“Ma’am, your daughter gave me your phone number. We have her here. She’s in rough shape, and we have her on a suicide watch.”
I tried to understand the words, but the fragmented sound bites made no sense. The man said her blood alcohol levels were extremely high. That no one had been hurt. My granddaughter was safe and with her father.
“There’s an officer guarding her because of the arrest,” the monotone doctor reported to me.
“Arrest? What arrest?” I asked, trying to grapple with what the doctor said.
My daughter was in trouble. Learning my adult daughter was an alcoholic who now faced DUI and felony charges because she drove with her young child in the car, came as a shock. She hadn’t lived in my home for nearly twenty years. But still, shouldn’t I have known?
I couldn’t travel to her, but I knew God was there and well-able to intervene on her behalf. In the months that followed, I learned how to navigate treatment programs and the prison system. Each time I dropped money into an account, I prayed for God to show mercy and for my daughter to find freedom from her addiction. Each time I answered the phone, I prayed for the wisdom to know what to say and not to say. As the time for sentencing approached, I prayed fervently. My daughter was in trouble, and all I could do was pray. It seemed so insignificant.
James directs believers to pray. Prayer is an act of faith and a great weapon in times of adversity. Staying focused on the Lord keeps us from fearing outcomes and consequences and places the situation before the throne of grace. Praying about a situation means we seek an answer from God and not a manmade solution that either we or someone we know creates.
Are you troubled? Pray to God and expect Him to resolve your situation. Prayer will keep your thoughts positive and your hopes high. Rather than despair, you will be able to trust that God is working out your situation for good.
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Mel Tavares is a writer.