When Tragedy Strikes
When you have to practice what you preach... sometimes you eat your words. About one month ago tragedy struck our home. Tragedies come in all shapes and sizes and affect everyone at some point in their life... or many times throughout our lives. Some of us feel like we can't get through one tornado before another one strikes. Life certainly isn't always easy... but God never promised us easy. He promised us something greater. An eternity with Him.
I will not share the specifics of this particular battle our family is facing but you can insert your own experiences and we can empathize with one another as to the heartache the trials of life can bring. For some it's illness, some could be suffering the loss of a loved one, for many it's financial, divorce or an addiction to any number of things and the list goes on.
I've never claimed to be a prosperity preacher. I believe in the trials as much as I believe in the blessings. However, I always felt the blessings outweighed the trials and that the trials always came with a lesson to be learned, a great reward from pushing through and not giving up and a deeper relationship with the Lord. This time - my world has been shaken right down to the foundation. The foundation I thought I was building my life on has been shattered and the thought of taking a step back and letting God rebuild it has me crying out to Him continuously.
The last going on 3 years now... of our life... has been hell. HELL - yes - if I imagine spending eternity in hell - then the thought of repeating the last 3 years over and over again comes close to what I imagine it would be like. I know - I know - I'm being dramatic - in hell we are separated from God and the one blessing I can cling to now is that God has been with me the last 3 years. But what a ride it has been. One that I would love to get off of and walk away from - forever. But giving up is not my style.
Feelings are fickle little things. One minute you're laughing til you pee your pants and the next you are sobbing your eyes out with snot pouring out of your nose faster than you can wipe it away. Feelings can be good too... they allow us to experience all sorts of things. Without knowing love we would not be able to recognize hate - without sadness there would be no joy - without fear we wouldn't know what confidence feels like... feelings can be good - but they can lead us astray if we allow them to take over.
That has been my predicament as of recent. My feelings have taken over and almost... almost... lead me down a path of forgetting who I am in Christ. While enduring this particular trial I have taken a beat from social media. I have spent more time in prayer, self reflection and looking for truth over my feelings. I wanted to share this with you because I know that life throws lemons at all of us. Sometimes a hardball that hits you in the nose and causes you to black out and wake up with the 'feeling' that you wish you were dead. I'm gonna go there... because too many people try to hide the fact that they sometimes feel that way - but the Lord says - the truth will set you free. Don't keep it locked away inside where the enemy feeds it... let it out and let God fill you back up with His unfailing love.
Now, I haven't wished I was dead... not at all... but taking a brief trip from reality to Never Never Land has sounded pretty good to me as of recent. But we can't do that... can we??? No! You have to deal with reality. You have to pick yourself up, wipe yourself off and ask yourself, what would Jesus do? Jesus loved unconditionally. Love covers a multitude of sin. Love is an action word and is not based on feelings. So whatever type of trial we are facing... we can love ourselves through it. Love ourselves, love others, act in love and stay strong in God's love for us. When you choose to love above all else you will never be making the wrong choice. I've seen God do miracles just through someone else's actions of love. I've seen people change just because someone chose to love them through their mess. I've seen love do what nothing else can do.
I want to encourage you today - Love. Love God - Love Yourself - Love Others. It will not fail you.
Our family has faced all kinds of things over the years. Many of the things mentioned above... and love always pulled us through. God's love sustained us and loving each other kept us moving forward. It will do it this time too.
My husband and I took our oldest son in for a check up many years ago. He had to get shots at this particular visit. He was not a fan of shots... but we told him he had to - he didn't have a choice. He asserted himself and looked up at us and said, "You always have a choice." We love that story! But he had a point. He could have continued to fight us and maybe we wouldn't have forced the issue that day... but knowing us... we would have... - but either way he would have had consequences from not getting his vaccine. He chose to get the shot.
Just like him - you have a choice. You can choose to give up. You can choose to let the storm overwhelm you or you can choose to trust God and love your way through it. There is a certain peace that comes from choosing to trust God and choosing love over everything else.
Isaiah 43:2
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
This is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me that when tragedy strikes... it will not take me down with it - because God promises it won't!
Trust God. Choose Love. Walk in Peace.
I will not share the specifics of this particular battle our family is facing but you can insert your own experiences and we can empathize with one another as to the heartache the trials of life can bring. For some it's illness, some could be suffering the loss of a loved one, for many it's financial, divorce or an addiction to any number of things and the list goes on.
I've never claimed to be a prosperity preacher. I believe in the trials as much as I believe in the blessings. However, I always felt the blessings outweighed the trials and that the trials always came with a lesson to be learned, a great reward from pushing through and not giving up and a deeper relationship with the Lord. This time - my world has been shaken right down to the foundation. The foundation I thought I was building my life on has been shattered and the thought of taking a step back and letting God rebuild it has me crying out to Him continuously.
The last going on 3 years now... of our life... has been hell. HELL - yes - if I imagine spending eternity in hell - then the thought of repeating the last 3 years over and over again comes close to what I imagine it would be like. I know - I know - I'm being dramatic - in hell we are separated from God and the one blessing I can cling to now is that God has been with me the last 3 years. But what a ride it has been. One that I would love to get off of and walk away from - forever. But giving up is not my style.
Feelings are fickle little things. One minute you're laughing til you pee your pants and the next you are sobbing your eyes out with snot pouring out of your nose faster than you can wipe it away. Feelings can be good too... they allow us to experience all sorts of things. Without knowing love we would not be able to recognize hate - without sadness there would be no joy - without fear we wouldn't know what confidence feels like... feelings can be good - but they can lead us astray if we allow them to take over.
That has been my predicament as of recent. My feelings have taken over and almost... almost... lead me down a path of forgetting who I am in Christ. While enduring this particular trial I have taken a beat from social media. I have spent more time in prayer, self reflection and looking for truth over my feelings. I wanted to share this with you because I know that life throws lemons at all of us. Sometimes a hardball that hits you in the nose and causes you to black out and wake up with the 'feeling' that you wish you were dead. I'm gonna go there... because too many people try to hide the fact that they sometimes feel that way - but the Lord says - the truth will set you free. Don't keep it locked away inside where the enemy feeds it... let it out and let God fill you back up with His unfailing love.
Now, I haven't wished I was dead... not at all... but taking a brief trip from reality to Never Never Land has sounded pretty good to me as of recent. But we can't do that... can we??? No! You have to deal with reality. You have to pick yourself up, wipe yourself off and ask yourself, what would Jesus do? Jesus loved unconditionally. Love covers a multitude of sin. Love is an action word and is not based on feelings. So whatever type of trial we are facing... we can love ourselves through it. Love ourselves, love others, act in love and stay strong in God's love for us. When you choose to love above all else you will never be making the wrong choice. I've seen God do miracles just through someone else's actions of love. I've seen people change just because someone chose to love them through their mess. I've seen love do what nothing else can do.
I want to encourage you today - Love. Love God - Love Yourself - Love Others. It will not fail you.
Our family has faced all kinds of things over the years. Many of the things mentioned above... and love always pulled us through. God's love sustained us and loving each other kept us moving forward. It will do it this time too.
My husband and I took our oldest son in for a check up many years ago. He had to get shots at this particular visit. He was not a fan of shots... but we told him he had to - he didn't have a choice. He asserted himself and looked up at us and said, "You always have a choice." We love that story! But he had a point. He could have continued to fight us and maybe we wouldn't have forced the issue that day... but knowing us... we would have... - but either way he would have had consequences from not getting his vaccine. He chose to get the shot.
Just like him - you have a choice. You can choose to give up. You can choose to let the storm overwhelm you or you can choose to trust God and love your way through it. There is a certain peace that comes from choosing to trust God and choosing love over everything else.
Isaiah 43:2
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
This is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me that when tragedy strikes... it will not take me down with it - because God promises it won't!
Trust God. Choose Love. Walk in Peace.
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