for a treasured friend

I'm writing this for someone very close to my heart. From the LORD's heart to my heart to your heart.

I see you struggling through a storm,
feeling all alone
no one sees or knows how broken you are,
to your world, you are many things...friend, someone to look up to, someone's child, someone's sibling...and you try to play these roles even as you fall apart...and your heart hardens.

I wish I could carry your load
because I know it's more than you can bear
but you are meant to be strong, you are meant to cope
surely the LORD would not test you beyond what you can bear

but the LORD's way out is to cast your cares on to him
because we are not meant to carry it alone
we are meant to scream out I can't cope with this anymore, take it from me!
it's easy to do this when our load is light
but when it just keeps getting heavier and heavier each day
we lose the strength to lift it off our shoulders and surrender it to our LORD
so it weighs us down even more.

Please remember the truth about our LORD
He is working it out for you, he battles a spiritual battle for you, his beloved child
He thinks the world of you. He sees you not as you are now but as the awesome conqueror that you will be.
He sees your pain and he knows you are going to make mistakes.
But it's ok, you are doing what you can to survive today to reach tomorrow.

Please don't be hard on yourself
Your Father loves you
He wrapped himself in humanity to save you
He knows what it's like to be rejected, hurt, misunderstood.
And as you suffer you experience a little of what it's like to him.

One day when you stand before him
You will see that you are more like Jesus than you realised.

Do what you need to do. The rest can wait.