An excerpt from, “A Christian Selfie”

“Throughout the New Testament, the Gospel message is one of love which seeks lost things.  Hey, I get it, David and I have had many anguished moments over me losing the keys, my wallet, the phone, my passport…you get the picture.  Naturally, the finding or recovery of lost human souls in more important.”

I write about our middle child and how her wanting to please family, self, and friends led her to escape her problems by depending on a drug (marijuana) rather than God and family.  You must read the book to understand how devastating this event and time in our lives was for us.  However, our story has a happy ending just like that of the Biblical story.

This is not true of all children.  This fact has come to my attention in recent months as I try to console dear friends in our church with the loss of a child to what evidence points to suicide.  What is devastating to them is that they do not know what happened and although the search has been going on for three months, nothing has been found to either confirm or not confirm that possibility.  We all have a need for closure when it comes to grieving over the loss of a loved one.  Unfortunately for some, closure may never come.

Life can become an emotional and spiritual struggle.  But Jesus has promised us a helper in John 14:16, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever–”  No matter our struggle, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help us.  The Holy Spirit will give us a peace that passes all understanding about our loss.  The Holy spirit will lift us up if we will depend on Jesus.

I cannot imagine the pain one must have because of the loss of a child to suicide.  That is when the Holy Spirit can intercede on the behalf of those hurting.  They may not know how to pray, but the Holy Spirit will lift them up to the father.  It is a comfort to realize the gift we have been given.  Thank you, Holy Spirit, for lifting me up!