On one of my really hard days this past month my dear sister Hannah played this song for me. It was a day when I had completely given up and couldn't go another day. Listening to this song gave me a new strength in the Lord. He is there even in the storms.
I want to share the song with you. I hope the link works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
There Is A Light In the Darkness
The Lord gave me another beautiful word and picture a few days ago. It seems like the more I lean into Him, the more He speaks to me. I have felt a tremendous peace wash over me the past several days. I was struck by the fact that God is sovereign. Nothing is hidden from Him, He is over all, in all and in control of all.
"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare tot he eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:13
"Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? declares the Lord. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" Jeremiah 23:23-24
God was not surprised by the events that have unfolded to destroy my world. He knew everything that was going to happen and He knows everything that is going to happen. Although my future is uncertain and unknown to me it is not unknown to my God. He knows the end of the story, and the end of the story doesn't surprise Him either. He is in control of my life. He knows where I will be, who I will be married to, what I will be doing, how I will be serving Him. So because I have a God who is in all and who knows all I don't have to fear. My trust can be in the fact that He is in control and nothing surprises Him. By realizing this truth, I have been able to find a new peace. A peace I haven't had since the beginning of all of this mess. A peace that only comes in resting in the arms of my God.
Another truth that the Lord opened my eyes to see is that He is my light in the darkness. I have been looking for and longing for the light at the end of this long dark tunnel. I keep hoping that it will happen any day. I tell myself - maybe today - maybe in a few weeks - but the days go by and nothing changes. The darkness becomes to much to bear at times. I feel like it is crushing in on me and I long for the day when I can see the sun again. But God showed me that I don't have to wait for the darkness to go away to see the light. He is my light. As I center myself on Him, His light floods over me. I see myself as walking down this long narrow tunnel with no light of day. The darkness is so overwhelming and so oppressive - I can't see the hand in front of my face. Fear overtakes me as I imagine all the things that could happen to me and that are happening to me. I strain my eyes ahead to see even a glimpse of light but the darkness becomes heavier and heavier. I stop and begin to cry out to my God - "God I need you, God I need you, God I need you." Suddenly light from heaven pours down like a spotlight over me. I am surrounded on all sides by this intense and glorious light. I still must walk through the tunnel - the darkness is still there - but I no longer feel alone and afraid. I am surrounded by a light that gives me the strength to rise up and go another day.
"He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him." Daniel 2:22
"Christ, be the center of my life, be the place I fix my eyes. Be the center of my life."
"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare tot he eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Hebrews 4:13
"Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? declares the Lord. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" Jeremiah 23:23-24
God was not surprised by the events that have unfolded to destroy my world. He knew everything that was going to happen and He knows everything that is going to happen. Although my future is uncertain and unknown to me it is not unknown to my God. He knows the end of the story, and the end of the story doesn't surprise Him either. He is in control of my life. He knows where I will be, who I will be married to, what I will be doing, how I will be serving Him. So because I have a God who is in all and who knows all I don't have to fear. My trust can be in the fact that He is in control and nothing surprises Him. By realizing this truth, I have been able to find a new peace. A peace I haven't had since the beginning of all of this mess. A peace that only comes in resting in the arms of my God.
Another truth that the Lord opened my eyes to see is that He is my light in the darkness. I have been looking for and longing for the light at the end of this long dark tunnel. I keep hoping that it will happen any day. I tell myself - maybe today - maybe in a few weeks - but the days go by and nothing changes. The darkness becomes to much to bear at times. I feel like it is crushing in on me and I long for the day when I can see the sun again. But God showed me that I don't have to wait for the darkness to go away to see the light. He is my light. As I center myself on Him, His light floods over me. I see myself as walking down this long narrow tunnel with no light of day. The darkness is so overwhelming and so oppressive - I can't see the hand in front of my face. Fear overtakes me as I imagine all the things that could happen to me and that are happening to me. I strain my eyes ahead to see even a glimpse of light but the darkness becomes heavier and heavier. I stop and begin to cry out to my God - "God I need you, God I need you, God I need you." Suddenly light from heaven pours down like a spotlight over me. I am surrounded on all sides by this intense and glorious light. I still must walk through the tunnel - the darkness is still there - but I no longer feel alone and afraid. I am surrounded by a light that gives me the strength to rise up and go another day.
"He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him." Daniel 2:22
"Christ, be the center of my life, be the place I fix my eyes. Be the center of my life."
Friday, January 9, 2009
Traveling through the valley
I have been traveling through the darkest, most difficult valley of my life. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever dreamed that this valley would be in the story of my life. The pain has been at times more than I can bear, and the tears I have cried would fill many buckets. There are many days when I don't think I can take it anymore, days when the pain crushes my heart and makes it hard to breath. I have tried to give up at times and I have prayed many, many times that God would please take my life so that I could just be in heaven worshiping Him. Yet I am still here. Still holding on. All I have left to hold onto is my God but I am discovering as I travel this valley that when God is all you have left, your life can be richer and more beautiful than ever. God is teaching me so many things and changing my life in amazing ways. I have been feeling that the things God is teaching me are not just for me to hold onto but that as I journey through this sorrow that I can speak out the things on my heart and you all may grow in your love and knowledge of the Lord as well. My deepest hearts desire is that I will not become totally self focused during this difficult time but that I can see the needs in others around me. It is so easy to focus my thoughts, and conversations on the things happening to me but I desire to look beyond my own pain and help others who may be hurting too. Just recently I realized that I don't have to wait for this to be over to do that. That I can begin to share the amazing things taking place in my heart now and through my words and the testimony of what God is doing, that many of you may be encouraged and strengthened as well.
We all walk through difficult seasons in life. We all have our valleys of weeping and God is showing me that even in these times and in these valleys we have a choice to weep the whole way or we can change our weeping into springs of rejoicing. Just because we rejoice doesn't make the valley disappear. We still have to walk through it. It will still be hard and painful at times but there can be so much joy and peace as we travel through. Not joy in our circumstances but joy in our God. The God who is carrying us through. Who walks every mile we walk. He is there to pick us up when we fall, to weep as we weep, and to give us the strength to take the next step. He is the God who knows the end of the story and his love and grace, his strength and mercy are there for us every minute of everyday. If we draw from these as we travel through the pain of the day, he will fill us up with everything we need for that moment. What an amazing thought.
An amazingly beautiful thing that God has shown me during the past few weeks is that if in the midst of my pain, disappointment and confusion I can offer to Him a sacrifice of praise, that it is truly an incredible privilege. Only in this life on earth will I be able to give Him an offering of praise with this kind of fragrance. Once I am in heaven I won't be able to give Him this kind of praise because I won't experience pain or suffering. So many days in the past couple of months the pain becomes so overwhelming that I want so badly to die. I just want to be in heaven worshiping my God. But I should rejoice that I get the privilege of being able to offer up to God and offering with this fragrance. I recently told this to a dear friend of mine and she said that someone once shared a similar thing with her. She said that she had a picture of God in heaven with the glory of the praise of all the angels around Him, and He silenced heaven so that He could hear the praise of the one on earth who was praising Him through her pain. The fragrance was so sweet to Him that He silenced the majestic melody of the worshiping angels to hear that one frail voice. When we worship God, even through our tears, He will run to us, lift us up out of our despair, and set us firmly on the rock. He will cover us under the shadow of His wings until the calamity has passed us by. If we have nothing else to rejoice in, we can rejoice in this.
How Great Is Our God!!!
We all walk through difficult seasons in life. We all have our valleys of weeping and God is showing me that even in these times and in these valleys we have a choice to weep the whole way or we can change our weeping into springs of rejoicing. Just because we rejoice doesn't make the valley disappear. We still have to walk through it. It will still be hard and painful at times but there can be so much joy and peace as we travel through. Not joy in our circumstances but joy in our God. The God who is carrying us through. Who walks every mile we walk. He is there to pick us up when we fall, to weep as we weep, and to give us the strength to take the next step. He is the God who knows the end of the story and his love and grace, his strength and mercy are there for us every minute of everyday. If we draw from these as we travel through the pain of the day, he will fill us up with everything we need for that moment. What an amazing thought.
An amazingly beautiful thing that God has shown me during the past few weeks is that if in the midst of my pain, disappointment and confusion I can offer to Him a sacrifice of praise, that it is truly an incredible privilege. Only in this life on earth will I be able to give Him an offering of praise with this kind of fragrance. Once I am in heaven I won't be able to give Him this kind of praise because I won't experience pain or suffering. So many days in the past couple of months the pain becomes so overwhelming that I want so badly to die. I just want to be in heaven worshiping my God. But I should rejoice that I get the privilege of being able to offer up to God and offering with this fragrance. I recently told this to a dear friend of mine and she said that someone once shared a similar thing with her. She said that she had a picture of God in heaven with the glory of the praise of all the angels around Him, and He silenced heaven so that He could hear the praise of the one on earth who was praising Him through her pain. The fragrance was so sweet to Him that He silenced the majestic melody of the worshiping angels to hear that one frail voice. When we worship God, even through our tears, He will run to us, lift us up out of our despair, and set us firmly on the rock. He will cover us under the shadow of His wings until the calamity has passed us by. If we have nothing else to rejoice in, we can rejoice in this.
How Great Is Our God!!!
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