So often, I understand how to deal with things that life throws at me; I deal with it through prayer. I have a hard time, though, dealing with what life throws at my friends and loved ones. A dear neighbor with only two or three months to live because of lung cancer; my sister with all the issues she is dealing with; and many, many more. I try to pray for them, but I’m not always sure I am praying for what they need rather than what I want for them.
As for the unfairness, I never blame God for it. Oh, sometimes, I might ask him, very strongly, why he doesn’t seem to hear me. I remember reading somewhere that Mother Theresa, until the very day she died, believed that God did not hear her prayers. So I suppose doubt is common, but still something to try to control. As for the unfairness, I know God does not necessarily do things to us here. He created the world; he created us; he set it all in motion and gave us free will. But, wow, do we ever mess up with the way we use our free will.
Back to praying for others and thinking how life is unfair to them. Some folks I know are very good people, generous of heart and soul, and still suffer things that I don’t think I could handle if I were them. I am grateful that God never gives us more than we can handle. He seems to push away that which is unbearable to each of us, leaving us only what we can cope with.
Perhaps my prayers for others should be for their ability to cope with what life is handing them and pray that they have the peace and serenity of knowing God’s love and care.
Dear God, please fill my suffering friends and loved ones with the grace they need to feel and rest in your love, to know how to ask for your help when they need it.
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