What do you DO, when you CAN’T DO anything?

By Mikayla Moore

I have found that one of the toughest things to go through is not our own hard times, but watching others go through theirs. With me personally I’ve watched some of my closest friends and family, people I’ve known forever, go through things that they should’ve never gone through. I have felt so helpless. What could I, a fifteen year old girl, do to help my friend whose mom and dad are getting a divorce? How can I possibly help my friend who lives all the way across the country who cuts herself? We helplessly watch as our loved ones lives are falling apart. What can we do? It’s like when we hear there’s a hurricane in Florida. We watch the news as people’s houses are torn apart uprooting their sense of security along with their lives, but that’s all we can do-watch.

 

We may feel helpless but there are only two very powerful things we can do, and even though it doesn’t seem like much, they make ALL the difference.

 

The first thing we do is PRAY.

 

I know personally when bad things happen to the people I love most, prayer is the last thing that I want to do. Not because I don’t believe it will work, but because it seems like there are no instant results. All we want to see is results, and we want to see them fast. But a prayer, a single faith filled prayer, can make all the difference. Recently some of my family was really going through it. But they live across the country so how could I help? What could I do to get them out of it? I realized very quickly that sitting around talking about it to people, and crying for them, although it feels good sometimes, literally helps nothing. So I began to pray. Every time I thought about them, I prayed for them. I felt like it wasn’t accomplishing anything at first, but then I watched as God’s plan began to clearly unravel in their lives. It wasn’t like, they woke up one day and everything was perfect, all sunshine and rainbows. That was not the case at all. It was one step at a time; it was a very long and complicated road. And although they didn’t understand it while they went through it, now that they’re coming through the other side of their struggle they realize that each obstacle was a part of God’s plan to get them where they are today.

 

The other thing that is essential to helping others get through their storm is simply letting them know you’re HERE for them.  

 

I have a really good friend who I’ve known pretty much since birth. She is literally like my sister, and I don’t think we’ve ever gotten into a fight. That is why it really took a toll on me when I found out she was cutting herself. I wanted to fight the battle for her, to tell her to stop; I wanted to pull out my tool box and just fix all the broken parts of her life, to heal all her hurts. But, of course I couldn’t. All I could do was tell her that I was there for her. I pulled her aside one day and told her that I saw what she was doing and it scared me because I loved her. I told her that I didn’t know what she was going through or how she felt because I honestly didn’t. I also told her that I do not think any less of her, and that I would love to help her through it. Of course I was sure to tell her that she doesn’t have to harm herself anymore, that she never did. She thanked me, and said that it felt so good to have someone who actually cares about her. After that I started seeing improvements. I’m obviously not saying that I was the key to her stopping. I’m saying that knowing someone was there for her, was a key factor of it.

 

We can’t fight their battles for them and fix every broken part of their lives. But even when hurricanes destroy entire cities, they always get rebuilt. One brick at a time. One day at a time.  We feel so helpless when our loved ones are going through things that no one deserves and even though it feels like we’re accomplishing nothing- every prayer and every conversation are bricks that will eventually help to rebuild their lives.

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

^"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."