My sweet middle child told me that two kids in a camp he has been attending have been calling him names. I told him about Matthew 5:43-44: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

His response was, “But Mom, I don’t want to do that. It’s too hard!”

I didn’t tell him all the things I’d like to do rather than pray for those two kids who took joy in insulting one of the extensions of my own heart. But I did tell him that it was hard for me too, and that maybe we could pray for them together.

He couldn’t bring himself to pray for those kids, but agreed to let me pray out loud and listen and agree silently. I prayed. It was hard. But as I prayed, it got less hard, and I began to see those “mean” kids through different eyes - as children Jesus died for.

My heart softened, and I hope and pray my son’s was too. As we prayed, it was as if God was giving us front row seats to watch the power and glory in the situation get taken from Satan and placed back at the feet of the One who rightly deserves it.

Thank you, Jesus for hard teaching. Thank you for being wise in ways we cannot understand from our human perspective, with our flawed hearts and minds.

I was going to wait until I heard how my son’s day went to share this story, to see if God did something amazing to prove to my son that he is real and desires to work through hard obedience to bring blessing and that he can redeem absolutely everything - and everyone. But I don’t want to wait. Because regardless of what events transpire - whether we see visible evidence of God’s hand working through difficult acts of obedience, he is working. He is glorified. We can count on it.

Do you have enemies you need to pray for, or are you facing a different kind of hard obedience today? Share with us in the blog comments, we would love to hear your story. Our prayer for you is that you would be empowered to walk in the wisdom of God today, and see him work in ways you never dreamed possible!