greater, and His nearness to the brokenhearted more real than we can truly fathom." AMEN! I agonized over my nephew for two years, and deeply ached for my sister and brother-in-law while they tried to navigate the trans-gender cults lies. Their son went down the trans rabbit hole and they did everything they could to pull him back out. My heart was heavy, I cried daily, I begged and pleaded to God for His help. I would wake up in the middle of the night and the first thing I thought of was my nephew. I was terrified of what he was going through or what he would do to his healthy body. I never knew if I would ever see him again. My faith is what helped me cope, but I still was overcome with worry as my sister's heart was broken. I know that over this last past year, God helped me every day to heal my own broken heart, to accept what I could not change in this life, and that nothing matters more in this world than my personal spiritual relationship with God. I have learned how to live in the NOW, how to be PRESENT, and I am grateful for every day I wake up, for every sunrise and sunset. Trust me, I no longer take anything for granted. I now tell my family and friends that I may not have tomorrow or next week or next month or next year but what I have is right NOW and I am cherishing every second of every minute of every day. God is with me, I am not alone, and I am blessed. I once heard a guest on Oprah's show about 20 years ago say: "LIFE IS NOT A HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITH A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY; LIFE IS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WITH A HUMAN EXPEREINCE."
You have shared something powerful about this evil cult: the way it mutilates such an intimate part of our child’s identity. We have been given this amazing gift of sexuality by God for great physical joy and to create life. Of course the enemy wants to steal it and confuse us so that we rely on medicine to make babies and define our sexuality.
My Bible verse is Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is like a beautiful aroma that might just lead them home.
To be a parent is to know one tiny amount of how He loves us. When those children break our hearts, we feel a tiny amount of how Our Lord's heart breaks for us.
when I consider this, that God loves us so far more than we are in our self focused ways capable, even as parents who loved our kids dearest and best, I begin to comprehend the sorrow and anger that rings the bell at the earth's core
[18] When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. [19] When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me JOY. ... [22] But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
Psalms 34:18 NIV
[18] The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
I pray for my age 25 baby GIRL to be SAVED (to turn to the one true God of the universe), for God to protect HER body from the things SHE is doing to it, and for HER to come back to me... to be my DAUGHTER again. Please God.
And I pray for God to give me STRENGTH to survive this heartbreak, this joylessness... I am often so sad I think I cannot bear it. But then GOD'S WORD lifts me back up. And I am reminded I must reflect Him to all the others who do not yet know Him, including our lost children... God make me stand tall even as I am crushed in spirit! WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES ONLY ON HIM.
God, help us. 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for this post to remind me again. ❤️ And the comments which remind me I am not alone, that there are others out there who feel this very same pain!
Thank you for articulating so well what we, as family members of the deluded, have to come to if we are to survive this journey. Only through obedient faith in God through Jesus Christ is there solace and peace available for us right here, right now. When we are thanking our God, no matter what our circumstances, we are doing what we are called to do as His beloved children. How can anyone traverse this world without Him? Thank you, Jesus!
This is the great gift in sorrow...my illumination is in the Epistle of James: 1:2 Count it all joy when you enter many different kind of trials. 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.…
I am listening to Bringing Back Barbara by C. John Miller and Highly recommend it
Before he formed us he knew us...in Jeremiah as you quoted...
Amen!
I am grateful to you for writing so beautifully about your journey of faith. It describes mine as well.
It can be scary to speak about these things in such a divisive era, but it’s necessary if we want to see it end. Thank you for the encouragement!
My experience has been very similar. From Ezekiel:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Could it be that, through the removal of God from the public square, and the general acceptance of abortion and other self-centered behavior, our hearts have been hardened? Perhaps we are all receiving “hearts of flesh.”
The loss of a child in such a horrible way has broken our hearts. God has entered into my sorrow, or perhaps has allowed me to enter into His. My tears are not only mine but His as well. I cry to Him to break my heart more and more. What can I do FOR YOU, oh my Lord and my God?! I know that His love is so much greater than mine and I trust in His words. Like the Roman centurion who asked for his servant to be healed, we say, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Then, in faith, I ask Jesus to heal my daughter. I know that He can do as He wills. So I beg Him to heal her. It may not happen while I am here on this earth, but it will happen. Hope does not disappoint. Keep crying out to God. For the sake of your children and this world, but mainly for the love of our God who willingly gave His own Son to save us, get on your knees and cry out to the One who loves you.
This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit. Save our children from the clutches of the evil one. Remove their hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. Bring them home. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
It strikes me that you mentioned Ezekiel because I have been working on another piece inspired by a verse in Ezekiel. It feels like spiritual confirmation from the Lord to keep working on it!
I think this experience gives us more than a heart of flesh, it gives us a piece of the heart of God—a unique opportunity to see through his eyes, how he sees his children, and how long suffering he is— and how foolish and rebellious we are!
May the Holy Spirit soften our children’s hearts and remove the scales from their eyes so that they may see, taste, and know that God is real and loves them dearly. And may they long to know that love above all else!
Draw them, to Christ....
This was a lovely essay, despite the pain necessary to reach the conclusions and outlook you have. Thank you.
Thank you for the encouragement. I’ve been struggling to find my voice for years and it feels good to write and be heard. I greatly appreciate the feedback.
Perhaps it would be better to say I’ve been struggling to surrender my voice to the Lord, because I don’t actually know what to say, but He does.
If you’d like a better understanding of how God yearns for people, read the book of Hosea.
Thank you! This post plus comments has some of the best Bible verses to refocus our eyes on Him and get glimpses of how much He loves us. I feel less alone and I have hope! I know the Spirit is my strength when I have "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22) in the middle of this messed up situation. Only God can give me these things and it is quite a miracle when it happens. Show gentleness to my angry teen, what?? Anyway, I will be sharing this post with my support group, Connected Through Christ. We are praying for all our children, especially for our gentleness, love and peace to bring them back to us.
This is so beautiful, so touching, and so truthful: "I’ve come to understand that God’s love is deeper than ours, His grief greater, and His nearness to the brokenhearted more real than we can truly fathom." AMEN! I agonized over my nephew for two years, and deeply ached for my sister and brother-in-law while they tried to navigate the trans-gender cults lies. Their son went down the trans rabbit hole and they did everything they could to pull him back out. My heart was heavy, I cried daily, I begged and pleaded to God for His help. I would wake up in the middle of the night and the first thing I thought of was my nephew. I was terrified of what he was going through or what he would do to his healthy body. I never knew if I would ever see him again. My faith is what helped me cope, but I still was overcome with worry as my sister's heart was broken. I know that over this last past year, God helped me every day to heal my own broken heart, to accept what I could not change in this life, and that nothing matters more in this world than my personal spiritual relationship with God. I have learned how to live in the NOW, how to be PRESENT, and I am grateful for every day I wake up, for every sunrise and sunset. Trust me, I no longer take anything for granted. I now tell my family and friends that I may not have tomorrow or next week or next month or next year but what I have is right NOW and I am cherishing every second of every minute of every day. God is with me, I am not alone, and I am blessed. I once heard a guest on Oprah's show about 20 years ago say: "LIFE IS NOT A HUMAN EXPERIENCE WITH A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY; LIFE IS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WITH A HUMAN EXPEREINCE."
You have shared something powerful about this evil cult: the way it mutilates such an intimate part of our child’s identity. We have been given this amazing gift of sexuality by God for great physical joy and to create life. Of course the enemy wants to steal it and confuse us so that we rely on medicine to make babies and define our sexuality.
My Bible verse is Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is like a beautiful aroma that might just lead them home.
To be a parent is to know one tiny amount of how He loves us. When those children break our hearts, we feel a tiny amount of how Our Lord's heart breaks for us.
when I consider this, that God loves us so far more than we are in our self focused ways capable, even as parents who loved our kids dearest and best, I begin to comprehend the sorrow and anger that rings the bell at the earth's core
Me too.
Psalms 94:18-19, 22 NIV
[18] When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. [19] When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me JOY. ... [22] But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
Psalms 34:18 NIV
[18] The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
I pray for my age 25 baby GIRL to be SAVED (to turn to the one true God of the universe), for God to protect HER body from the things SHE is doing to it, and for HER to come back to me... to be my DAUGHTER again. Please God.
And I pray for God to give me STRENGTH to survive this heartbreak, this joylessness... I am often so sad I think I cannot bear it. But then GOD'S WORD lifts me back up. And I am reminded I must reflect Him to all the others who do not yet know Him, including our lost children... God make me stand tall even as I am crushed in spirit! WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES ONLY ON HIM.
God, help us. 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for this post to remind me again. ❤️ And the comments which remind me I am not alone, that there are others out there who feel this very same pain!
Thank you for the reminder 🙏🙌✨️
This is sad and beautiful. Thank-you for the encouragement.
Thank you for articulating so well what we, as family members of the deluded, have to come to if we are to survive this journey. Only through obedient faith in God through Jesus Christ is there solace and peace available for us right here, right now. When we are thanking our God, no matter what our circumstances, we are doing what we are called to do as His beloved children. How can anyone traverse this world without Him? Thank you, Jesus!
Love, Indio
This is the great gift in sorrow...my illumination is in the Epistle of James: 1:2 Count it all joy when you enter many different kind of trials. 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.…
Amen.
Amen. Thank you. Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Maranatha.