This past week I have experienced the pain of our current generation. I was given the opportunity to take part in a program here called "Building Bridges". It gives high school students the opportunity to miss class for a day and concentrate on the issues that plague their lives. To be themselves. To share their lives. To free themselves of burdens that they might be harnessing on their own. To realize they are not alone.
At one point during the day we divide the kids into what we call "family groups". Each leader takes about ten kids and opens the floor for them to share their fears, troubles, problems, worries, feelings, hopes, and failures. The things these teenagers shared floored me. I was completely unprepared.... Molestation, thoughts of suicide, loneliness, addictions, anger, pain...so much pain...feeling unloved, feeling hated, feeling alone.... I hated every moment of it. At such a crucial moment in their lives, they are experiencing so much hurt. I wanted to wrap my arms around each one of them, draw them near, and tell them they are loved..so loved.
I think of my own niece and nephew... Tillman and Codi. They are so precious. So innocent. I love them so dearly. I wish there was only a way to hold their hand and guard them, protect them, shield them from the pain of this world. Envelope them in a blanket of love that is hurt-proof. Of course...this is impossible. However, there is one who can. Who calls us to find refuge in Him. Who will never, EVER, leave our side. I'm living proof. I should be dead ten times over...But he carried me through. When the rain poured down and the thunder rose... He was there. When the darkness closed in....He was there.
It is my prayer that Codi and Tillman, and every other child and teenager alike find the treasure that awaits in His arms. In a world that makes the Christian an outcast, the outsider, the different one, I hope that they find Him. I pray that they indulge in being the different one. That they find joy in living outside the realm of secular perceptions.
See, the pain of this world will not cease. It will be here; past, present, and future. Our God is not one who says "come to Me and I will make your life painless...perfect...harmless." He is one who simply says: "when your life does get hard... I AM HERE, and I WILL ALWAYS be here. I will NEVER LEAVE you". Who else can say those simple words and mean them with absolute certainty. Your parents? Friends? Siblings? Spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend? No. Only Jesus can say those words and mean it. That is a gift alone worth receiving.
For He can not be defeated...not by hurtful, abusive parents. Not by rumors, sarcasm, or teasing. Not even by death itself.
May God OUR FATHER, draw our youth into his arms....so their hearts may dwell in His...so that when this world throws everything it has at them...they cannot be defeated. This is my prayer. This is my heart. This is my cry.
