Sleep was elusive again last night. My heart was heavy over all that is happening, not just in my own little corner of the world, but, ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ, around the world at large: War, illness, poverty, oppression, inequity, storms, calamities, starvation, injustice.
The list goes on and on. Whether here, or half a world away, it all sometimes feels too much to bear.
When circumstances tempt us to believe otherwise, though, God remains seated squarely on the throne. He hasnโt abdicatedโ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐. I believe, based on Jesusโ consistent response to suffering and deprivation, that, even now, ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฎ๐ฌ, as broken by the awful, lingering results of the Fall as we.
So, we speak to Him on the behalf of those we will never know and cannot rescue. Because the plight (both near and far) of strangers or loved onesโof many or fewโis so vast, varied, and ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ , prayer often feels like an exercise in futility.
In processing it all with the Lord, though, I came away with this solution: To break it down. To make it manageable. To intercede, not just for one giant block of humanity, and not just in a general way, but to be a bit more specific.
When I pray ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ, versus the more generic way, I ๐ฌ๐๐ them. I see ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. I see ๐ฎ๐ฌโ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ of usโwhose lots in life involve suffering in some form or degree.
I ๐๐๐๐ฅ the fear, the hunger, the pain, the deprivation.
So, I take up their cause and lay it at His feet:
๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐, most near and dear,
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ who cannot go home, or is without a home, provide shelter, warmth, and welcoming arms.
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ who are frightened, be their shield. Go before them, infuse them with Your courage, and grant them supernatural peace.
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ parent who weeps over a child, draw near. Pour out Your hope. Let Your sufficient grace be theirs, and, in the end, let it be enough.
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ who hunger, fill their bellies out of the storehouse of Your provision.
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ with bleak prospects and uncertain days ahead, help them to dream. Give them something to which they can aspire. Reveal to them Your purposes, along with the certainty that what You decree can ๐๐๐๐๐ be thwarted.
๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ who are sick or wounded, bind up. Touch their bodies, and ease their pain. If the worst comes, and death approaches, lavish grace, and banish fear. Permeate those final moments with Your comforting, conspicuous presence, so that when they breathe their last, it can be with Your presence in their hearts and Your name on their lips.
๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. Manifest Your presence where they kneel, where they flee, where they hide. Convince them of Your nearness, Your kinship, Your abiding. Cup their faces, lift their heads, meet their gaze, grant them peace.
Let them know they are not alone.
๐๐จ๐ซ๐, ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ.
This, dear friends, is where I have landedโpracticing intercession that may or may not make a difference, but a discipline to which ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐, nonetheless.
To speak your names, along with those I will never know, to a Father who is infinitely wise and exceedingly good, is a gift I donโt take for grantedโa privilege secured at an extremely high priceโan opportunity that awaits, just beyond the veil.
For me, for us, for those Iโll never know,
for this, for that, for the things I cannot remedy,
I know nothing better, than to speak to the One who ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ, who ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ, who ๐๐๐ง.
๐ณ๐๐๐ , please, for these, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
โAnd so we gain hope – not from the darkness of our suffering, but from the God who ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ our suffering and shares our pain.โ
~ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐. ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง
โTrust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.โ
~๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐:๐