00:00Well, I woke up this morning to this.
00:04Dear Douglas, my child was just deployed overseas to fight a war I'm not 100% sure I agree with.
00:14I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, and I want to support my child, but I'm not sure that I support
00:22the general effort.
00:24Please help. Pray for me and my family.
00:29Well, my friend, if that's where you are today, I want to begin by telling you something with all the
00:37tenderness I can.
00:39What you're feeling does not make you weak.
00:43It does not make you disloyal to this country, and it does not make you faithless.
00:50It makes you a human.
00:53It makes you a loving parent.
00:56Friends, if I were in your position, I would feel exactly the same way.
01:01You know, there's a kind of pain that only a parent understands, and it's the pain of loving someone so
01:08deeply that part of your own heart feels like it's been sent somewhere you cannot protect.
01:15That kind of pain, well, that kind of pain can leave you standing in the middle of two realities at
01:23once.
01:24You can love your child with all your being and still wrestle with the larger situation around them.
01:35You know, some people will try to force you into a corner.
01:41They will make it sound like you must choose between supporting your child and agreeing with everything happening around them.
01:48But life is not always that simple, is it?
01:53And faith is not built on pretending that complicated things are simple either.
01:59You see, faith is built on bringing the trust and truth of your heart before God.
02:06It's built on refusing to lie to him about what hurts.
02:10It's built on standing before the Lord and saying,
02:16Father, I love my child, and I'm proud of their courage.
02:23I'm afraid for their safety.
02:26I'm conflicted in my soul, and I do not know how to carry all of this.
02:33And that's an excellent way to phrase it for the Lord.
02:36Because that kind of prayer is not a weak prayer.
02:41It's an honest prayer.
02:43And God can do something with honest prayers.
02:47You don't have to solve the whole war in your mind before you can love your son or daughter well.
02:53You do not have to settle every political question before you can stand beside your child with a full heart.
03:02Right now, your calling is not to carry the weight of the entire world on your shoulders.
03:09Your calling is to be the parent God called you to be.
03:14Your calling is to love, to pray, to stay steady,
03:21and to keep your heart anchored in Christ while everything around you feels uncertain.
03:28The enemy would love to turn your inner conflict into guilt.
03:32He would love to whisper that because you feel torn, you are somehow failing your child.
03:39Well, you're not failing.
03:41You're walking through one of the hardest emotional places a parent can know.
03:46And there is a difference between supporting your child and endorsing every system your child is inside.
03:55Jesus himself, well, he understood what it meant to love people living under broken human powers.
04:03He moved to the world full of empire, injustice, violence, and fear.
04:09Yet, he never stopped loving the individual person standing in front of him.
04:15He knew how to see the one soul in front of him without losing sight of heaven.
04:21That matters here.
04:24Because your child is just not part of our military machine.
04:31Your child is your child.
04:34Your child is a soul made by God.
04:37Your child is someone you carried in your arms, prayed over, worried about, and loved through every stage of life.
04:48Loving them now does not mean you have betrayed your conscience.
04:53It means your love is still alive.
04:57And that makes you beautiful.
04:59So, how do you resolve this inner conflict?
05:03You may not resolve it by forcing it to disappear.
05:07That's for sure.
05:08You may not resolve it by placing each part of it in its own proper place before God.
05:14He doesn't need us to organize the scenario.
05:17This is where peace begins.
05:21You take your love for your child, and you hand it to God.
05:26You take your fear, and you hand it to God.
05:30You take your questions about the larger effort, and you hand those to God, too.
05:37You stop demanding that your heart feel simple when the moment is not simple.
05:43You let the Lord hold what you cannot sort out, because sometimes peace does not come because everything makes sense.
05:52Sometimes peace comes because you finally admit that only God is big enough to hold what makes no sense to
06:00you.
06:01Your child needs something from you right now that is deeper than a political opinion.
06:08They need to know that your love is not in question.
06:13They need to know that even across oceans, distance, and danger, they are not standing alone.
06:21They need to feel that home is still home.
06:25They need to hear a voice that says,
06:28I love you.
06:29I'm with you.
06:31I'm praying for you.
06:33And I'm proud of the courage it takes to walk through this.
06:37And no matter where you are, you are still my child.
06:41Now, that kind of support will become a shelter for them.
06:46It'll become strength.
06:48It'll become a reminder that even in the harshest places in this world, love can still reach them.
06:56And maybe, well, maybe that's part of your ministry this season.
07:01Maybe your ministry is not having all the answers.
07:06Maybe it's to become a place of steady love in a time of uncertainty.
07:13Maybe your ministry is to be a praying parent whose words carry life instead of panic.
07:21That does not mean you deny your emotions.
07:25It means you bring them under the lordship of Christ, so they do not rule over you.
07:32Fear may visit your house, but it doesn't have to become the head of the household.
07:38That's your job.
07:40Anxiety may knock at your door, but it doesn't have to sit at your table and speak for you.
07:46God has not abandoned your family in this hour.
07:52And I want to say this gently, because I know how heavy this is for you, my friend.
07:58Your child does not need the full weight of your inner war placed on their shoulders while they are currently
08:06carrying their own burden.
08:08There may be a time for deeper conversations later, but in a season like this, your wisdom will matter.
08:17Your role is not to make them carry your uncertainty.
08:21Your role is to cover them in prayer, speak life over them, and become a source of stability.
08:31Let other trusted believers carry part of your burden with you.
08:36Let close friends pray with you.
08:38Let your tears fall in the presence of God.
08:41Let the Lord minister to the parts of your heart that feel pulled in opposite directions.
08:49But when you speak to your child, let them hear only love, only faith, only steadiness, and a reminder of
09:01home.
09:02You know, sometimes we think strength means having no conflict.
09:07Well, it does not.
09:09Strength often looks like crying in private and praying anyway.
09:15It looks like having questions and still choosing love.
09:19It looks like trembling in your soul and still lifting your eyes to heaven.
09:24It looks like saying, Lord, I do not understand all of this, but I know you understand.
09:33I do not control all of this, but you are still on the throne.
09:39I cannot be everywhere my child is, but you can.
09:44And that's not denial.
09:47That is surrender.
09:49And surrender is where many wounded hearts finally breathe again.
09:56Now, I want to remind you that your child is not outside the reach of God because they are overseas.
10:03The presence of God is not limited by borders, uniforms, governments, or battle lines.
10:10The Lord knows exactly where your child is.
10:14He sees what you cannot see.
10:16He hears what you cannot hear.
10:20He can strengthen them in ways you never could.
10:24And he can put courage in them, restraint in them, wisdom in them, and protection all around them.
10:32He can send peace into places where fear tries to spread.
10:37And he can do what no parent can do.
10:41And that is why this burden must be placed into his hands again and again.
10:47So today, don't condemn yourself because your heart is struggling.
10:53Bring the whole conflict to Jesus.
10:56Bring love.
10:57Bring fear.
10:58Bring your questions.
11:00Bring the silent moments when your mind runs way too far.
11:05Bring all of it.
11:07The Lord is not asking you to become less human.
11:10He's asking you to stay close to him in the middle of being human.
11:15And as you do, he will help you separate what is yours to carry from what belongs to him alone.
11:24So, your assignment right now is simple.
11:27Even if it's not easy.
11:30Love your child deeply.
11:32Pray without ceasing.
11:34Speak life with intention.
11:37And refuse to let fear write the story.
11:41Refuse to let guilt become your master.
11:44Refuse to believe that inner conflict means spiritual failure.
11:48This is one of those seasons where faith becomes very real.
11:54Not polished.
11:56Not polished.
11:57Real.
11:58Real.
11:58The kind of real faith that grips the hand of God in the dark and says,
12:04Lord, I trust you here too.
12:09Right now, I'd like to ask all the followers watching this to bow your head in reverence to Christ.
12:15Lord, I want to pray for you and your family right now.
12:21Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift up this parent and this family to you.
12:27You see the weight they are carrying.
12:30You see the love they have for their child.
12:35You see the fear, the questions, the uncertainty, and the pain.
12:40Lord, I ask you to surround them with your peace.
12:45Give this parent a steady heart.
12:48Give them wisdom in every word they speak.
12:52Give them grace for every moment that feels too heavy.
12:58Please, Heavenly Father, protect their child overseas.
13:04Cover them with your hand.
13:06Guard their mind, their body, and their spirit.
13:10Give them courage without hardness.
13:13Give them wisdom without fear.
13:16Bring them home safely in your perfect time.
13:20Let this family feel your presence in a way that is undeniable.
13:28Where anxiety has been loud, let your peace become louder.
13:33Where confusion has been heavy, let your presence become stronger.
13:39Hold this family together.
13:42Strengthen their faith.
13:44Remind them that they are not alone.
13:47We trust you with what we cannot control.
13:51And we place this child into your hands.
13:56In Jesus' name.
13:58Amen.
14:00Thank you for reaching out to me today.
14:03I want you to hear me clearly before this ends.
14:06You can love your child with your whole heart.
14:10And still wrestle with the world they have been sent into.
14:13The conflict does not disqualify you.
14:17It reveals how deeply you love your child.
14:22Stay near to God.
14:23Stay near to your child.
14:26Stay steady in prayer.
14:28The Lord will meet you in this.
14:32And he will carry where you cannot.
14:40God bless every single one of you.
14:47Every single one.
14:50Bye-bye.
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