I think that sometimes as Christians there can be an expectation that we are supposed to always be happy and joyful and that we’re not going to experience some of the same emotional or spiritual challenges that others experience. I think there is this thought that just because we personally know God and believe in His son for our salvation that we are exempt from the hardships and heartbreaks that life sometimes can throw at everyone. But, that is the thing, it is life and life happens to all of us regardless of who we are, our social status, or our spiritual beliefs. And of course, as humans, sometimes we even make choices that result in a little more muscle behind the punch that life throws our way, just like everyone else.
Life is just hard in general from time to time and it is no different for Christians.
Personal growth and development for me, always includes a spiritual development aspect as well. Our relationship with Christ is just like a relationship with anyone else, we have to make it a priority and nurture it in order to ensure our relationship with Him is strong.
The last several months for me personally have been a time of searching out who I am, again. What I really want in life. What my beliefs are, not what I was always taught or what I have always known to be as truth but a reevaluation of almost everything and almost everybody. I think that sometimes we can get so torn down, we feel so small, we can feel so defeated, and we find ourselves in a place of just confusion and wonder filled with doubt about so many things. Sometimes life can hit us so hard that we question who we are, our purpose, we question not only those around us but also, we find that we can even begin questioning ourselves. Our trust and faith in what we thought was real and true can be rocked so hard that we find ourselves in a place where we are doubting everything, everybody, including the one looking back in the mirror at us.
I think it is important for us to feel where we are in the moment and take time to process through those feelings, and to remember that we are not alone in whatever we are going through. There are other people that understand and that have gone through some of the same things we are experiencing. I also think that it is extremely vital to remember that how we are feeling in those darkest moments, it will not always hurt like it does right now. It will not always be so confusing as it is right now. It will not always be as hard as it is right now. Find the knot in your rope of life to hang onto and do not let go for anything.
I would like to say that the first place I go to during times of heartache or confusion is God’s Word and prayer. But, that is not always the case. Sometimes, yes. But not always. Although I know prayer and His Word should be priority, like most of us, I usually try my way first. You know, so it can just take longer, then if I would just trust Him to be Him. Unfortunately, sometimes I allow my disappointments in other people to influence my perspective of how much God loves me. Of how much He is the one that really does search me out and want to have relationship with me. Instead of remembering that, like I should, sometimes I can place God inside this box of where other humans in my life have let me down and left me heartbroken. But, He is not like all the other people in our lives. No, no He is not. I am smiling right now as I type these words. Our Lord, He seeks us out, He loves us like no other is capable of and that my friend, that makes all of our hearts smile.
Last week as I was thumbing through this old small little Bible of mine, that I love so dearly, I was heading over to one of my favorite chapters, Psalm 139, to read about how much the Lord loved me and how He knit me together and how He made me so wonderfully complex and how He knew all the tiniest things about me, that’s how important I am to God. I needed to read those words, I needed to know someone loved me in a way that was genuine and was good. As I was making my way to that passage that I am so familiar with, my eye was caught on a highlight on a page in Jeremiah 31. The text I had highlighted from a previous reading was strong enough to catch my eye so much that I began at the beginning of chapter 31 and started reading. Oh, I tell ya, the Lord knows exactly what part of His word we need and when we need it. The desperation in my heart for the Lord that night was nothing if not a yearning to simply feel the love of someone toward me. Just to want to be loved and to want to be wanted and not rejected. Not unseen.
As I began to read the words in that chapter my eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with love. Every time in my life that I’ve found myself so desperate for Jesus, so spent and just exhausted from life, it’s also been the moment that I have finally given up on the thought that I can make my heartache any better, I’ve let down my guard of protection that was really for other humans and I allowed the Lord space. Because I could not do it anymore and I was so tired of trying. Surrender. Heart bending conversations with Jesus. Being vulnerable with Him and understanding that of all the people in my circle of influence, He is the one person I could count on to love me back. He is the one person that I could trust with my heart. He is the one person that I can know will not ever reject me. Because I am worthy of His love. He made me worthy of it, because of Him, I am worthy. Period. I am worthy.
Isn’t it such good stuff:
We are His. He loves us. He will give us rest. He loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us with an unfailing love. He will rebuild us. We will be happy again. Tears of joy will stream down our faces. He will lead us home with great care. He will gather us (seeks us out) and will watch over us. He will redeem us from those that are too strong for us. Our lives will be like a watered garden and all our sorrows will be gone. He will turn our mourning into joy. He will comfort us and exchange our sorrow for rejoicing. The Lord says do not weep any longer. There is hope for our future. We are His children. He loves us no matter what. He longs for us. He has mercy for us. The Lord will cause something new to happen. He has given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing. He will plant us anew. He will rebuild us.
Talk to Jesus like He’s sitting right beside you.
Tell Him it all. Tell Him you need His help. Pray. Read His Word. Be still. Take comfort in Him. Let Him love you and know that you are His child. Trust Him to be Him.
…Rinse & Repeat … Over & Over … Rinse & Repeat
Much Love
Michelle ♥️
Jeremiah 31: 1-28 NLT
Hope for Restoration
31 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”
3 Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
4 I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.
5 Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.
6 The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem[a] to worship the Lord our God.’”
7 Now this is what the Lord says:
“Sing with joy for Israel.[b] Shout for the greatest of nations! Shout out with praise and joy: ‘Save your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel!’
8 For I will bring them from the north and from the distant corners of the earth. I will not forget the blind and lame, the expectant mothers and women in labor. A great company will return!
9 Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my oldest child.
10 “Listen to this message from the Lord, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: The Lord, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock.
11 For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.
12 They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the Lord’s good gifts— the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone.
13 The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing.
14 The priests will enjoy abundance, and my people will feast on my good gifts. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Rachel’s Sadness Turns to Joy
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A cry is heard in Ramah— deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted— for her children are gone.”
16 But now this is what the Lord says: “Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you,” says the Lord. “Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy.
17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord. “Your children will come again to their own land.
18 I have heard Israel[c] saying, ‘You disciplined me severely, like a calf that needs training for the yoke. Turn me again to you and restore me, for you alone are the Lord my God.
19 I turned away from God, but then I was sorry. I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’
20 “Is not Israel still my son, my darling child?” says the Lord. “I often have to punish him, but I still love him. That’s why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.
21 Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Mark well the path by which you came. Come back again, my virgin Israel; return to your towns here.
22 How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the Lord will cause something new to happen— Israel will embrace her God.[d]”
23 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!’ 24 Townspeople and farmers and shepherds alike will live together in peace and happiness. 25 For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”
26 At this, I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet.
27 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah. 28 In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it. But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up. I, the Lord, have spoken! (“Jeremiah 31:1-28 (NLT)”)
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