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Today I read the thoughts of Rick- edited
Rick Redner
To all who are intensely suffering as a result of estrangement, I think most of us, if not all of us hunger for a reconciled relationship with our kids.
For me this suffering is a “thorn in my flesh. So I’m right there with Paul when he says:
“I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
THREE times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
~ 2 Corinthians 12:7-8~
I’ve always assumed Paul’s asking for relief from his suffering three times, occurred within the space of time it took me to read that sentence.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
~ 2 Corinthians 12
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:6-7
Without this peace, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt in my first contact with my son in over a year, I’d be angry, defensive, argumentative, and happy to return fire with fire.
There’s no doubt that in ALL our suffering however it comes to us:
“The Lord is working to release us from the hope that this present world will ever be the paradise that our hearts long for.”
He's employing suffering to produce in our hearts a deep and motivating longing for a much, much, better home, the eternal home that's the promise of his grace to us
"Suffering is not just physically, situationally, and relational hard; it's also a moment-by moment spiritual war..
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
~ Ephesians 6:12~
The question is whether your suffering is driving you inward, to go it alone Or whether your suffering is driving you towards a greater dependency upon our Lord.
Therefore my prayer in seasons of suffering is this:
May my experience in this season of suffering draw me closer to my Lord, And May I in the course of my suffering experience comfort from the Lord so that I’m equipped with a personal, powerful, compassionate, and hopeful testimony that I can share with fellow sufferers.
So I can say with Paul:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
~2 Corinthians 1:3-4~
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
~ 1 John 4-4
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
~Luke 9:23~
I have no desire to waste this intense suffering. The resolution to my suffering, anger, grief, and pain, is to pick up my cross in order to experience our Lord’s presence, kindness, compassion, comfort, and grace, and then to share that comfort with those parents devastated by estrangement.
We can wake up each and every morning and say:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
~Lamentations 3:22-23~
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