Being Thankful With a Teen in Crisis

I remember many times during the year in which a holiday or birthday, mother’s day or father’s day didn’t turn out the way I had hoped. This transpired quite a few years in a row when the time to be excited and happy was more like dread or discouragement. Thanksgiving wasn’t much different.

It was quite often that I had wished that I could sleep it away and wake up to a new day. But that didn’t happen. Being disappointed was the way of life for me and I accepted it as is. I only hoped quietly in my heart that situations would change as my teen aged.

I can only imagine how many parents are secretly confronted on this same issue. Who really wants to be thankful when your teen is depressed, self-harming, doing drugs, or threatening to run away for the third time?

That is precisely how I felt. It was even more frustrating when I would read the scripture about being thankful at all times.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. I Thessalonians 5:18.

Notice that it says in “all” circumstances. Not just the good, but the ugly too. Not just in the happy, but the sad. Not just in the joy but in the discouragement. Then God continues to say that this is the will of Him. I’m thinking, “How can you will this for us?”

You see, God knew that we would all go through struggles in our lives. He also knew that through perseverance and reliance in Him, we would find our strength and hope to the end.

It is through our willingness that we can be thankful. Despite how bad things look or how severe the circumstances may be, we can be set free from the burden that we are so heavily under. God never intended us to carry our heaviness alone.

We tend to forget that He is with us through every step, every pain, every hurt, and every crisis that we are dealt with.

It is our responsibility to rely in Him who gives us the hope and the courage to continue the fight to help our teen. I found that the more I prayed and read God’s Word, the stronger I was becoming. Each crisis that came I was able to handle it with grace and peace even when it could have devastated me in previous years.

So that is my gift to you. Be THANKFUL in ALL things! You cannot see it now, but there will be a time in which you will be able to look back and see the goodness of the Lord through all those struggles and see how God worked through each situation when all looked bleak.

By giving thanks now, you will find an unspeakable peace underneath the pain, the uncertainty. The only way to continue in peace is to remain in communication with Him through prayer and His Word.

I promise, you will not regret it. He is waiting upon you now.

Image courtesy of Mockingbird at Morguefile.com