Silas
Beloved of All
Your heart for those who feel abandoned and without refuge comes through clearly in this prayer, and it is right to bring these heavy burdens to the Lord. The pain of children without a home, of a wife or husband or son or daughter left alone, of brothers and sisters betrayed by friends, and of little ones who are not welcomed or wanted, is real suffering, and God sees it.
Scripture gives a sure anchor for that suffering. Though a father and mother may forsake someone, the Lord will receive him. Even if a mother could forget the child at her breast, God says He will not forget. That promise in Psalm 27 and Isaiah 49 reminds us that no child, born or unborn, is forgotten by Him. It is right to entrust innocent lives, including those lost through miscarriage or abortion, to His merciful care, asking Him to receive them. He is the true refuge and shelter when there is no house or family or friend to turn to, and He has shown His loving kindness and tender mercies from of old.
There is also a righteous anger at sin, at gossip and meddling and false words that divide a neighborhood, at the taking of innocent life, and at abandonment. That kind of anger at evil itself is not sinful. Yet Scripture warns us to be angry and not sin, and not to let that anger settle into bitterness. A root of bitterness can spring up and trouble many people, defiling more than just one heart. Bitterness and wrath and clamor and evil speaking grieve the Spirit, and we are called to put them away and instead show kindness and forgiveness.
That is why we must be careful how we pray about those who have wronged us. In earlier times under the law, prayers were sometimes made for God to repay enemies according to what they had done and to destroy them in anger. But Jesus taught us in the new covenant to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who mistreat us. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He is slow to anger, patient and merciful, giving time for repentance, yet He is also just and powerful and will not leave wickedness unaddressed. He will take vengeance on His adversaries in His own time and way. Our part is not to ask for the extermination of a family or that a generation not be allowed to continue, but to ask God to bring conviction, repentance, and mercy, and to leave justice in His hands. He alone is the judge, and He is also the one who can change a heart, as He changed the heart of Esau after years of bitterness so that there could be forgiveness and reunion.
For those who carry guilt because they have participated in abortion or have despised life, the gospel offers real hope. There is forgiveness and cleansing if we repent and ask the Lord for it. Trying to justify or hide or excuse what was done keeps us from that forgiveness, but when we acknowledge our transgression and cast ourselves on His mercy, He blots it out. Though sins are as scarlet, He makes them as white as snow. The only thing that keeps anyone from that pardon is not coming to receive it. Even those who are weak and stumbling, as they put their trust in Jesus Christ who bore our sins and took the penalty for them, are not counted guilty before God. He invites all to come and receive His love and be made His child, and the conscience need no longer be hounded.
May the Lord lift your head above the enemies and troubles around you and lead you on a level path. May He be your shelter when other shelters fail, and may He guard your heart from bitterness while you continue to intercede with mercy. Pray that God would bring healing to broken families, provide refuge for the homeless and abandoned, protect the unborn, comfort those who mourn them, and bring all who are far off to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, through whom alone there is salvation and peace with God.
Scripture gives a sure anchor for that suffering. Though a father and mother may forsake someone, the Lord will receive him. Even if a mother could forget the child at her breast, God says He will not forget. That promise in Psalm 27 and Isaiah 49 reminds us that no child, born or unborn, is forgotten by Him. It is right to entrust innocent lives, including those lost through miscarriage or abortion, to His merciful care, asking Him to receive them. He is the true refuge and shelter when there is no house or family or friend to turn to, and He has shown His loving kindness and tender mercies from of old.
There is also a righteous anger at sin, at gossip and meddling and false words that divide a neighborhood, at the taking of innocent life, and at abandonment. That kind of anger at evil itself is not sinful. Yet Scripture warns us to be angry and not sin, and not to let that anger settle into bitterness. A root of bitterness can spring up and trouble many people, defiling more than just one heart. Bitterness and wrath and clamor and evil speaking grieve the Spirit, and we are called to put them away and instead show kindness and forgiveness.
That is why we must be careful how we pray about those who have wronged us. In earlier times under the law, prayers were sometimes made for God to repay enemies according to what they had done and to destroy them in anger. But Jesus taught us in the new covenant to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who mistreat us. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. He is slow to anger, patient and merciful, giving time for repentance, yet He is also just and powerful and will not leave wickedness unaddressed. He will take vengeance on His adversaries in His own time and way. Our part is not to ask for the extermination of a family or that a generation not be allowed to continue, but to ask God to bring conviction, repentance, and mercy, and to leave justice in His hands. He alone is the judge, and He is also the one who can change a heart, as He changed the heart of Esau after years of bitterness so that there could be forgiveness and reunion.
For those who carry guilt because they have participated in abortion or have despised life, the gospel offers real hope. There is forgiveness and cleansing if we repent and ask the Lord for it. Trying to justify or hide or excuse what was done keeps us from that forgiveness, but when we acknowledge our transgression and cast ourselves on His mercy, He blots it out. Though sins are as scarlet, He makes them as white as snow. The only thing that keeps anyone from that pardon is not coming to receive it. Even those who are weak and stumbling, as they put their trust in Jesus Christ who bore our sins and took the penalty for them, are not counted guilty before God. He invites all to come and receive His love and be made His child, and the conscience need no longer be hounded.
May the Lord lift your head above the enemies and troubles around you and lead you on a level path. May He be your shelter when other shelters fail, and may He guard your heart from bitterness while you continue to intercede with mercy. Pray that God would bring healing to broken families, provide refuge for the homeless and abandoned, protect the unborn, comfort those who mourn them, and bring all who are far off to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, through whom alone there is salvation and peace with God.
