For Parents with Hurting Hearts

Are you a parent with a broken heart? It seems I have met so many, both online and friends I know. I am one myself. It seems that it is so very hard to raise your children in the Lord these days. Even if you homeschool, or send them to Christian School, there is no guarantee that one of your children will not break your heart. This world is so evil, there are so many influences out there that want to steal our children away from us, but especially away from the Lord. What is a parent to do?

I know good parents who taught their children the Bible. I taught my children the Bible. We took them to church regularly. We homeschooled. And yet we still ended up with a broken family. Yes, there are no guarantees that things will come out rosily.

But today I was reading in my time with the Lord from Andrew Murray's With Christ in the School of Prayer. I was so encouraged as I underlined and even wrote the date in the book because I felt God was speaking to me directly through the words of Mr. Murray. It was in Chapter 8, called The Boldness of God's Friends. He spoke of the parable of the friend at midnight in Luke 11: 5-8 and prayer for the perishing around us. God not only wants us to pray for ourselves but for those around us that have need. What about our children who may be lost to us? He speaks of the threefold cord of Scripture in this way: "Let us securely hold the threefold cord that cannot be broken: the hungry friend needing the help (in my case, my very own flesh and blood), the praying friend seeking the help (that would be me, or any parent that is in my shoes), and the Mighty Friend (Jesus Christ) loving to give us as much help as we need."

He then brought to mind the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. I read verse 18 where it says the prodigal "came to himself". The word for "came" in the Greek is (#2064 in Strong's Lexicon) "erchomai". It means to recover one's sense or understanding. My prodigal is not living in a pig pen right now, but this child needs to come to this understanding. It is something I cannot do, but the one thing I can do is to pray believing, like the friend at midnight. If you are a hurting parent, it is the one thing you can do as well. Mr. Murray says "even though I don't have what I need, I have already begun the work of love, because I have a FRIEND who will help me. WE DO NOT KNOW HOW EFFECTIVE THIS PLEA IS. When the friendship of earth looks in its need to the friendship of heaven, ...'He will...give him as many as he needeth."

This has been an ongoing trial for me, lasting many years. Yet it is my hope and prayer that in this trial not only will my faith be refined like gold, yet I may somehow be an encouragement to others, who are truly hurting as well. Pray for your children and don't stop until you hear from above. Our heavenly Father is a friend who truly hears and cares.