Out of a broken heart a mother cries, and the echo returns from the throne of God, “O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in Me is your help.” This is the naked truth concerning your daughter’s state. She seeks to numb the wound of a foul assault with potions that only deepen the misery, and she flees one evil companion only to be endangered by others. This is the way of self-destruction, the treacherous path where a soul, scorning the living water, hews out broken cisterns that hold no relief. The trauma is real, the pain is sharp, but the chosen remedy is poison in the cup. It is your daughter who has laid hold on these false comforts, yet the merciful voice that pronounces the ruination is the same that cries, “In Me is your help.”
Consider well the nature of the salvation she needs. It is not merely to be kept safe for a single night, nor to have a physical craving subdued for a season. The gift of God is a new life, a vital principle within, salvation from the power of the drink, deliverance from the dominion of the evil one, a change of heart worked by the Spirit of the living God. This is what Jesus offers as the free gift of His grace to all who know their ignorance and thirst. No bad friend, no lingering memory of sin committed against her, no chemical chain can stand against the sovereign operation of Him who says, “He shall save His people from their sins.” Let her soul but apprehend who it is that speaks to her in the Gospel, and she will ask of Him the living water, and go her way with a new song in her mouth.
Yet take heed as you pray and plead. Our danger is ever to run in the ways of presumption, crying for protection while our feet are willfully planted on the crooked lanes where robbers lurk. The promise of angelic charge, “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you”, is a sacred text, but it is signed with a holy proviso: “to keep you in all your ways,” the ways that are His, the King’s highway of obedience. It would have been presumptuous for our Lord to cast Himself from the temple, and it is presumptuous for any to venture into the haunts of drinking and wicked company under the delusion that they are so prudent or so experienced that no harm shall befall. Horses fall at the bottom of the hill when the driver thinks the danger past. Let your petitions be that she may be brought into the plain, safe paths, and kept from the by-ways where a just God often leaves the self-willed to the bitter fruit of their own devices.
Bow yourself beneath this mighty truth: the Lord saves for His own name’s sake. When there seemed nothing in her but a will bent on self-destruction, nevertheless He can step in. The obstruction of a hard heart, the pull of a wicked friendship, the deep groove of a habit, these are nothing before the divine prerogative. He saved them for His name’s sake. Let your cry ascend not as a claim of merit, but as a plea for the honor of His grace. Remind Him of His ancient character, the God who plucks the brand from the burning, who looks upon the forgotten lesser lights as well as the great stars, who in the person of His Son spoke kindly to a sinful woman at the well. As one sinner saved by hope, who groans within for full redemption, you may ask for her a share in that great salvation yet to be revealed.
Take this cordial for your faith: the work is not dependent upon the clay, but upon the Potter. What if her will seems vacillating, her mind clouded by sorrow and substance? The great item is not what she is by nature, but what He can fashion her to be. The Holy Spirit is the Private Tutor of the redeemed, who teaches us to profit and brings all things to our remembrance. Trust Him to pursue her into the darkness, to bring back to her mind a mother’s warning, a long-forgotten Scripture, a sudden pang of conscience sharper than any fleeting pleasure. Lie low in humble, teachable prayer, but hope on, for the promise stands sure: “He will not cease from His working till He has perfected His design.”
Yet let her know, and let your own spirit be tested by this, that the true disciple is marked out by one infallible sign: “He that loves Me not keeps not My sayings.” A mere wish for safety, a terrified flight from consequence, is insufficient. There must be a love implanted for the person of Christ and a willing keeping of His word. Pray not only that she be plucked from the ditch, but that she be brought to sit at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in her right mind, looking unto Him who was delivered for her offences and raised again for her justification. In the bleak night, as you fear for her bodily safety, trust the soul to the Shepherd who has a particular care for the bruised and bleeding of the flock. The Lord add His own effectual blessing to these words, and grant you peace as you cast this crushing burden upon Him.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
be-an-encourager.blogspot.com
