I have a couple of sayings hanging on the bulletin board of my office. The first one says, ” what if you trusted Jesus in the worst moment of your life like you trust Him in the best moment of your life”.
I have the privilege of being involved with a few very dear sisters in Christ. We are each other’s lifelines when life crushes in heavy and leaves our hearts shredded. We have shared enough of each other’s lives that we can simply send a text that says “pray” and know that we have someone praying for us when we can’t seem to.
Some of these dear friends are living through situations that are difficult on a daily basis; some are life and death, take your breath away, I can’t take my next step difficult. Others are daily hurts, dreams crushed, how am I going to get through this difficult day… every day. Some cannot get out from under the fog of worry, anxiety and depression.
All of these situations beg the question: “Where are You Lord”
In being intimately involved with each other’s lives, we have shared things in our friendships that you just don’t/can’t/shouldn’t share with just anyone. These things are so deep that you can hardly speak them to yourself let alone to actually utter the depths of hurt, anger, questions to and about God out loud.
One dear friend said “all of the things I know about God, all the things I have trusted about Him, have to be used in this season that He has allowed in my life” (loosely translated).
Several years ago I posted on facebook the following:
We need to live moment by moment, not day to day or even week to week. Since He has only given us this moment, why should we try and take on more? Each moment of our lives is a new opportunity to walk in obedience to Him.
It is easy to trust God in the sweet times of life, isn’t it? But what about the times when life alters, wrenching our hearts so deep that we literally cannot breathe?
Someone once said we only worry about and hurt over the things, people, situations that we don’t want to lose. Think about that for a minute. It’s true, isn’t it?
Those things, those people, ministries, situations ; those life shattering moments in life are what we need to release to the Lord. Do we trust Him in the worst times of our lives like we trust Him in the best times?
Charles Spurgeon wrote: “When the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy”. This leads me to the second saying that I have hanging in my
office: “hidden in your worst trauma is your greatest gift” What would that greatest gift be?
In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul is pleading to the Lord “please take this thorn from me”
three times God says no.
Paul is told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. Paul says that he will boast all the more in his weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on him. He continues, “for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2nd Corinthians 12:10
Our weakness, God’s strength. When circumstances are beyond our control and we feel that we are going to be crushed, it is my prayer that we remember that we have access to the greatest power on this earth, that we will remember that He is for us and not against us (Jeremiah 29:11), that He loves us and has a plan for us (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Sometimes God says no. Some of these “no’s” are devastating, Sometimes God says yes and He blesses us with dreams, love and lives that are so overflowing with abundance, we can do nothing but fall to our knees with arms stretched to Him with gratitude. Sometimes He says wait, and so we do, knowing that He is sovereign and loving and good, always…… ALWAYS!!!!
God is filled with love, mercy and grace.
Love comes when He draws us to Him and hides us under the shadow of His wing (Psalm 91:4) or in the clef of a rock and protects, (Exodus 33:22)even when we do not feel His presence.
The mercy comes in as He walks the valleys, the devastation, the ugliness and horrors of life. As He whispers His presence, when it’s just Him and us in the still of the night with tears running down our face and our hearts so shattered we think we will shatter with it.
Grace comes in when He allows these things, knowing that we are hurting. He is after our hearts, our souls. He is a jealous God, (Exodus 20:5) He wants ALL of us. Are we holding on to people, things, power, affirmation, prestige, ANYTHING that we put above Him?
Put those things aside. Cry out to Him. Tell Him that HE is all you want, all you need. He will never fail you when you are seeking Him with everything that you have, everything that you are. And then trust Him in this place, this situation like you would if it were the sweetest time of your life.