07.10.05
My Prayer
I’ve seen bad stuff happen to people. My friends have faced things I would never want to face. And I know I have it pretty good. My friends have it pretty good. But that doesn’t make their pain any less real, nor does it mitigate the severity of it. I have a vision for them. I see them facing tragedy and loss, physical pain, regret, defeat, hopes crushed and dreams utterly destroyed. But I see in their hearts something like a flame unquenchable. It’s a joy that caresses their cheeks as they grieve, that lifts their chins when they run out of strength to hope, that holds their hands when they aren’t sure they can go on. It’s a joy that brings a weak, yet genuine smile to their faces with the assurance that even in the midst of complete ruin, just as with Job, God can still make the latter end more blessed than the beginning. And that He will do just that.
I’m not prophesying hardship over my friends. Their births did that. I can’t give my friends this joy, because I don’t have it. And it’s not something so simple as salvation, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or even faith. I don’t know what it is. This is my prayer: that my friends would be overcomers, filled with the Joy of the Lord, and unbreakable of spirit. Amen.