I Don't Even Know What to Pray For

You look at that headline and you think, “OK, this is a religious blog that is filled with scripture and high-sounding words…I don’t think I’m ready for this right now.” That’s OK for you to think that, but this blog really isn’t going to be that way. Instead, it will be more about frustration and dissatisfaction than anything else. Are you still with me?
What do you do when it seems that one family you know and love has more than their share of heartache, illness, trouble, and problems? When that family is doing the very best it can to be Godly and live life appropriately, but still suffers? When that family seems to always be coming apart at the seams? How do you encourage when this has been going on for years? How do you respond when the next crisis arrives? How do you pray when you’ve run out of ways to pray and things to say?
This isn’t the first time I’ve had the helpless feeling that I really don’t even know what to pray for in this situation. When our niece was going through critical stages in her battle with anorexia, I truly had no clue what to pray for, knowing there really was no cure and she would pretty much always have to fight this fight. And now another family I know just seems to have on-going issues that never end. One crisis on top of another; multiple crises at the same time. Single mother (who adopted, by the way, relatives of hers that had no place else to go) who has to juggle work, school issues, kids with emotional disorders, a mother who is not healthy, a home that needs constant repair, and all under the same roof.
My thought this morning was, “If God is merciful, he wouldn’t let this happen to her.” Then I thought, “Maybe God IS being merciful.” He’s provided a loving home environment for several teens and pre-teens who would have been separated and in “the system” long ago if not for her. He’s provided a mother (Grandma) who can stay with the kids while she works. He’s given her a job where she can take off most of the time when needed. He’s kept her from being laid off or terminated. He’s given them a church home where people love on them and encourage and help them. I could continue, but you get the idea.
So maybe we look at these things in a way that is a little selfish at times. Maybe we need to start looking at life through a different lens. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to be frustrated at times, dissatisfied at times, and feeling thoroughly incompetent at times as I go through this adventure called life with you all.
By the way, I now have another blog. It’s on the church website and the posts are different from those on this site. You can go to www.riverwalkchurchofchrist.org and click on “Blog” to see all posts by all ministers, or you can scan the left side of the page under “Ministers Blogs” to see the titles of the individual blogs. As of right now, there is no way to get just my blog, but I’ll ask the webmaster to provide one under “Leadership”, then “Ministers” and have a link under my picture and name.