Hurting Christians

I have a lot of friends hurting right now.

Some are in a battle with a life threatening disease.
Some are going through or have recently gone through a divorce.
Some have experienced the death of a close relative.
Some are stressed out and tired.
Some are struggling with self-confidence.
Some just never seem to be able to win...at anything...like ever.
Some are fighting with people they care about (or should care about).
Some are unappreciated and it's killing them.

When people's lives are like this it can be a struggle at what to tell them. Heck, I sometimes struggle at what to tell myself when my life isn't going according to plan. We always give them the Christian obligatory statement: "I'll be praying for you" or "God has a plan."

I began writing these words a month or two ago, but didn't know how to finish it. Often I write something and leave it for months at a time. I never knew that those words were about to apply to me. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t know how to finish the post.

My grandfather passed away a little over a week ago. He was one of my heroes and is the reason that I love to make people laugh.

I took my girls to North Carolina to visit family recently. We left on a Tuesday evening and planned on coming back on Friday. Paw Bill was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks before and the prognosis wasn’t good, so we planned on making a couple of trips over the next few months to see him. However, that didn’t happen. We came for a visit, but ended up staying for the last few days of his life.

I’ve lived in a strange paradox of life and death since I was a child. My father being a pastor often took us to the funeral home with him when visiting a family. I’ve been around death my entire life. Watching my father over the years, I even know what to say when at a funeral home.

But I haven’t experienced the death of many people that I’ve been close to. My family has been blessed with longevity. This grief thing is very new to me and let me say that it sucks!

However, through it, I’ve learned possibly one of the best ways to pray for Christians who are going through difficult times. It’s something that Jesus even taught his disciples and comes with a promise.

You should pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit in their life.

Yes, that’s right the Holy Spirit, who is a part of the Godhead. However, the Holy Spirit is often treated like a crazy uncle or as a weird Asian lady as in The Shack. The Father and the Son we get, but the Holy Spirit is for the weirdoes!

But what comes with the Holy Spirit?

The fruit of the spirit is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life, but it is fruit that we can taste everyday for our benefit as well as for others. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). All fruit needed for a believer who is struggling through a difficult time in any circumstance.

When Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, it wasn’t by accident that he told them, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). Praying for the Holy Spirit’s presence in the believer’s life is something Jesus taught us to do.

Not only that, but Jesus told his disciples that it was good for him to leave them because when he left the Holy Spirit was going to come. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you”  (John 14:16-17).

Fruit grows no matter what. 

The opposite of the Spirit’s fruit is fruit of the flesh which includes: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (Galatians 5:19-21). These are all fruit that causes the believer to fall deeper within the struggle.

And just like Adam and Eve we are faced with that same question of which fruit are we going to eat?

There is fruit growing during pain. Whether it is good fruit or bad fruit depends upon the work of the Holy Spirit and our willingness to partner in that work.

So for all of you going through a difficult time that is my prayer for you that the Holy Spirit will continue to work in you to grow the necessary fruit to get you through your struggle.

I also ask that you pray the same for my family and me in this difficult time. Especially, for my grandmother who lost her husband of nearly 63 years!  

How are you hurting?