Where's God

 

Pandemics, earthquakes, tornadoes, civil wars, violence, famine, poverty, sickness, pain, death—the list of suffering in the world today gives rise to a universal concern, "Where's God?" To answer this question, we need to start at the beginning, in Genesis 1:1, where it is written that God was at work 'In the beginning....." creating a perfect world for humankind. When God had finished, this world contained everything humankind would ever need. In God's perfect world, sickness and death did not exist. It was a safe place where humankind could live together with God for eternity. 

So, what happened to that world?

Simple answer— humankind sinned, and caused corruption to defile God's perfect world (Genesis 3). Think of it like a computer file that works perfectly fine until one day it is corrupted by a malicious attack. When a computer file is corrupted, it is unuseable and no longer operates as it was intended. Likewise, that's what happened to the perfect world God created for us. This world is sin damaged so nothing operates as God intended. Humankind inherited a legacy of sin from the first family, Adam and Eve. And that legacy still binds and hinders us today.

What is sin? 

Although none of us were in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, still God passed judgement on all future humankind because He knew that in time, we would commit enough of our own sins to deserve punishment. Sin is willfully disobeying God's laws or commands. You may have heard of The Ten Commandments which were given by God to protect us; and if obeyed, they would stabilize our communities so that we could live peaceful, successful and happy lives. The Bible is full of examples of how humankind ultimately sinned against God, and suffered dire consequences. Even now, commiting acts like greed, robbery, murder, stealing, lying, hating others, premartial sex, homosexuality, adultery, rape, drunkeness, drug abuse are ways we sin against God today. In truth, we all have 'missed the mark' in some way trying to live up to God's standards. 

 "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard." Romans 3:23 

Sin has its consequences

God has said, "The soul who sins shall die." Ezekiel 18:20 ESV

And as if that weren't bad enough, sin also separates us from God. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were immediately kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Sin robs you of God's presence. Sin hinders your prayers. Sin prevents you from spending eternity in Heaven. Sin keeps you from enjoying what God has planned for you. God hates sin because of what sin does to you. 

 God's remedy for sin

God, in His great love and mercy for us, was not willing to let sin destroy His creation. God knew, even before the first sin was committed, that He would devise a plan to rescue and restore humankind to Himself. 

"Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life." John 3:16  ESV

God's plan involved sacrificing His Son, Jesus, as payment for our sins. Jesus took the punishment we deserved. His death on the Cross was payment and pardon for our sin. Still, a pardon is worthless unless you accept it. The way back into God's good graces is through Jesus Christ, and accepting Him as your Savior. You may think of yourself as a 'good person,' but you still need Jesus to be fully reconciled to God. 

Peace with God 

The world's problems will never be solved through human effort. Jesus Christ is our only hope. True and longlasting peace only comes when you surrender your old life to Christ in exchange for a new beginning.

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

Ready to take that first step toward a new life? When you say this prayer, with a sincere and repentant heart, your sins are forgiven, and you are reconciled back to God:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and ask You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for the gift of eternal life with you. In Your Name. Amen.

To learn more about your new life in Christ, contact peacewithgod.net  Someone is there 24/7 to talk with you.  

The Sting of Rejection

He [Jesus] had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:3 NIV

Nothing hurts worse in this life than being rejected. Rejection is the ultimate 'put down' whether you're the one doing the rejecting, or the one being rejected. Rejection makes you feel unloved, unwanted, unappreciated, inferior, inadequate, worthless. Rejection can cause some people to become suicidal. Rejection hurts like a sucker punch to the stomach. And no matter how long ago it happened, the sting of rejection can linger for months, even years.

Rejection sticks out like a sore thumb. We see it on the faces of desperate people who spend their life on the streets. We see it in the self-destructing behavior of people who abuse harmful substances that they know can kill them. We see it in the actions of people who engage in criminal and other anti-social behavior without remorse. 

Rejection can take many forms— like being rejected in the womb, rejected at birth, rejected by family or friends, rejected for a job, rejected because of your race, religion, or physical appearance. The list of ways to be rejected is endless. Maybe you have been rejected at some point in your life, and it turned your world upside down. Maybe it’s been years, and you’re still struggling to get back on your feet. The promises you made to yourself to turn your life around haven’t been kept.

You are not alone. Jesus was the most rejected man in the history of the world. The Bible says that "He [Jesus] was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." Sound like you? 

Being rejected didn't stop Jesus from fulfilling his purpose in life which was to die for the sins of the world. Christ's ultimate victory over rejection means that anyone who faces rejection —past, present or future—can look to Jesus Christ for healing and acceptance. 

It doesn't mean that you'll never face rejection in some form ever again; but if and when you do you'll be stronger, better able to handle it with Christ in your corner. Those persons who rejected you may never change their attitude, but you can change. When you know who you are in Christ, you can forgive those who rejected you and move on. Today is the day you throw off the chains of bondage that have held you a prisoner of rejection. Declare your freedom now with this simple prayer—

Dear Jesus, thank you for not rejecting me. Thank you for loving me and dying for my sins. I need you in my life. I am so sorry for the way I've lived and the things I've done. Please forgive me and help me to live the way you want me to. I put my life in your hands. Thank you God for forgiving me and giving me the gift of eternal life in Heaven when I die. 

To learn more about what awaits you as a new believer in Jesus Christ, go to peacewithgod.net  Friends are waiting online to help you. Need prayer? They can help there too.

A Christmas miracle: When death took a detour

Miracle - A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.— Webster's dictionary

I believe in miracles. I have enough faith to expect them to happen in my life in when I pray. Even though we don't hear enough about divine miracles nowadays, they do still happen. I know because I was the recipient of a divine miracle on Christmas Day 2002. The following is a true account of that miracle and the events as they occurred that day.

To give you a little background, by December of that year, I had been caring for my 83 year old mother throughout her 22 year battle with primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS had long ago taken away her ability to walk, but by 2002, Mom had also lost her ability to speak, feed herself, chew or swallow. At the same time, she started having seizures, which gradually became more persistent, unrelenting, and life-threatening. As a result, Mom was hospitalized and given high doses of phenobarbital to quell the seizures. We left the hospital 12 days later, just three days before Christmas.

Even though mother couldn't speak, her eyes told me that she was glad to be back home. We both were. After I made her comfortable in bed and checked her feeding tube, I took a break to rest. When I returned to check on her, I noticed that Mom was staring hard at the window at the foot of her bed. She appeared not to even notice that I had entered the room. This was not like her.

I stood by her bedside calling her name, but she paid me no notice. Instead, she was focused hard at the foot of her bed like she saw something something in her room that my eyes couldn't see. The look on her face more radiant than I'd ever seen her. She was literally glowing, smiling even. I stood there waiting for her to finally notice me. I said nothing about what I had witnessed. As I readied the IV pole for her feeding, she looked directly at me, and with a trembling hand waved me off. I knew what she was asking, so I said, "Mom I can't not feed you that's between you and Jesus."

The next morning, the home care nurse came by for a routine check of Mom's vital signs. 

After the nurse left, I bathed, dressed, and transferred mother to her wheelchair. She was happy to be out of bed. The long hospital stay had been tough on her, but I told her that we were not going to let MS get the better of us; that we were in this fight together to the end.
I combed her hair before leaving her in the care of the aide while I went to the store. When I returned, the aide said Mom had called my name and then went to sleep. After letting the aide out, I went to check on Mom. When I couldn't wake her, I realized that she was not asleep; she had slipped quietly into a coma. It was Christmas Eve.

I really didn't know what else to do except put her to bed and hope that she would pull through as she had done in the past. Even though things were not looking good at that point, I made a decision not to take her back to the hospital. Going back to the hospital was not an option for us. It was Mom's wish and mine that when death came he would find her at home.  I called my sister and waited for her to come. During the long hours I was alone, I held Mom's hand and talked to her. I believed that even in her comatose state, she could still hear me.

Later that evening, my sister joined me in a bedside vigil for our mother. Together we stood watch as imminent death was poised to take our mother from us. I don't remember why, but for some reason, I needed something from the drugstore. My sister volunteered to go. It was after midnight when she left for the 24-hour pharmacy a few blocks away. It seemed like she was gone for a longer than usual time. I wondered if she was somewhere crying? I went over to the window and looked out. It was snowing. It was then that I realized it was Christmas Day.

I returned to mother's bedside and reached for her hand. I was surprised by how cold it had become. I started rubbing her arms, her legs, her feet. I was startled by how ice cold they had become like the life blood had drained from them. I searched my Mom's face to see if she was still breathing— she was, but just barely. Her breathing had become shallow and there was a faint rattling noise when she exhaled. Hurrying to the other side of the bed, I checked the 1,000 ml drainage bag hanging hung there. It should have been full to capacity since Mom was still taking in fluids through her feeding tube. But it was bone dry, except for a reddish-brown stain at the bottom. My immediate thought was that her kidneys had shut down. For the first time throughout this ordeal, I allowed myself the thought that Mom was slipping away—that she was in fact dying. Instinctively in desperation, I cried aloud—

"Mom, it's Christmas Day. Please don't die on Christmas."

At that moment, a sudden urge hit me to use the bathroom. When I returned moments later, I grasped Mom's hand again, and immediately noticed something was different. Her hand was warm. Surprised by this, I began feeling for her arms, legs, feet, forehead—her entire body was feverishly hot. I hurried to the other side of the bed to check her drainage bag. When only moments before it had been empty, it was now filled to overflowing with pale, yellow urine. At that moment, I realized what God had done—stopping death in it's tracks.

God heard my cry and ordered death to stand down. I can only imagine my Mom engaged in a negotiation with the Angel outside the gates of Heaven, holding up one finger and pleading—

"Please God, can I go back for just one more day for my daughter."

Mom didn't die on Christmas Day. She died the day after on December 26 sometime around 2:00 pm. My sister and I were together when Mom breathed her last. This miracle was nothing compared to what Jesus Christ did lover 2,0000 years ago when He died for the sins of the whole world to reconcile us to God. And because of Christ, life doesn't end at death. Whosoever believes in Christ has eternal life. I can't wait to see mother again to find out what really happened on that fateful Christmas Day.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. John 3:16 CEV

Facebook is changing how we make 'friends'

While Facebook has enabled us to become more connected across geographic, cultural and generational divides, it’s also left many people, particularly the young, feeling more disconnected. ---Margie Warrell, Forbes

Getty

Click. I just unfriended some people on my Facebook page. Unfriending someone may sound cold and heartless, but to be honest, it was easier than I thought it would be. I felt no emotional pangs whatsoever. Besides, it made perfect sense under the circumstances. Except for incessant snippets and snapshot postings about "what's on [their] minds," I realized that I had no real connection to the people I unfriended. They weren't really my friends; they belonged to someone else. I added them because Facebook kept pushing me to do it, so I did.

In order to create a Facebook account, you have to add friends to your profile. My friends and your friends are Facebook's bread and butter. As the largest social media site in the world with 1.4 billion users, Facebook brings home 1 billion per quarter in advertising revenue thanks largely to the friends you and I feed into it. The more friends we add, the better Facebook likes us. Facebook gleans through the snippets of personal data we provide in our posts, sells the information to advertisers who then feed it back to us in the form of ads on our Facebook page. Adding insult to injury, some users have also been touting Facebook as a way for you to make money off your friends.

But forget about Facebook's motives, the real danger here is what Facebook is doing to our ability as human beings to relate to each other in meaningful ways. Before Facebook, a friend was usually someone with whom you shared life, a history and emotional ties; someone you cared about and who cared about you. Facebook changed all that by creating a platform that promotes instant friendships between persons whose only real connection may indeed be in cyberspace. In his blog, "Social media, Pretend Friends and the Lie of False Intimacy," writer Jay Baer says:

Social media forces upon us a feeling of intimacy and closeness that doesn't actually exist....Is that what we want – spending considerable time building large networks of shallow connections, potentially at the expense of deepening a few cherished friendships upon which we can truly rely?

With social media users spending on average an aggregate of 700 billion minutes a month online, the opportunity to cultivate and nurture offline friendships diminishes. The generation mostly affected by this are 18 to 24 year-olds who comprise 98 percent of social media users. Wherever you look, nowadays, you see young adults with their faces buried in their android devices, presumably checking their Facebook page, rather than interacting with the people around them. I remember watching a young couple in a restaurant having dinner. Between bites of food, their attention was focused more on their smartphones than on each other. And they're not alone; some older adults are just as guilty of this behavior. I wonder what 'Dear Abby' would say about someone who constantly checks their phone when they're with you?

So where are we headed as a society in light of our dogged reliance and near obsession with social media connectivity? A study by the American Sociological Association suggests that we are heading down a dangerous path toward social isolation, if not social stagnation:

The evidence shows that Americans have fewer confidants and those ties are also more family-based than they used to be. This change indicates something that’s not good for our society. Ties with a close network of people create a safety net. ---Lynn Smith-Lovin, professor of Sociology at Duke University

A post on Facebook or "tweet" on Twitter can never replace a hug when you really need one. Hopefully, you have someone in your life who fills the role of being there for you when you need them. When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, he placed within their DNA a unique material property that seeks to pair up and replicate itself. God created humankind to have a relationship with Him, and with other people. Belonging defines our place in this world. Life is made richer by mutually satisfying relationships that are nurtured over time. We are defined by our relationships. Clearly, there needs to be a balance as well as a distinction between the relationships we create online and those we pursue in real life.

The people I unfriended from my Facebook page probably won't even miss me, or even realize that I'm gone. Well, no matter. No longer having to read their posts will give me more time to make a few more phone calls, send personal notes to friends I haven't connected with in awhile and join some real life friends for a game of cards. I'm sure Facebook will be waiting when I get back.

Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me --Job 29:4-5

Everybody talkin' 'bout heaven ain't goin' there

A surprising fact is that most people believe they are good enough to go to heaven. Why? Because they feel that they are a “good person.” Are there “good people” who think they are going to heaven but in reality will not be going? --- Jack Wellman

Just about everybody has an opinion about heaven --- some believe, some don't believe and some don't have a clue. Yet, heaven is widely thought of as the place most people want to go when they die even though they may have no idea what it takes to get in.

So often when a loved one dies, we like to assume that he or she is up in heaven looking down on us. Mostly, we tell ourselves this because it helps ease the pain of loss and keeps our dearly departed one close. Another common belief is that heaven is a place where good people go after they depart this earth. Who doesn't think of him or herself as a good person? But is being a good person good enough to get you into heaven? The fact is everybody talkin' 'bout heaven ain't goin' there. 

With so many misconceptions out there about heaven, I took to the streets to find out what the average person knows or believes. For this survey, I asked Millennials since they are the next generation to lead America into the future. How Millennials feel about God and religion will have a definite an impact on the kind of society they create. I conducted the survey at a local shopping mall and commuter train station. My sample consisted of randomly chosen males and females of different ethnicities between the ages of 18-34.

Here's what they had to say in response to questions about heaven:

1.) Do you believe in heaven?

• 64% yes
• 36 % no

2.) What do you know about heaven?

Some of the more interesting responses:

• I know it's a great place and I want to go there. (Age 24)
• I do believe there is something out there. I don't really believe in heaven or hell. (Age 18)
• It's a place people will go if they do something good with their life and they'll be reunited with loved ones (Age 25)
• It's a better place and hopefully, one day I [will] see my family, the ones who've passed away. (Age 29)
• I don't think much about heaven or know much. (Age 23)
• It's the place where your soul hopefully goes if you've been on good behavior. (Age 27)
• I heard that God died for our sins and once we die we live in eternal peace. (Age 20)
• Not like a Christian heaven, but I believe that after you die you don't have to put up with worldly woes. (Age 25)
• I was raised as Christian so I know about heaven as much as the Bible says and as much as Evangelical Christians will tell you. I am very atheistic at this point. (Age 27)
• I know absolutely nothing except what's recorded in the Bible. (Age 34)

3.) Do you expect to go to heaven when you die? If yes, why? If no, why?

• 64% yes*
• 21 % no
• 15% not sure

*Among the reasons given, "because I'm a good person" topped the list; also mentioned was "belief in God or Jesus."

Do you currently attend a place of worship like a church, synagogue, mosque or temple?

• 43 % yes
• 57% no*

*Among the "no" responses, "used to attend church" and "worship at home" were among the reasons given.

I wasn't surprised by the mixed responses I got from Millennials on heaven. However, it should be noted that those who demonstrated any spiritual or biblical understanding of heaven were in the minority. You can draw your own conclusions, as to what this means, especially if you're the parent of a Millennial or a member of the clergy. At the very least, it probably suggests that, as parents and as clergy, we haven't done a good enough job preparing the Millennial generation in this area. While Millennials may not be focused much on heaven right now, they still need to know what's ahead for them and what the options are.

The fact is Millennials are at greater risk of dying young from gun violence, motor vehicle accidents, drugs and suicide than any previous generation in America. Millennials have already experienced the pain of death of their peers and acquaintances, and aren't as reluctant to talk about dying or life after death as you might think. When Millennials write "R.I.P." on the makeshift memorials of their friends, we need to come alongside them to help them understand what it really means. So that when it's their turn to stare down death, they'll have the peace in their heart that's beyond comprehension.

As for the question, "Do you expect to go to heaven?" A majority answered "yes" and gave this reason: "because I'm a good person" or "because I believe I'm a good person." I thought the comment by a 27 year old woman was the most revealing. Although she does not believe in heaven, she feels that she couldn't meet all the "stipulations" required to get in, anyway. Good people do go to heaven but not just because they're good. Likewise, bad people can also go to heaven, in spite of having been bad. Heaven isn't a place for only good people.

If you want the truth, nobody gets into heaven on his or her own merit. You couldn't possibly do enough good deeds in a lifetime to earn a place in heaven. Keeping all Ten Commandments or any other form of human effort on your part won't earn you a place in heaven. The way to heaven begins with seeing yourself as God sees you --- a sinner in need of God's forgiveness:

We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23

Heaven is a level playing field, meaning anyone who wants in can get in. The only stipulation, the only requirement is that you accept God's invitation. It's a choice that only you can make. Millennials, please hear this. After you're dead, the opportunity to choose where you'll spend eternity is loss, unless that choice is made before you die. This short video explains everything you need to know to make it into heaven. Need help making a decision? Someone is waiting at www.peacewithgod.net to pray with you.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind but now I see.

---From the hymn, Amazing Grace by John Newton

Peace of mind: You won't find it in an app

You may be familiar with a television commercial in the U.S. that features a character whose name is Mayhem. The commercial shows ole Mayhem going about town stirring up trouble and causing disasters for innocent, unsuspecting victims. After he's wrecked havoc throughout the neighborhood, Mayhem says

If you had [blank] insurance you'd be protected from mayhem like me.

Most of us buy insurance to protect us from the unexpected—catastrophic illness, car accident, house fire, travel mishap, and even death. We live each day with the element of surprise hanging over our heads. We leave home each day, drive to work, drop the kids off at school, board buses, trains and planes to go about routine activities— all without any certainty or guarantee of how our day will end.

Like Mayhem, there's a real life character who preys upon your life and mine for no other reason than to hurt, harm and destroy us. His name is Satan. You may know him by his other names—the devil, accuser, thief and father of lies. Satan is also called "the god of this world" because he rules the earth and is responsible for all the evil and wickedness we see in the world today. We can see his influence in people who steal, lie, cheat, quarrel, murder, bully, inflict harm on others and do evil things. The bible compares Satan to a roaring lion constantly on the prowl looking for someone to attack.

And it doesn't matter to Satan whether his victims are Christians, some other religion, or no religion at all. The devil is an equal opportunity destroyer who hates God, and wants to destroy everything that God created, including you. If you've ever questioned why there is so much evil and hatred in the world, Satan is the reason. Comedian Flip Wilson was famous for saying, "The devil made me do it." Little did he know just how right he was.

Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done.—1 John 3:8 CEV

But here's the good news. God has an insurance policy against Satan's attacks that's backed by faith in his Son, Jesus Christ who said this about himself,

The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness. —John 10:10 GNT

More importantly, God's insurance policy comes with the ironclad guarantee that anyone who wants to be saved from Satan's onslaught can and will be saved. Anyone can activate God's insurance policy with a simple prayer like this:

God in heaven, I confess that I am a sinner. I believe your Son Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me, and help me to become the person you made me to be.

Makes it lot easier to have peace of mind when you know God's got your back.

Got troubles, who you gonna call?

It's an undeniable fact that we are living in desperate times. Almost anywhere you look on the planet these days things are happening that are shaking people to their core. In response, many people are doing things that they might not normally do in order to survive. The old idiom,"desperate times call for desperate measures," certainly seems to apply to the time in which we are living.

Photo by Mike Simons/Getty Images

Witness the unprecedented migration of immigrants streaming across borders and continents looking for safety from wars and persecution. Less well publicized, but very much related, is an increase in the numbers of people who are turning to prayer as a result of all that's happening in the world around them. Although actual statistics are few, intuitively it seems more people, even some who don't normally pray, are in fact praying, albeit hasty prayers of desperation.

When confronted with a sudden, overwhelming life situation, saints as well as sinners have resorted to prayer, if only as a last resort and only option. Ted Bundy, who was convicted of the serial murders of several women, spent his last night on Death Row weeping and praying. More recently, victims of the terror attacks that shook Pakistan, Brussels, Paris, Egypt and California were heard uttering cries for God's help as they lay wounded and dying. Prayer is not just for the religious. Turning to God, in desperate times when faced with imminent danger or certain death, is an instinctively human response.

God doesn't cover his ears or refuse to hear the prayers of those who only pray when they're in trouble. Quite the opposite. The bible tells us that God responds even more quickly to the desperate prayers of someone who's come to the end of his rope. To him or her, God says—

...And call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.—Psalm 50:15

The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope.—Psalm 34:18 GNT

Think of those words as an invitation. Several scriptural passages speak of God's willingness to come to the aid of humankind. Proof of this can be seen in the lives of David, King Hezekiah and the thief. David prayed as he ran for his life from King Saul who was trying to kill him. After God rescued him, David wrote down these thoughts—

In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.—Psalm 18:6 KJV

King Hezekiah was dying from an incurable illness and prayed to God to spare his life. And God answered—

I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. See, I will add fifteen years to your life.—Isaiah 38:5

Both David and King Hezekiah were believers. Some have questioned whether God hears the prayers of an unbeliever. This next example should prove that he does. Known only as "the thief on the Cross," this man was one of two thieves crucified on the Cross with Christ. As he was dying, this sinner, recognized Christ's' deity, and called out to Jesus to spare his soul in the life to come. And Jesus granted his last request saying to him—

I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.—Luke 23:43

The desperate prayers in the bible serve as models for our prayers today. Christians, who truly serve God, can expect certain guarantees when they pray; however, this does not mean that access to prayer is exclusively theirs. To the contrary, prayer is available and accessible to anyone who desperately needs and wants God's help. This should encourage anybody who thinks he's not good enough, deserving enough or articulate enough to pray—to pray anyway. God is listening.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.—Psalm 91:15-16