It seems to me that it has been an especially heavy last few days to few weeks for so many people. So many burdens, so much loss, so much illness, so much brokenness.
Have you felt it?
Or do one of these mountains of despair cast its long shadow over you, right now?
And you wonder where the respite is, where the ending will be..when can the new day start.
There are storms in our lives, terrible tempests that can drown us if we let them. These storms come into the lives of the good, and the bad, and everyone in between. Living a good life, trying to be faithful, trying to do the right things won't shelter you from them.....even though, in the back of our minds, we think it should. Don't we? Don't you ever wonder..."don't I get a pass from this God? I follow You, I love you, I try and do Your will....couldn't this problem have missed me?"
I know, because we've been there. And I'll be honest, there were times I was asking, out loud and in a not too pleased tone of voice, why God was letting this happen, why we needed to go through this, and when was it going to end.
But the storm stayed, and it didn't ease up for a while. In that storm of health problems and business issues, and strife with who we thought were loved ones...God did something. He didn't take the problems away, He came and sat with us in the middle of the problems. He didn't make everything suddenly better, but we didn't go through it alone. He tossed and turned our lives upside down and it was bewildering, but He taught us a deeper faith. I had read somewhere before that faith was like a muscle, it had to be tested and strained to grow in strength...well, God did that to us. But in the end, God had moved us, both our hearts and our location, to where He wanted us to be...He had changed our motivations and our goals, and He had taught us great dependency upon Him.
"Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands." Oswald Chambers, "The Faith to Persevere"
And if you are in that testing phase, where He is drawing you out for a purpose you're not sure of yet, hold on, be faithful. His are the hands of love, and His love runs deeper than we can fathom.
But maybe, my friend, you are in a season of life where you are dealing with loss, which comes to us all. No ardent faith prevents the death of those we love, and all we can do is cling to the Lord, and remember that even Christ wept for Lazarus. And He will not leave you to mourn alone; He has been through loss, He can comfort you.
Or perhaps you're in a storm of life that you have no reasoning of, why it started or where it will go. Misfortune befalls us all at one time or another.
Betrayal of a friend or a family member is painful, recall our Lord went through it too, with Judas.
Accidents happen and lives are shattered, and nothing ever fits quite the same again.
Your economic status changes, and you wonder how you're going to manage things.
This is a fallen world, friends, and sometimes the bad things of life come into our lives, not through fault of our own, but because life happens.
The comfort in dealing with these is the same as dealing with a storm God has sent you into, or finding yourself in mourning or fear, cling to Christ. He will not fail you, nor forsake you.
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
" Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
As He pulled Peter up from the sea, so He will grab and hold us. The shadows and haunting pains of this life are nothing compared to His eternal life; and He promises this to us, that He will be with us, and that one day all things shall be set right. On that day, the lame will run, the broken heart be healed, death shall haunt us no more; for He shall wipe our tears and comfort us...and we shall be made whole.
No matter what we face in this life, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus; and in Him all things shall be made anew, and all wounds healed. For love of us, He went to the Cross, and for love of us He stands before His Father as our High Priest and Advocate; He will not forsake us, He is faithful.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Whatever you are facing, my friends, you do not face it alone. Not only do you have our love and prayers, but you have something of far greater value and comfort; the Lord Himself is with you. Rest in Him who loves you enough to have died for you, and who has gone to prepare a place for you. No matter how high the waves of the storm may get, He is only ever a call away, and He has promised to be with us until the very end of the age.
You are not alone, He is there. Hold fast, my friends, hold fast.
-Beth Haynes Butler
Have you felt it?
Or do one of these mountains of despair cast its long shadow over you, right now?
And you wonder where the respite is, where the ending will be..when can the new day start.
There are storms in our lives, terrible tempests that can drown us if we let them. These storms come into the lives of the good, and the bad, and everyone in between. Living a good life, trying to be faithful, trying to do the right things won't shelter you from them.....even though, in the back of our minds, we think it should. Don't we? Don't you ever wonder..."don't I get a pass from this God? I follow You, I love you, I try and do Your will....couldn't this problem have missed me?"
I know, because we've been there. And I'll be honest, there were times I was asking, out loud and in a not too pleased tone of voice, why God was letting this happen, why we needed to go through this, and when was it going to end.
But the storm stayed, and it didn't ease up for a while. In that storm of health problems and business issues, and strife with who we thought were loved ones...God did something. He didn't take the problems away, He came and sat with us in the middle of the problems. He didn't make everything suddenly better, but we didn't go through it alone. He tossed and turned our lives upside down and it was bewildering, but He taught us a deeper faith. I had read somewhere before that faith was like a muscle, it had to be tested and strained to grow in strength...well, God did that to us. But in the end, God had moved us, both our hearts and our location, to where He wanted us to be...He had changed our motivations and our goals, and He had taught us great dependency upon Him.
"Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands." Oswald Chambers, "The Faith to Persevere"
And if you are in that testing phase, where He is drawing you out for a purpose you're not sure of yet, hold on, be faithful. His are the hands of love, and His love runs deeper than we can fathom.
But maybe, my friend, you are in a season of life where you are dealing with loss, which comes to us all. No ardent faith prevents the death of those we love, and all we can do is cling to the Lord, and remember that even Christ wept for Lazarus. And He will not leave you to mourn alone; He has been through loss, He can comfort you.
Or perhaps you're in a storm of life that you have no reasoning of, why it started or where it will go. Misfortune befalls us all at one time or another.
Betrayal of a friend or a family member is painful, recall our Lord went through it too, with Judas.
Accidents happen and lives are shattered, and nothing ever fits quite the same again.
Your economic status changes, and you wonder how you're going to manage things.
This is a fallen world, friends, and sometimes the bad things of life come into our lives, not through fault of our own, but because life happens.
The comfort in dealing with these is the same as dealing with a storm God has sent you into, or finding yourself in mourning or fear, cling to Christ. He will not fail you, nor forsake you.
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
" Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
As He pulled Peter up from the sea, so He will grab and hold us. The shadows and haunting pains of this life are nothing compared to His eternal life; and He promises this to us, that He will be with us, and that one day all things shall be set right. On that day, the lame will run, the broken heart be healed, death shall haunt us no more; for He shall wipe our tears and comfort us...and we shall be made whole.
No matter what we face in this life, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus; and in Him all things shall be made anew, and all wounds healed. For love of us, He went to the Cross, and for love of us He stands before His Father as our High Priest and Advocate; He will not forsake us, He is faithful.
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Whatever you are facing, my friends, you do not face it alone. Not only do you have our love and prayers, but you have something of far greater value and comfort; the Lord Himself is with you. Rest in Him who loves you enough to have died for you, and who has gone to prepare a place for you. No matter how high the waves of the storm may get, He is only ever a call away, and He has promised to be with us until the very end of the age.
You are not alone, He is there. Hold fast, my friends, hold fast.
-Beth Haynes Butler
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