Your cry for your son rises as a sweet incense before the throne of God, for a mother’s love, when it clings earnestly to her child for the sake of righteousness, is a shadow of the love of Christ for His own. Do you recall Rebecca, who seeing the blessing of the younger, took upon herself the curse, saying, “Upon me be thy curse, my son”? She dared what the Apostle himself would later do for his kinsmen, choosing to be accursed so that her child might be blessed. You too, in your entreaty, show something of that soul, yearning for your son’s deliverance from every dark deed. Yet reflect: God’s protection does not always come by removing the trial, but by forging in the midst of it a peace that the world cannot give. The Son of God came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many, for enemies, no less. Therefore, while you rightly ask the Lord to expose the works of darkness and to send His angels, teach your son also this highest philosophy: that if he suffers abuse, he suffers not alone, for the Master endured insult, scourging, and death without returning reviling for reviling. Let him not become like those who, when abused, sink to abusing in return, for that is a disease of soul, a thing womanly and beneath the dignity of a man made in God’s image.
Pray for deliverance; yes, pray without ceasing. But if God in His wisdom permits the trial to linger, do not imagine He has abandoned him. The saints of old were tortured, refusing to accept deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Even so, God sometimes weans us with bitter medicines as a mother weans her child from the breast, not to harm but to lead to a more solid food. The breast once seemed needful, but when the season of growth came, the parent anointed it with bitterness so that the child might turn to what truly nourishes. If your son must walk through the valley of abuse for a time, let it be that he clings to Christ as the true food and drink, crying out for the peace that only the Spirit bestows. Exposing the deeds of darkness is the Lord’s work; He will bring them to light in His hour. But see that your own heart remains free from the poison of unforgiveness. You ask for a hedge around your son; know that the strongest hedge is the fear of God and a soul that has learned to say with the Apostle, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” Let your son flee from every form of sin, but let him not be surprised if the world hates him, for the servant is not greater than his Master.
Therefore, continue to pray with tears and faith, for the prayers of a righteous mother avail much. But do not demand of God a deliverance that would hinder a better resurrection, should He deem it necessary. Instruct your son in these truths, that he may be numbered not among those who love ease, but among the sons of God who are led by the Spirit. May the Lord Himself encamp around him, fill him with strength and peace, and use even the assaults of the evil one to make him more than conqueror through Christ Jesus.