I was the 17 year old kid in this pic, the child of alcoholic parents, the mentally and physically abused son of a mother and father addicted and... know this story all too well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfUkYXHiB88&feature
I question, I wonder... When will we, as a nationwide (a worldwide) church, know it as well, as Christ knew the sufferings of others on the Cross, and intercede both from the pulpit and from beyond it before another young man/woman or other young men/women are given the history of pain I now carry with me?
Our Lord is good and the Lord's people [His church] are good. I just wish the Lord's people would wake up and... do whatever's necessary to intercede on the behalf of the innocent.
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Isn't it enough? It is enough! Just ask the kids, home alone, terrified for their lives, as they waits for their drunken parents to come home, as they're uncertain as to whether they'll come home in a good mood or with a twisted desire to hit'em with a wrench or an extension cord, lock them in a room or say hateful things.
"Why are you here?! I never wanted you to begin with! I should've had an abortion! Go get me a beer, it's about all your capable of! I wish I had a boy! I wish I had a girl! I wish I could prove you aren't mine! What happens in this house, stays in this house or I'll kill you! I should've worn a condom!" Enough is enough! Families need us! Our kids need us!
Alcohol abuse/Drug abuse/Child abuse are all too real to those of us who've known it or, it breaks my heart, know it. Pray the church wakes up. The abused need us.
I posted this on my profile late last night and have gotten a few short comments. They're worth sharing on here.
"Awesome words, Josh" ~ Mike (my cousin) and Terri.
"Very true..." ~ Amy Shields
"Even though the earth is rocking back forth like a drunkard under the oppression of wickedness, and the church has been somewhat silently watching in complacency and lethargy, the Lord, for His name sake is stirring hearts. The Lion of Judah is roaring loudly in the hearts of His people. The church is waking up because the cries of the afflicted and the oppressed are reaching our eyes and ears and we can no longer sit in silence. The Lord is raising up intercessors all over the nation. With one voice and one spirit, we cry out "Come Lord Jesus, Come!" ~ Jean Elizabeth Lee
I pray your response is as thoughtful. I pray we wake up and act swiftly on behalf of those who need us. I pray we always pray to intercede. And I pray we never stop praying for them.
They need us.
Matthew 25:31-45
ReplyDelete40The King [Jesus] will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me."
45The King [Jesus] will say to them, "Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me."
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ReplyDelete"as they're uncertain as to whether they'll come home in a good mood or with a twisted desire to hit'em"....This is exactly what we (my sisters and I) lived with every single day..and... "What happens in this house, stays in this house"... Is an EXACT daily quote we lived with. What is written here is truth, and very powerful. We are not alone. Unfortunately, there are many of us out here who lived through this. Thanks to GOD, we survived it. Very well said and written Josh!!
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ReplyDeleteMay God Bless you Josh! When I read this post, I cried...you spoke the words of my heart. The words that most people are afraid to say. I too suffered thru a very painful childhood, but by God's grace I am here and healing more every day.
ReplyDeleteWake up everyone and realize that we are all responsible for not only spreading God's word but helping all his children.
Josh I wept for the innocent when I read your post. I did not have a pleasant childhood... now I suffer from terrible anxiety and depression. We do not walk alone though, Jesus knows our pain. I see abuse all the time, in and out of the church. How do we save these kids who are powerless? Most of us don't want to stir up any trouble.. mind your own business. I know that somewhere some little girl is hiding cos' daddy's home.
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