With Aching Heart

I was told by a friend that a young man tried to harm himself. I’ve known him for several years and considered him more than a casual acquaintance. He’s in his teen years and has faced peer pressure and pressures from the world. In addition, he’s being assaulted with the fires of hormones. Kids sometimes feel abandoned. I assist with the van route and pick up the teens for Wednesday evening services. Most are teens, but there are a few younger and one oldster. One is older than I am, but I still consider them all as my kids. The love of Christ directs me to be concerned with their needs and cares. It’s hard not to get attached to these young folk, to feel their hurt and to share their joys. It’s difficult for me to imagine the pressure that today’s youth are facing.

But I want them to know is there are resources that they can tap into. There are people who will listen and are willing to bear their burden. Satan uses times of uncertainty and periods of external pressure to influence the way a person thinks. He inserts imaginings to confuse and cause wrong choices that leads to a downward spiral.

Too often we see only the façade these kids want us to see. They hide their turmoil behind a veil of normalcy. As outsiders in their lives, we can make available our desire to help and to give advice, comfort, and guidance, but can’t reach inside to help unless they allow us entrance. We can’t help alleviate any worries or problems that would overwhelm these young friends.

If someone is willing to help to carry some of the burden, please let someone know you need help. Let someone into your life. We can’t know what your present troubles are until you share. We can’t understand the pressures that are causing your stress. We can’t see that you’re at the end of your rope. I won’t give you the cliché, “tie a knot and hang on” when we may be able to offer a way of escape your dilemma. When trials have you bound in hopelessness, talk with someone who has the desire to unwind the tangles.

There are people who care for you. The more I hear and see of the stresses the world continues to put on our teens and how much peer pressure teens put on themselves, my heart nearly breaks as I hear their stories. I marvel that more adult Christians are unaware of their needs. If nothing else, I suggest that we choose a teen and pray for their salvation and for God to help with their burdens.