Excerpts from Letters to God...Pursue Truth, Trust God

Suggestions: Pursue the truth about your prodigal. When you discover it, don’t run away or hide from it. Face it head on with God’s help. Try not to fall apart. If your problematic son or daughter is not willing to face the truth, then decide on a course of action and stick to it. Consult others who have experience in the area of your child’s difficulty. Plan an intervention with friends or family to convince them of their need for assistance. Pray and trust God. He is able to bring your wandering child back home and turn this evil around and fashion good from  it. Be patient and wait for God to act.

 

Dear Jesus,

I don’t understand any of this. I hoped and prayed it wouldn’t come to this, but You chose not to answer my prayers. Once again, I feel like the psalmist David. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me? Why are you so far from helping mend from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent” (Psalm 22:1-2). Lord, I did not keep this pain away from You. I shared it and cried out to You. Please hear me Lord and answer. Help me, Father, to deal with this.

Wake Ben up as you have woken us up to his problem. O Lord, You sent Your son “to open the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7). I pray You will do so—release Ben from the powers that bind him and form his self-made prison. Release him from the bondages of his addiction and the power he allowed Satan to have in his life through drugs. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lessons Learned: While this was a painful time, God did some needed surgery in my life. I went through a lot of questioning and repenting. The Lord helped me come to grips with some of my attitudes that were wrong. I should have let Holbrook have more control when Ben was younger. It was difficult for me because I didn’t trust my husband’s judgment on some things. It was challenging trying to determine the right course of action. My husband had a lot of issues and problems of his own. Perhaps I took too much of the upper hand and let Holbrook step out of the picture. All I can do now is repent and try to respect him more.

 

Freedom from Addictions: Tough Love and Lessons Learned

Freedom from Addictions: Tough Love and Lessons Learned: Dear Lord,             I’m weary of this winter. I want spring to come. Friends tell me Ben’s problems might go on for longer, but I ...

Tough Love and Lessons Learned

Dear Lord,

            I’m weary of this winter. I want spring to come. Friends tell me Ben’s problems might go on for longer, but I don’t want to hear that Lord. I want to believe You will deliver him before he falls any further from grace.

Lessons Learned: I wanted Ben to be spared from any more pain and confusion, and get on with his life. But he kept wavering back and forth between his will and God’s. Unfortunately, my friends were right to a point. Ben had to fall a little further, to the destruction of his own rebellion and self-will, but not his soul.

Suggestions: Tough love is necessary when dealing with an addict. Don’t say something  and then do another. Stick to your word and don’t give into your prodigal’s demands. Try to find out what’s really happening and make your decisions based on that. Go to a counselor together with your spouse and decide on a course of action. Plan ahead for several different scenarios so you can be prepared and not get tripped up by your loved one. Addicts are very good manipulators, and they will admit they pull on their parent’s heartstrings—so be aware.

April 16^th

            The freezing rain of April chills the bones and dampens the spirit.

            But the presence of the Holy Spirit can drive the coldness out like a warm fire.

            The Holy Spirit is a gift of spiritual vitality and warmth in a frozen wasteland.

            If the chilling winds never blew, there would be no need for the warmth of the fire, no need to labor for the crackling of wood, no need for heat to chase away the cold.

            So too with the Holy Spirit. When the cold winds blow and the icy rains fall, we must kindle the fire of the Comforter.

Come Holy Spirit, set my heart ablaze.

Dear Father,

            Please help Ben to do what he says he will do. Help him not to be wishy washy. “He is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). He thinks he’s doing the right thing in his own eyes, but he doesn’t know how to judge situations. He is very nonjudgmental and generous to others. I pray You will honor that and balance him out. Teach him to walk in the light of Your ways and not what he thinks is right. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Turn him around. Show him how to be a wise son. Help him to recall what he learned in the past. “My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commandment” (Proverbs 3:1). Help me compliment him more. He’s writing in a journal and also copying Bible verses. He wants to walk the right path. Dear God, please strengthen him, and show him the way.

Lessons Learned: At the time, I didn’t know Ben was addicted to alcohol. My husband and I didn’t know his drug problem started with drinking. Once he had a few beers or anything stronger, he lost his resistance to stay away from drugs. He wanted to do what was right, but he just couldn’t keep it up for a long period of time. I wasn’t sure if he had an addictive personality, and I was trying to see the positive side. However, I desperately wanted him to go for help consistently, but he wouldn’t admit he had a serious problem. I was torn in two, trying to figure out what the real problem was, while trying to believe Jesus would take care of it all. Ben was in denial, and to some extent, so was I because of a lack of understanding.

Suggestions: Pursue the truth about your prodigal. When you discover it, don’t run away or hide from it. Face it head on with God’s help. Try not to fall apart. If your problematic son or daughter is not willing to face the truth, then decide on a course of action and stick to it. Consult others who have experience in the area of your child’s difficulty. Plan an intervention with friends or family to convince them of their need for assistance. Pray and trust God. He is able to bring your wandering child back home and turn this evil around and fashion good from  it. Be patient and wait for God to act.

 

Excerpt From Letters to God on a Prodigal Son

 For the next few weeks I'll be featuring excerpts from Letters to God on a Prodigal Son

Feb. 14^th

Dear Lord,

I read in my daily devotional that when we go though times of darkness, it is a time for us to listen. I’m listening Lord! Speak to me. It’s a wintry mix outside—snow and rain, with hail adding to the danger. The gentle falling snow has given way to sleet and freezing rain. Snow and sleet make for very dangerous driving conditions.

            Ben is a wintry mix of snow and sleet. He said it himself. His flesh is stronger than his spirit. He wants to do good, like his own father, but it’s difficult for him. He’s driving down a dangerous path of addiction. I can hardly believe this is true. I should have opened my eyes wider, observed more.

If I put everything together that I’ve read in the last few days, it seems that you are saying that there is a time for judgment over Ben’s actions and decisions. The book of Jeremiah shows this clearly. You gave the Israelites many chances, just as we gave Ben. God spoke to His people through Jeremiah that He would judge the nation, but they refused to listen. Judgment came though King Nebuchadnezzar. Benjamin has been weighed and found lacking. However, unlike the Old Testament, he doesn’t need to be destroyed. Perhaps You’ll put him in exile for a while, the way you did with the Israelites, then bring him back to You. But now it appears, this is a time of judgment.

The Bible makes it clear. “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). Ben has sown some bad seeds, and he needs to reap the consequences without me stepping in and sheltering him. He needs to find these things out for himself. We gave him many chances and he’s failed. I don’t want him to see himself as a failure, but he needs to understand there are consequences to his actions. He’s turned off his phone, avoiding us. He doesn’t want to confront the issues and talk with us. What should he do? Almost everyone I spoke with thinks he should come home. Lord, what is Your will?