Too Bad?

The people who wander into darkness often

have a sense of being "too bad" to ever be

accepted back into God's grace. When we assure

them of our unconditional love, while still

holding them to the truth, it can help them

glimpse God's own heart of love for them.

PSALM 3:3-4 NIV

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
--PSALM 3:3-4 NIV

Lord, losing a loved one to a destructive path is almost like a death! The person we love seems to disappear, and we struggle to find ways to show this person love without supporting the things that are destroying them. It's such a helpless feeling to watch a loved one self-destruct. I pray for the person on my mind right now who is going the wrong way. I ask you to intervene, to show me how to love them best even if they misunderstand that love, and to keep them safe as you work in their situation to draw them into your saving grace.

1 Peter 5:10 NIV

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
- 1 PETER 5:10 NIV

I don't know how much longer you will grant me life, Father. Our journey here is just that-a journey with a beginning and an end. We don't get to see our beginning in the sense of remembering it. But sometimes we see our end as it approaches. Then those vague thoughts about what comes next come in sharp focus. We take stock of our journey-what has and hasn't been done, said, or accomplished. We prepare, we mourn, we say good-bye. There is one thing that doesn't change, though-one thing that is sweet and constant along the path of life: the assurance of your love and of the eternal home with you that you have prepared for those who love you. Help me, even in the valley of the shadow of death, to keep that reality in view with eyes of steadfast faith.
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Even as the reality of death closes in, the bright reality of eternal life opens up wide before our hope, as faith turns its face fully heavenward. 

Why?

Our minds search for reasons, Father. They grasp and grope and grapple to discover why. Yet tragedy doesn't send a card with its condolences or a letter of explanation as to why we are the ones it has visited. It just comes and overshadows our lives, takes things from us, turns our reality upside down. Sometimes it strikes quickly, leaving us numbed and trembling, while other times it seems to hang on like a bulldog, inflicting pain upon pain. I just don't understand this. I know in time some answers may emerge. But right now I need you to shelter me from the anger, frustration, fear, and doubt that rise up within me. I know you are not afraid of my struggle. You understand and you care. But I am afraid of losing my faith in your goodness and love for me. Hold me close, Father.

Psalm 50:15

Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
-PSALM 50:15

Why is there evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? I hate these horrible things that plague our existence! Why don't you stamp out the pain and sorrow once and for all, Lord? What are you waiting for? Ah, Lord! I know evil was introduced into the world through a willful act against your truth and love. And since then it just keeps going on and getting worse. I also know that you have a plan to put an end to it all, but that you are patient as you wait for people who are estranged from you to return. Help me be an ambassador of your truth and love, to carry your light everywhere at all times, even where darkness seems to be prevailing.

Psalm 4:1 NIV

Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

--PSALM 4:1 NIV

Father, you have said that those who wait for you will never be ashamed for having put their trust in you. So I call out to you in my distress, knowing that you hear me. As I pray and trust and wait for your merciful intervention--I know your timing is perfect but so often different than what I think it should be--to support me and hold me steady as you have so many times in the past.

Psalm 34:18 NIV

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
--PSALM 34:18 NIV

Will our pets be with us in heaven? The scriptures do not give a definitive answer about that. In fact, the writer of Ecclesiastes pondered whether the spirit of an animal ascends or not, and concluded that we simply don't know. Still, we have reason to hope that we'll see our favorite animal friends again.

How do I say good-bye to someone I've loved so much in this life, Father? To let them go, to live life with that empty spot where they once were feels so awkward and unnatural. It seems wrong to carry on without them. Something inside me shouts, "As if I could!" And yet I must, and I do, and it's so difficult. How do I find "normal" now in those places where we always stood together? Please help me. Carry me and grant me quiet healing that happens as grief takes its course. And please, even in this grief, let me find joy in the memories of our time together on this earth.