Oftentimes I very strongly and urgently desire to talk to someone. Whatever my burdens are, I am seeking godly, Biblical counsel from someone I can trust who will be able to understand what I'm trying to communicate even if my language is deficient. This person must be trustworthy because many times my burdens involve individuals whom I do not wish to defame, myself included. I'm looking for someone who understands me without rushing to judgements or incomplete conclusions who will empathize, offer solutions, and intercession to God on my behalf. But I feel like I don't know such a person.
Perhaps it is because I'm an only child that I have always felt like I've never had a best friend, someone who fits this description. My entire life, I've been looking for someone who could meet these requirements, for whom I could reciprocate this same level of trusted friendship. But I still feel alienated and alone. I scan through the list of names in my Contacts list on my phone and there is no one on whom I feel comfortable unloading the weight of my burdens.
But there is always Christ. He meets all of these requirements, just as the Scriptures testify. No matter what our burdens are, or whom they involve, no matter how deficient our ability to communicate the problem, Christ is there. He understands our burdens and intercedes for us. We can go to Him as often as we need and not burden Him with our constant requests. It doesn't matter where we are or whether our phones are charged, He is always there. Christ desires that we go to Him first and that we listen to the counsel He gives us in His sufficient Word.
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:31-39
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
This past week as my children's health began to decline, I prayed earnestly for three specific things while I laid in my bed one sleepless night. Moriah and Joseph had been vomiting with a loss of appetite, lethargy and fever, Joseph was also congested, all the children were coughing and sneezing and I was becoming suspiciously anxious that they might have walking pneumonia. I had to wait until morning before I could take them to the doctor's office. Several times that night I brought my anxiety to the Lord. Specifically I prayed that God would grant the children grace to survive the night without dying. I prayed that all of the children could be seen by the doctor, as their usual policy only allows me to bring two of my children at a time. I prayed that I could get at least a little sleep to be alert enough to handle the busyness of the next day. The Lord graciously granted all three requests. Sometimes when we pray general prayers, it is difficult to see how and when God answers them. But, as He has reminded me in this case, as I pray for specific things, I can see how He answers them specifically.
So, let us all be encouraged to pray to God for all things, no matter how big or how small. Let's pray generally and specifically, taking our burdens to Him first and seeking His counsel from His Word knowing that we can trust Him with anything and everything. To God be the glory.
