A dear friend of mine has lost her faith in God, she has been a Catholic for 53 years and now her faith has been tested, I have been emailing her for the past 3 hours,helping her through all of this, she was betrayed in the worst possible way, I cannot say the reason, but it is pretty bad.Something that happend in the past week that ruined her life, her belief, which was not her fault.
She has lost her trust in people and is completely lost and needs help in the spiritual way
Can you help me to find a way to help her?
2007-07-27 18:28:09 · 24 answers · asked by TigerLily 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Babycakes she was not betrayed by the Church but by a very close friend and some very nasty and cruel emails
2007-07-27 18:35:35 · update #1
I'm an atheist, but I hope you listen to me anyway.
Your friend needs you to care more about HER than about her faith right now. I know that you feel you are caring about her by caring about her faith, but please... just concentrate on listening and being there. There will be time for whatever other issues there are when the dust has settled in her life.
2007-07-27 18:32:16 · answer #1 · answered by Snark 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
about a year ago, I was betrayed by someone that had called me her best friend for the past 15 years. It does hurt, and all I can really say is this- I also began to lose trust in people, because "if my "best" friend could do this to me, what would others do?" When this happened God sent me another friend, that kept me going through that time and then she betrayed me too, when I needed her the most. so 2 people in one month. I have the best way that you can help her- let her vent with you, let her cry with you, let her even yell at you. The best kind of help you could give her, is encourage in the Lord. It can be very easy to place the blame on God during a friend's betrayal- I almost did- however I did learn that God will never leave or forsake- as I look back over the last year, I have come to the realization that I went through 2 betrayals so that I could really see God for who He is- the ONE I should trust the most. I will be praying for your friend, and you as you minister to her.
2007-07-27 18:48:57 · answer #2 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of the problems people that believe in God have is that when something happens they think , God was suppose to stopped it, even though the person with the problem doesn't attending Church does no,praying about the problem and God was not ask to do or change anything....You have to ask him..he does not give anyone anything unless they ask, then you have got to have strong enough faith for it to happen, and the main thing is the person has to be saved...God only hears the sinners prayer from sinners....other wise you've not been heard....So if shes a Christian(saved) then she needs to be doing some real praying ,faith felled....I mean whats the point of praying if you don't believe he would hear you and help you .
2007-07-27 18:49:50 · answer #3 · answered by purpleaura1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everyone's faith is tested in the worst of times. My mother, having been betrayed by my father (who cheated on her for the first time after 20 years of a slowly weakening marriage), felt extreme anguish at the crippling of her dreams. In her mid-40's, she's going to have a tough time finding that right man at this point, and it is just about every woman's dream to find that significant other in one's life, so you can imagine what she's gone through. After she had somewhat calmed down about the ordeal, as her mind resurfaced from the pain, she realized that making concrete faith decisions while in the midst of a crisis is not a wise decision -- waiting to see how one feels after the catastrophe has blown over leaves time to process events and determine how it has truly affected one's faith.
It is always difficult to do anything at this point -- but my whole-hearted advice, general as it may be, is to encourage her to put off her faith decisions until the crisis has set for a while (wait a month, maybe more). By that point, when she is level-headed, she will make a far better decision than while her mind is completely plagued with current events.
Best of luck, and God bless. She is lucky to have such a caring friend.
2007-07-27 18:37:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Im sorry for her. I understand what she is feeling. I've been there. What snapped me back was learning trusting God not people. Sadly when we can not seperate our faith from God and our faith in people there is trouble. God is all knowing and people have freewill. I studied the book of Job. This helped me a lot. Maybe read it with her.
2007-07-27 18:34:29 · answer #5 · answered by Glory3059 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faith cometh by hearing, hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17
Have her listen to encouraging bible teachers and read the word faithfully.
People will always let you down, God is faithful to be with you and never leave you. A time of testing is do we really trust him in ALL things?
2007-07-27 18:36:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
te only way is to help her see that God is still in control. people will always fail you at some point, but God is faitful, Yo u have to help her see that God has a plan for each and every one of us. It is hard to help you completely because you being there for her is going to be the best way. we can all have something that leads us astray but we just need a little guidance to show us the way back.
2007-07-27 18:33:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are a Catholic, too, pray lots of rosaries for her. Spend a hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament and offer that for her. While you're there, pray the Stations of the Cross. She's in my prayers.
Explain to her that this is a great privilege she's been granted - sharing in Christ's sufferings. He was betrayed and He expects us to carry our crosses just as He carried His. If she holds fast, there will be GREAT blessings for her on the other side of this experience. Now is the time to grow closer to Christ - not to shut Him out of her life.
2007-07-27 18:37:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
God never asked us to place our trust in other people, for people are fallible, and the enemy uses that to shatter peoples faith. But if your faith is in Jesus Christ then nothing can shatter that.
If you can help her see that her life, the life God has planned for her is not ruined, then you can help her, but by your own words you are saying her life is ruined.
Pray for wisdom for yourself first and for his grace and peace to illuminate her life, her heart, her spirit, right now at this moment. Pray this and use your own faith and beleive it to be true. Beleive the pray is answered by GOD the moment it is uttered, and you will help her more than you know.
2007-07-27 18:36:54 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Life has a way of always testing our own will and tolerances. I have been through much myself which drove me to the very edge, but I always manage to gain composure. If your friend has been devout in her faith for 53 years, it is but a "storm" in her life that has come up against a foundation which has stood firm for many years and she will not succumb to whatever circumstances so easily as you fear. When you state "betrayal" you bring about "trust" into the equation and TRUST in whatever or "whomever" LOST, is always hard to bear, and the hardest to regain REASON for not giving up. The best REASON your friend HAS, "is" that none of what has HAPPENED is FROM the Lord, and any loss of faith is a price we pay from his GRACE for he is ever FIRM to stand WITH us in any circumstance. It is US who always question "him" when in fact it is our ignorance that always BLOCKS us from his answers. If your friend has been faithful for 53 years, the one HOPE you have of helping her is in prayer to the holy spirit which protects her, guides her and will EVENUALLY get her through her most difficult time..........
2007-07-27 18:45:26 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋