Mourning Over Your Child in Crisis
During my years of being a parent of a teen and young adult in crisis, I have delved many times into the world of great mourning.
Mourning can mean many different things to parents. It can be an extreme loss such as the death of a child through addiction. It could be through the painful emotional death of a child who rejected their own gender to be another. Maybe it is the aching of seeing your deeply depressed and suicidal child talk only of death and not caring about anyone or anything else this life has to offer.
Mourning. The expression of deep sorrow, grief, lamentation, wailing, sadness, misery, heartache, anguish, and despair. Have you ever experienced any of these emotions? I have. It hurts. It aches. It drains you to the point of having nothing left inside of you. Even in moments of heavy sorrow, crying is not even possible no matter how you want to let it out. I’ve been there. I know.
My little girl is not little anymore. She is grown now. She still feels inflicted with pain. I am sometimes still devastated by her decision making and bad choices. I can only sit back and watch. Pray. Hope that she will learn.
Jesus mourns too. He sees and feels the brokenness of our children He cherishes and loves. I’m sure He mourns for you as parents too. I’m so glad that I don’t feel alone. Aren’t you?
God is such a great example of understanding mourning. Well, if you think about it, He created mourning. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”
One day, my mourning will turn into dancing. Today is not the day. However, I do have a faith that knows no bounds, and healing will come just at the right time. My job is to pray for my children and for God to intervene and do the work that we cannot do.
In time, God will heal our mourning and bring about a new joy. It may not happen overnight. We may not see results in a month or two. No, some things may take way longer. The good news is that God is VERY patient. This is especially true when we are not. All He requires of us is to trust in His judgment of what is best for our child. He will do the rest.