Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this heavy burden and for asking for prayer. I am praying with you for the safe return home of your loved one and for God's protection and wisdom over this whole situation.
What you describe about adults giving alcohol to underage young people is very serious and right to be concerned about. Scripture treats the care of children as a sacred trust. Jesus placed a little child in the midst of his followers and taught that to receive such a child in his name is to receive him, and he warned strongly against despising or causing one of these little ones to stumble. To harm the faith or wellbeing of a child is a grave matter in God's eyes. Alcohol itself is also shown in Scripture to be dangerous when misused. It must be processed by the liver and can overwork it, it works against the nervous system, it harms the mind and body, and it can bring a person under its control. When adults provide it to minors who are still developing, they increase that harm and they multiply wrongdoing, and as Proverbs says, when wickedness increases, transgression increases with it.
I am praying that God would bring your loved one home safely and quickly, and that he would be kept from influences that lead toward drunkenness and reckless behavior. The Bible says even a child is known by what he does, and character begins to show very early. Friendships shape that character. I pray that if this friendship is pulling toward harm, the Lord would graciously break that influence. Your prayer for employment that would lead this older friend to move away is understandable, and I join you in asking God to provide honest work and a path that takes him elsewhere if that is what would protect these young people. Above all I pray that both the young person and his friend would come to repentance where they have done wrong and would seek to walk in a way that honors God.
For the young people involved, Scripture says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child and needs loving instruction to drive it out, and a child left to himself will bring sorrow to those who love him. That instruction is not harshness but steady, systematic training, what the Hebrew word for train implies, like catechizing patiently. It also means training each child according to his own way, recognizing his unique personality and needs. Like teaching a child to walk, we expect stumbles and we are patient, but we also hold the child so he does not fall badly. I pray God will give you and every parent and guardian involved that kind of wisdom and patience, to set clear boundaries, to speak truth in love, and to keep these young ones from falling into deeper harm.
I am also praying for the underage children who were given alcohol and became drunk. I ask the Lord to protect them physically and spiritually, to guard them from shame and further temptation, and to surround them with adults who will not despise them but will receive and nurture them. Putting trust in the Lord is the place of safety from the snares and destruction that sin brings.
May the Lord hear your cry, grant a safe return, bring conviction where it is needed, provide for needs like work in a way that leads to good, and give you peace as you trust him to watch over these little ones he loves.
What you describe about adults giving alcohol to underage young people is very serious and right to be concerned about. Scripture treats the care of children as a sacred trust. Jesus placed a little child in the midst of his followers and taught that to receive such a child in his name is to receive him, and he warned strongly against despising or causing one of these little ones to stumble. To harm the faith or wellbeing of a child is a grave matter in God's eyes. Alcohol itself is also shown in Scripture to be dangerous when misused. It must be processed by the liver and can overwork it, it works against the nervous system, it harms the mind and body, and it can bring a person under its control. When adults provide it to minors who are still developing, they increase that harm and they multiply wrongdoing, and as Proverbs says, when wickedness increases, transgression increases with it.
I am praying that God would bring your loved one home safely and quickly, and that he would be kept from influences that lead toward drunkenness and reckless behavior. The Bible says even a child is known by what he does, and character begins to show very early. Friendships shape that character. I pray that if this friendship is pulling toward harm, the Lord would graciously break that influence. Your prayer for employment that would lead this older friend to move away is understandable, and I join you in asking God to provide honest work and a path that takes him elsewhere if that is what would protect these young people. Above all I pray that both the young person and his friend would come to repentance where they have done wrong and would seek to walk in a way that honors God.
For the young people involved, Scripture says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child and needs loving instruction to drive it out, and a child left to himself will bring sorrow to those who love him. That instruction is not harshness but steady, systematic training, what the Hebrew word for train implies, like catechizing patiently. It also means training each child according to his own way, recognizing his unique personality and needs. Like teaching a child to walk, we expect stumbles and we are patient, but we also hold the child so he does not fall badly. I pray God will give you and every parent and guardian involved that kind of wisdom and patience, to set clear boundaries, to speak truth in love, and to keep these young ones from falling into deeper harm.
I am also praying for the underage children who were given alcohol and became drunk. I ask the Lord to protect them physically and spiritually, to guard them from shame and further temptation, and to surround them with adults who will not despise them but will receive and nurture them. Putting trust in the Lord is the place of safety from the snares and destruction that sin brings.
May the Lord hear your cry, grant a safe return, bring conviction where it is needed, provide for needs like work in a way that leads to good, and give you peace as you trust him to watch over these little ones he loves.
