Letters to Susan Part 9: Don’t give up on God

Today's Precious Prodigal's Post = http://bit.ly/1MswDPP Letters to Susan Part 9: Don’t give up on God Please "Like" & "Share" with your online friends. Want to read more GoTo: preciousprodigal.com

Today's Precious Prodigal's Post = http://bit.ly/1MswDPP

Letters to Susan Part 9: Don’t give up on God

#Godsgotthis #dontquitonGod

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Part of this post is my response to a devastated parent who emailed me asking how she could help her prodigal. (Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.)

Psalm 42:5, 11 “Why art thou cast down, oh my soul and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God.”

Dear Susan:

King David didn’t have an easy path to walk. In fact, many of the psalms he wrote reflect that and the struggle he had at times with discouragement. Yet he didn’t quit. In Psalm 42, he asks, “Why art thou cast down, oh my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?” and then reminds himself, “Hope thou in God.”

There’s great comfort in reading about King David’s fears and sorrows and how he lifted his voice to God and found in Him a haven of rest. During the darkest midnight of David’s soul, he reached out to God and trusted that God would meet the need of his heart. And God did.

In that same Psalm, David says his tears were there all the time, and that those tears seemed to say to him, “Where is your God?” Can you identify with that? I know I can. When I see the people I love hurting themselves, each other and me, I have to ask myself where God is.

Doesn’t He see how much I’m hurting? Doesn’t He know that my prodigal is destroying the lives of everyone around him? Does He not care that my grandchildren are suffering, and that my heart is broken for those little ones? How can I find hope in my own midnight of the soul?

You may have asked yourself some of those same questions. Most of us who love a prodigal have wondered and sometimes still do wonder where God is when our world is falling apart. And the answer is that God is where He has always been…right beside us, strengthening us so we can face what would be too awful to face alone.

The same God we trusted in the light can be trusted in the midnight hours too, Susan. I’m not at the point where I can “glory in tribulations,” (Rom 5:8) but I can and I do remember that God was faithful every time there was a problem, even if I couldn’t see it at the time.

Those problems taught me patience…that is, how to wait for God’s timing. They also gave me experience in facing trials and turning them over to God. It’s those very things that give me hope today. And hope...that hope in the unchanging God, who has met every need in the past...won't leave me ashamed. In the past when God was all I had left, I found that God was enough.

So don’t give up on God, Susan. Because He’s got this…really He does. Our prodigals aren’t lost. God knows exactly where they are. And God does indeed know where they are…physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And He loves them more than we possibly could.

God loves you too. In fact, He has “loved you with an everlasting love” and “with kindness has drawn you to Himself.” (Jeremiah 31:3) Then He goes even further and says, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” (Isaiah 43:1) Park there for a minute and think about that. God knows my name…your name, and He has called us by our name, reminding us that we are His.

You say you’re “struggling with the anxious part.” Believe me when I tell you that struggle is an ongoing battle. But you’re right when you say, “God is still here, He still cares and it's going to be okay.” It is, you know…going to be ok, I mean. And when the storm has passed, you’ll be glad you didn’t quit on God.

Challenge for Today: What might happen if we, just for today, stood our ground and refused to quit on God?