Sydney Confides
Posted on Saturday, October 1, 2011 by
Hannah Johnson is one our staff members who has been leading outreach at Mickle Middle School for four years and does a phenomenal job at reaching out to middle school girls. I have invited her to share the story of a student she has been working with recently:
One of my small group girls, Sydney, has been going through a really rough patch. She woke up one night and couldn't stop crying. She recently confided in me that crying at night has become a regular occurrence. There is no clear reason why she finds herself crying at night, but family stress, academic pressure, and negative self-image are all playing a role.
One night her dad, who was unfortunately drunk, began yelling at her and her brother at such a volume that neighbors were concerned. Her dad has had a problem with alcohol for years and he won't admit it. Sydney is really struggling with why God has placed her in such a difficult situation. She knows that God will use it to grow her, but it is so hard to see a student you care for ache like Sydney does.
Over the years, I too have struggled with understanding God’s purpose for trials and tribulations. I don’t have all the answers, but I shared with her that God's plan is confusing sometimes, and that His plans for her are far greater than we can understand.
Sydney and I set a time where we could sit down and study the Scriptures together. Scriptures that teach us about why we each were created and what God does in our lives through our trials and rough places. The coolest part is that she is yearning to find out the truth behind the hurt.
Romans 5:3-5 tells us, “Not only so, but wealso glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
2 Corinthians 4:8-12 says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”