You will have storms and trials in this life.
You will. It is a given. It is part of life.
No matter how strong your prayers, no matter how devout your faith, or the faith of your family and friends. Trouble will come.
There will be times of illness, either for you, or your loved ones.
Your relationships will undergo stress. Your job or business will have times of strain.
People will be unkind. Some will lie. Some will hurt you on purpose.
Things unforeseen will happen, and they will knock you for a loop.
Eventually, to you and to people you love, death will come.
Everyone, no matter what they do, or do not believe, will go through such.
Many of us will have family and friends who will stand with us in times of duress, but even they have their limits. Those loved ones cannot be with you during your darkest nights of the soul; those times when you are locked with fear and wrestling with terrors in the depths of your mind and soul. The storms that ravage us make us feel raw and adrift..exposed and afraid.
Where faith makes a difference is this; you are not in the storm alone. You have not been abandoned, you are not anchor-less and forlorn.
For the Lord is with you. The God who wept at the death of His friend holds you as you cry. The Lord who asked if the cup could be taken from Him in the garden stands beside you, taking the greater share of your fear and terror onto Himself. He is the co-suffering Savior, and He always carries the heavier part of whatever cross you bear at the moment. The Almighty, who set you apart from before He created the earth will not abandon you to the ravages of life's storms, no matter how harsh they get.
Just as He pulled Peter out of the storm swept sea, He grabs you. He holds you. He knows your terrors, your fears, your unspoken nightmares, and offers you His peace to conquer them. He doesn't promise that this life will be easy, or that you won't suffer, only that He shall never forsake you.
And that...when the end comes, He will claim you as His, and wipe every tear from your eyes. That no fear of this world can have claim on you, because He has bought you and named you.
Those storms come, my friends. But give thanks, as I am right now, that we don't go through those ordeals alone. Our God is a faithful God, and we don't take one step alone.
What comfort there is in His promises. Cling to them.
-Beth Haynes Butler
You will. It is a given. It is part of life.
No matter how strong your prayers, no matter how devout your faith, or the faith of your family and friends. Trouble will come.
There will be times of illness, either for you, or your loved ones.
Your relationships will undergo stress. Your job or business will have times of strain.
People will be unkind. Some will lie. Some will hurt you on purpose.
Things unforeseen will happen, and they will knock you for a loop.
Eventually, to you and to people you love, death will come.
Everyone, no matter what they do, or do not believe, will go through such.
Many of us will have family and friends who will stand with us in times of duress, but even they have their limits. Those loved ones cannot be with you during your darkest nights of the soul; those times when you are locked with fear and wrestling with terrors in the depths of your mind and soul. The storms that ravage us make us feel raw and adrift..exposed and afraid.
Where faith makes a difference is this; you are not in the storm alone. You have not been abandoned, you are not anchor-less and forlorn.
For the Lord is with you. The God who wept at the death of His friend holds you as you cry. The Lord who asked if the cup could be taken from Him in the garden stands beside you, taking the greater share of your fear and terror onto Himself. He is the co-suffering Savior, and He always carries the heavier part of whatever cross you bear at the moment. The Almighty, who set you apart from before He created the earth will not abandon you to the ravages of life's storms, no matter how harsh they get.
Just as He pulled Peter out of the storm swept sea, He grabs you. He holds you. He knows your terrors, your fears, your unspoken nightmares, and offers you His peace to conquer them. He doesn't promise that this life will be easy, or that you won't suffer, only that He shall never forsake you.
And that...when the end comes, He will claim you as His, and wipe every tear from your eyes. That no fear of this world can have claim on you, because He has bought you and named you.
Those storms come, my friends. But give thanks, as I am right now, that we don't go through those ordeals alone. Our God is a faithful God, and we don't take one step alone.
What comfort there is in His promises. Cling to them.
-Beth Haynes Butler
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