April 30, 2011 · Filed under Christian Living, Praise, Redemption, Religion, Trust · Tagged Christianity, God, hard times, hurt, Jesus, redemption, suffering, trust
I have been attempting to write this blog for several weeks now, but have had to wrap my head around it. It seems as if things come in waves. You know, things are going good…life is happy and then WHAM! Something knocks you down. Then before you can even begin to get up again, something else comes along and WHAM! Another one. It seems like seasons of suffering…seasons of pain. What do we do with these seasons? What are we supposed to make of them? I have pondered this for about 2 months now. I have one thing after another after another after another. And I still don’t have an answer to the question posed, so if you came here looking for one, I am afraid you will leave disappointed.
I do know that in the midst of hurt is when we can feel God’s presence most. I do know that his word states “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Why would he make a point to put this in his word for us? He wants us to know…”hold on during that pain, hold on during that hurt…you have something so much greater in store”.
Job tells us “but he knows the way that I take and when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” Gold goes through a tremendous amount of pressure to come forth as pure. I guess it’s that way with us. We cry out to God to make it (whatever our “it” is) stop. We cry out to him to make his presence known. We cry out for forgiveness and a little bit of peace. That’s fine. But, what if we look at it a different way? What if we look at it as every tear we cry is bringing us closer to Him? What if we look upon the hurt as an opportunity for him to heal? What if we look at every wrong done to us as a chance to forgive and show his grace? Maybe then we could go through the suffering just a bit easier. Will it be easy? No way! Will there be days when we just beg God to relieve us a bit? There sure are. But, take a breath. Know he is there. Know he cares. Know there is something so much bigger at work; things we can’t see or fathom. Know he knows. Yup…take a breath and trust…knowing after it’s done, you will come forth as gold——and so will I.
November 13, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Family, Life, Parenting, Praise, Religion, Servanthood, Trust · Tagged christian life, hurt, parenting, Praise, relationships, Religion, trust, Worship
I was thinking today about God holding and bottling every tear that we cry. That’s an awesome thing to me because in the past week or two I have cried an extreme amount of tears. I have experienced the kind of emotional pain that hurts so deeply you feel like your heart is literally being ripped out. I have questioned myself and wondered what in the world I did wrong. What did I do to cause this to happen? Little offers me comfort. Little makes me happy. Little offers me hope. I am just being honest and transparent here. Please don’t leave me comments telling me I have no faith….I have faith. I have faith enough to call on His name even though I am too tired to. I have faith enough that I know He is still in control. But, I am human. And right now, I am a human who is hurting. 
My mind goes back to Job…blameless Job who did nothing but love God and yet had everything stricken from him. Job, who would not curse God and die. Job who passed his test. Job who, after going through the fire, came forth as gold. During this trial, I have remained faithful. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I have still read. I have prayed. I have fasted. I have still led worship. I have taught Sunday school. I have preached in youth. I have lived my life as God wants me to live it. I have sought His will, His grace, and His mercy. Am I perfect? No way! But…Jesus is my everything. He is all I have. He is all I need. I believe that He is going to turn this situation around. I pray He does is soon….because I can’t handle much more. I have heard it said without a TEST you would not have a TESTimony. I will have a great one after this is over. Why am I writing this? I don’t know. I have stated before that this blog is my source of catharsis. I am the type of person who has to get things out and this is my way of doing it. I also want your prayers if you are reading this and are a Christian. I want you to know if you are at a place where you are hurting, hang in there. It’s all we can do. We can’t go back. I wouldn’t want to. My God is faithful. He is faithful and He is worthy. No matter my circumstances, I’m gonna praise Him. No matter what it looks like, I believe he is in control. So, I’m gonna hang in there. You hang in there too.
July 24, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Religion · Tagged Christian Living, encouragement, hurt, Religion, tongue
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
Have you ever said something and then thought “Oh Lord, I shouldn’t have said that!” I know we all have. What’s scary though is that the above verse tells us that our mouths will speak what is stored in our hearts. We have to learn to guard our mouths and tongues. James is quite clear when he tells us the tongue is the hardest part of the body to control. He likens it to a horse on a bridle. The mouth can flat get us into trouble! Mine does. I am quite opinionated. I have gotten better with age and maturity in Christ, but I still say things and then realize that no one asked me for my opinion or thought, I just freely gave it. Our tongues can tear someone down or they can bring someone up. One sharp word can hurt another…one kind word can help brighten their day. Which one will you choose today?
I don’t know why I am writing this blog today. Maybe I need to be reminded. Maybe you, the reader, needs to be reminded. In any event, it is on my heart and mind today to watch what goes into my mind, spirit, and heart; because from that….I will speak. I want to speak life into others. I want to be an encourager. I want to lift others up and help them realize their potential and what they are called to be and do. How about you?
Just a thought…..
