Silas
Beloved of All
Your words show how weary and worn down you are from going without sleep and without a moment of quiet, and how painful it is to feel that no one who should help is listening. Thank you for reaching out and asking for prayer. You are not unseen in this.
Scripture makes a distinction that can help here. Through the blood of Jesus Christ we can have peace with God, no longer at war with Him or running from Him. And then, as we walk with Him, we can also know the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds day by day. Jesus spoke of this when He told His disciples that He leaves His own peace with them, a peace that is not like anything the world can give. It is described elsewhere as a peace that goes beyond human understanding, and as a perfect peace that God keeps over those whose minds are stayed on Him because they trust in Him.
That does not mean the turmoil around you is not real. It is real, and it is wrong. God is a God of justice and righteousness. He wants people to do what is right, to speak truth to one another, to execute fairness, and not to imagine or carry out evil against a neighbor. He has said plainly that He hates that kind of cruelty and dishonesty. When you describe deliberate stomping and screaming, children being drawn into it, and cries for help being ignored, it is the very kind of situation where Scripture says justice can seem to stand far off and truth can seem to fall in the street. God sees that. He wondered when there was no one to intercede, and He still sees when people who have a responsibility to act do not act.
God also says His thoughts toward His people are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give hope. He invites you to call upon Him and promises to listen. He wants to ordain peace for you, not because you have earned it by your own effort to be good enough, but because of His grace. We cannot manufacture peace by trying harder in our own strength. We receive it as we turn our minds toward Him, trusting that He will take care of what we cannot control, even while we continue to do what is right in the practical realm.
So I am praying for you in two ways. First, for that inner guarding, that even in the chaos and through sleepless nights, God would keep your heart and mind steady as you fix your thoughts on Him, and that you would know His presence as your refuge. Second, for outward relief and justice, that the noise would stop, that those responsible for managing the building would do what is right and fair, and that truth would prevail in the steps your advocate has advised you to take.
Please keep doing what is right. Continue to document what is happening, to speak truthfully and calmly, and to follow the lawful and proper channels that have been counseled to you. Do not repay evil for evil or let your heart be hardened to wish evil in return, hard as that is when you are provoked day and night. The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable, and those who sow peace reap a harvest of righteousness. That does not mean you must be silent about wrong. It means pursuing justice honestly while asking God to keep your own heart from being consumed by it. Pray also for the peace of the place where you live, for where there is peace around you, you too will be able to live more peacefully, and pray for your neighbors, that God would change what needs to be changed in them.
Let me pray for you now.
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ who made peace through His blood, I lift up this dear one who is exhausted and without rest. You see the affliction day and night and You hear every cry. Grant the deep, steady peace that passes understanding to guard heart and mind. Help to keep thoughts stayed on You and to trust You to act where no one else will. Bring conviction where there is cruelty, bring justice through those who have authority to exercise it, and bring quiet and rest to this home. Show clearly the next right steps to take and give strength to take them. Let mercy and truth meet here, and let righteousness and peace come near. Amen.
Scripture makes a distinction that can help here. Through the blood of Jesus Christ we can have peace with God, no longer at war with Him or running from Him. And then, as we walk with Him, we can also know the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds day by day. Jesus spoke of this when He told His disciples that He leaves His own peace with them, a peace that is not like anything the world can give. It is described elsewhere as a peace that goes beyond human understanding, and as a perfect peace that God keeps over those whose minds are stayed on Him because they trust in Him.
That does not mean the turmoil around you is not real. It is real, and it is wrong. God is a God of justice and righteousness. He wants people to do what is right, to speak truth to one another, to execute fairness, and not to imagine or carry out evil against a neighbor. He has said plainly that He hates that kind of cruelty and dishonesty. When you describe deliberate stomping and screaming, children being drawn into it, and cries for help being ignored, it is the very kind of situation where Scripture says justice can seem to stand far off and truth can seem to fall in the street. God sees that. He wondered when there was no one to intercede, and He still sees when people who have a responsibility to act do not act.
God also says His thoughts toward His people are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give hope. He invites you to call upon Him and promises to listen. He wants to ordain peace for you, not because you have earned it by your own effort to be good enough, but because of His grace. We cannot manufacture peace by trying harder in our own strength. We receive it as we turn our minds toward Him, trusting that He will take care of what we cannot control, even while we continue to do what is right in the practical realm.
So I am praying for you in two ways. First, for that inner guarding, that even in the chaos and through sleepless nights, God would keep your heart and mind steady as you fix your thoughts on Him, and that you would know His presence as your refuge. Second, for outward relief and justice, that the noise would stop, that those responsible for managing the building would do what is right and fair, and that truth would prevail in the steps your advocate has advised you to take.
Please keep doing what is right. Continue to document what is happening, to speak truthfully and calmly, and to follow the lawful and proper channels that have been counseled to you. Do not repay evil for evil or let your heart be hardened to wish evil in return, hard as that is when you are provoked day and night. The wisdom that comes from above is peaceable, and those who sow peace reap a harvest of righteousness. That does not mean you must be silent about wrong. It means pursuing justice honestly while asking God to keep your own heart from being consumed by it. Pray also for the peace of the place where you live, for where there is peace around you, you too will be able to live more peacefully, and pray for your neighbors, that God would change what needs to be changed in them.
Let me pray for you now.
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ who made peace through His blood, I lift up this dear one who is exhausted and without rest. You see the affliction day and night and You hear every cry. Grant the deep, steady peace that passes understanding to guard heart and mind. Help to keep thoughts stayed on You and to trust You to act where no one else will. Bring conviction where there is cruelty, bring justice through those who have authority to exercise it, and bring quiet and rest to this home. Show clearly the next right steps to take and give strength to take them. Let mercy and truth meet here, and let righteousness and peace come near. Amen.
