hurting hearts; spirits renewed

"Jesus wept." John 11:35. I love it that we serve a God that understand how we feel, both physically and emotionally. This last week a group of us got to lead a camp called S.O.S. It was for teens from 14-20 years old, that come from broken, abused, and abandoned homes. Now, I am beginning to believe that teenagers are generally the same anywhere you go. But when you take a look at some of the events that occured in these teens lives, you would gain a better understanding of why they do the things they do. I know that this last week I was shown a thing or two from just hanging out with a group of teens that did go through a messed up childhood. The purpose of this camp was to bring the spiritual side to the process of emotional healing. So, as part of the program, we had to open up some old scars and look at them face to face. For me, I have gone through this process; but for many of these teens, this was the first time. Our first session with these guys, about 40 of them all together, was heavy. Such things as rape, molestation, death from AIDS, abandonment, and physical abuse where brought up. The tears flowed, and so did the prayers. My heart hurt as all I could do was pray and hold these guys.
That was the first day, and the rest of the week was spent looking at these things from a spiritual perspective. As I sat down to think of what all this meant, that verse at the start of this blog was what came to mind. I think it was also a recurring theme throughout the week, expressing that they are not alone, that it hurts God when we go through these things, and that He shed His tears for us.
I learned a very valuable lesson this week. See, I had the opportunity to speak about the comfort and compassion that God offers. He uses us, fellow believers, to come along side the hurting, the oppressed, those who mourn, to show what that comfort looks like.
Some of these teens came to the camp, not sure what was in store. Many left, having accepted Christ as their Saviour. All the glory goes to Him.
"He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in His sight." Psalm 72:13-14.
These are words I believe in, and to me they are words of hope to those who need it.