Life Hurts

 

There are so many hurts in this world. Our body and soul are wracked with every kind of atrocity in varying degree of horror. One of the worse is that inflicted on us at the death of our child - from one in the womb to one that is grown, but died too soon. I lost a baby in a miscarriage. At first I did not want anyone to fuss over me, because it was just a fetus, right? I tried not to grieve.

But God showed me that although my arms ached to hold this precious fruit of my love with my husband, God was now holding my child in HIS arms, and what better place for my child to be resting! I gave my baby a name and celebrated his birthday in my heart every year. This gave me hope and a blessing that lessened my grief (Jeremiah 29:11).

My beloved child may have left this mortal world, with all of its suffering and trials, but he did not miss our immortal home in heaven. Every single one of our days are planned out by God and written down in His book before we are ever born (Psalm 139: 13-18; Ephesians 2:10). God makes all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Life starts at conception, and our precious child's soul was alive in heaven with our Savior (Jeremiah 1:5). What a fact to celebrate, in spite of our sadness of never having known our child in this earthly life. God actually creates our soul to include our personality and knits our bones together in our mother’s womb. We are amazingly made as spirit, body, soul – our thoughts, will and emotions.

No one deserves to suffer the trials of life, but we all go through them. We are united in our sufferings, but we are also united in our joys and pleasures. God uses tribulation to strengthen our soul and to allow us to draw closer to Him and to one another. We can comfort each other with the same encouragement He uses to comfort us (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Prayer:

Father God, life treated Jesus abominably. His life was cut off in His prime at 33 years of life. His mother grieved at the cross and at His grave. She watched as He was scourged, nailed to a wooden cross and allowed to hang there until His lungs collapsed. However, according to Your will, Jesus victoriously rose again from the grave. He paved the way for everyone, who will walk away from sin and embrace Your will for our life, to spend eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

God always uses everything in our life, even the bad things, for our ultimate good. 

Escaping the Gridlock of Disappointment

 

Our current circumstances will not last forever. God has a purpose in them for us and for those around us. As we focus on Jesus, God gives us everything we need to live a fulfilled life in Him, even during negative circumstances (Matthew 6:33). We look beyond the present moment and focus on the glory set before us, just like Jesus did (Hebrews 12:2). When our faith and hope collide like a car wreck into some abrupt incident, which life T-bones us with, it throws us off course. Disappointment, discouragement, depression; and sometimes, even hopelessness settle into our very bones and they are hard to dislodge.

Our only hope is to draw near to God. Then as we resist Satan, he must flee from us with his entire demonic hoard (James 4:7). We can write in our journal or pour our heart out to God in prayer. We may even read our words scribbled across our journal and realize that God spoke the answer as we unburdened our heart on its pages. God gives us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We know without a doubt that in the next instant we will hear God’s voice telling us which way to turn to escape this gridlock with disappointment. He may use His Word, a thought, a person or an instance to give us His direction.

My friend lost her baby in childbirth. In the midst of her anguish, God showed her that although her arms ached to hold this precious child, God was already holding the baby in His everlasting arms. What better place for her child to rest for eternity? Life starts at conception, and her baby's little soul is now in heaven with our Savior. This is a fact to celebrate, in spite of their sadness at never having known their child during her temporary life on earth. Their beloved child may have left this mortal world, with all of its suffering and trials, but she did not miss her immortal home in heaven. Right now, she is waiting there for us all.

Once we understand our feelings we can forgive the one who offended us. Once we sleep on it, few things are as momentous as they seemed at first. We may realize that we over-reacted to the situation. We may need to ask forgiveness for our behavior. Once we understand God’s perspective in the situation, hope rises in our soul. We see God’s direction for this new day and we walk in His ways by the guidance of His Holy Spirit. God has a perfect plan for every life. Even a fatal illness is nothing to fear. God has His plan in it and He will work out His purposes through it. We can rest assured that it will accomplish results for our good (Romans 8:28).

Prayer:

Father God, You make all things beautiful in Your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). You help us to keep our perspective centered in Your faithfulness whenever we experience tribulation in this world. We often allow minor issues, which will have no meaning a week from now, to bowl us over and knock us for a loop when they first occur. Remind us that You are the Father of all mercy and comfort. You calm us in our sickness and trials, so that we may share this same consolation with others when they experience similar situations. We experience suffering for Christ’s sake, but we also receive abundant comfort through Him as well (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

Thought for the Day:

Faith provides us with total surrender and trust in the faithfulness of God, over a future outcome, which we cannot yet foresee.