Hebrews 13:5 - Hurting At Christmas - "Emmanuel, God With Us"

When we think of Christmas, we think of joy.  But that emotion isn't experienced by everyone.  There are many who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, chronic illness, divorce or separation, relationship break-downs within their family, addiction, etc.  The list goes on and on.  It's so hard to see so many hurting people.  I just want to "fix" everyone and every situation but I know I can't.  I know the ones grieving must grieve.  The ones dealing with other things in relationships have to seek the Lord for His direction.  Most of all each and everyone going through tough times needs to remember the Lord is with them at all times. 

There is comfort found when one digs into the Lord.  His love is a soothing balm for hurts.  When we allow Him to heal us, we will be blessed.  We will no longer feel the depth of the hurts as he quiets them in our spirit.  He doesn't always take us out of the hurts because sometimes we need to go through the hurts to truly lean on His strength.  We have to make the choice to draw closer to Him through the hurts of life.  If we don't, then we will experience some powerful negative things instead of comfort.  Too many times we allow our circumstances to pull us into being depressed, nasty, negative, etc.  When in fact, He can lead us through dark times where we once again will feel His joy.

This morning as I was praying for different ones in tough situation I thought about one of the names of God.  Emmanuel.  The meaning of that word is God with us.  He is always with us.  He is with us through good times and He is with us through bad times.  Hebrews 13:5 tells us, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  Woo hoo!  Those are some powerful words from the Lord.  

Dear Jesus,
Today as I pray, I ask for You to be more prominent in people's thoughts.  I pray for:

• the separated couples to have thoughts on the love that brought them together in the first place
• the families going through times of loss to be comforted in the fact their loved one is with You
• the siblings who are at odds with one another to realize life is short and everything doesn't have to be about them
• people who are dealing with illness to have a renewal in their physical bodies
• the ones dealing with broken bones and broken minds to have Your healing upon their bodies
• the ones dealing with addiction to get to the end of themselves and allow You to be their strength instead of the thing they are addicted to
• the ones dealing with financial issues to seek You for wisdom

Father, I pray for more of You and less of me so that I can be more effective for You.  Lord, so many hurting people are all around.  Touch them Lord.  Lead them into a relationship with You so they can be healed.  Thank You Jesus for being My Emmanuel.  Amen.