There’s that one moment in time… that moment when circumstances are so intense, so blinding, that you can’t see anything else around you… when the weight of the world is so heavy that you are forced to ask life’s deeper questions — bottom line Q’s — questions that get to the heart of every issue.
Some days I get so frustrated… at the…
… dysfunction, discord… the arrogance, lack of accountability… in our families, communities, Washington, and world… the total lack of respect for others… the hypocrisy… the judgment… so often justified in the name of passion, emotion, self-focus, or self-inflated-ness…
I get frustrated, too, as to how each of us falls prey… how I fall prey… how I, too, can justify a foolish response or approach in the name of something lesser…
And then a moment arises that jolts us to the truth… where all else crumbles to the ground and our sense of self finally deflates, as we are forced to ask those deeper questions.
At midnight Wednesday night, the teenage daughter of dear friends kissed each of her family members ‘good night’ and told them how much she loved them. She then left. She has not been seen nor heard from since.
… every parent’s worst nightmare…
As of this posting, it has been over 70 hours of not knowing where this beautiful 16 year old is. Pause for a moment…
Grace was not some troubled teen with obvious, flashing warning signs, where any of us would have previously contemplated the concept that “yeah, this is a behavior I would have expected from her.” Not at all. Grace is a beautiful, sensitive, sweet, faithful young lady. This could be happening with any of our children. With any of us.
So many (especially) teens get an irrational thought in their head that they then justify acting upon because of how they feel in the moment. They have all these feelings inside that they don’t know what to do with… fear… anger… failure… They don’t know how to resolve all the emotion inside of them; they no longer want to feel that way. They don’t know what to do. And so they run. They leave. They are not running to something; they are running away.
How my friends now ache wanting to wrap their arms around their little girl, saying, “It’s ok. We’re here for you. We’ll walk through this together. And there is absolutely nothing in this world that happens, that God isn’t big enough to handle. There is nothing you have done or can do that will make God — or us — love you any less. He is real. He is here. And with his help, nothing is impossible.” In other words, my friends know that circumstances are incapable of changing who God is and how he so desires to have a relationship with each of his children.
But instead, we choose to run.
We run from God.
Ok, ok, so our running may not appear as painstakingly obvious as beautiful Grace. Adults are a little better (and definitely more intentional) at covering up and managing the impressions other people have of us. We don’t necessarily leave our homes and abandon our families, but we do get caught up in foolish approaches and responses; then what happens?
We begin to justify the dysfunction, discord, arrogance, and lack of respect for others. We justify them in the name of passion or emotion. We inflate our sense of self, as our circumstances now blind the reality of God’s existence and who he really is and what he calls us to do.
Pray for Grace. That she would come home. Pray for the family. That they would be blessed with an uncanny sense of peace and would continue to trust God… that they would trust him regardless of circumstance.
That’s the message for us all. Can we trust him? Can we believe in him? Can we recognize the reality of God’s existence? Or will we allow heartbreaking circumstances — perhaps even a parent’s worst nightmare — to get in the way?
Respectfully… for you, sweet Grace…
AR