This message is for those who are going through a hard time, feeling hopeless, feeling as though God doesn’t care… Feeling alone like no one could possibly understand what you are feeling… Whatever the situation that you find yourself facing it is important to turn TOWARDS God and not (as ol’ slewfoot wants you to) away. I have found that we (in our pain) have a tendency not to allow God to comfort us – not intentionally of course, but we get so immersed in our situation, in our anguish that we may not even realize that we are pushing Him away! At times like this, we need to reach a point where we can reevaluate. Remind ourselves that God sees our pain. God knows our hearts. There is NOTHING that we go through that Jesus cannot relate. It is at times when we feel the most lost that we need to RUN to Him. When you feel stripped of everything that has mattered to you, when you feel vulnerable and naked and alone – turn to Jesus. When you have asked Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior, you have entered into a personal relationship with Him. You are HIS responsibility, your life belongs to Him and no matter your anguish, no matter your pain, no matter your situation GOD IS BIGGER.
Think about it this way – when you are in a serious relationship with someone you are not only with them during the “good” times but the “bad” as well, but you have to let them in… You have to let God in – He wants to be there for you for the good times AND the bad. This is when we have to remember that this IS the reason why God SO loved the world that He sent us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
God did NOT intend for us to live in the environment that we are living in now. Remember He had told Adam and Eve what would happen IF they ate from the tree, He had told them NOT to eat from – it is what brought sin, sickness, illness, disease and death into this world. How much it must have pained God when they disobeyed Him and the results were JUST as He had told them it would be.
IT PAINS GOD, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER TO SEE YOU SUFFERING, HURTING AND IN TURMOIL
That is the reason God formed the plan of salvation through His Son, Jesus the Christ! To redeem us! To restore us into a RIGHT relationship with Him! So at times when we are feeling the results of the sinful world we abide in – it is important to turn to Him! Even when everything within you wants to make you lie down in a fetal position and allow those feelings of pain, loss, loneliness – whatever it is – drown you. When you feel as though you are dying inside or that you WANT to die – this is when we need to look to the One Who gave His life so that YOU can have eternal life! This is when we need to turn TOWARDS God and NOT away! He knows what you are going through! He cares! He wants to gather you into His arms and give you comfort! That is one of the names that Holy Spirit has been given – He is the “Comforter” but we have to ALLOW Him to comfort us! Have you ever tried to give someone a hug and they have pushed you away? Comfort is something you have to be willing to receive! It’s when we let our guard down and allow God to embrace us – through the anguish, through the pain, through the questions. Push through and allow ourselves to be wrapped up in the love of our God. It can feel like the HARDEST thing to do, especially if you don’t understand the WHY of your situation. That can be the hardest part of opening up our arms to Him, but this is where TRUST comes in. Trusting God even when you don’t have all the answers, but you have a LOT of questions. Talk to Him. Tell Him your heart. He’s not afraid of your questions, if you are angry with God – tell Him! A “personal” relationship is JUST that – personal. The Bible tells us the following in Psalm 139:
“You have searched me Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar, You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You LORD know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and You lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the Heavens, You are there; If I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light will become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You. For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful; I know that fully well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – When I awake, I am still with You. If only You God, would slay the wicked! Away from me you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of You with evil intent! Your adversaries misuse Your name. Do I not hate those who hate You Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
What you have read above is total submission to God in the midst of pain… In the midst of anguish… In the midst of not having ANY answers as to the WHY of it, but instead giving it TO God and trusting that He will protect, guide and keep you through it. When I read and wrote Psalm 139 just now, I had a new insight – which is something Holy Spirit does when you read the Word of God, He reveals new things to you, no matter how often you have read the passage of scripture before. The enemies written about above are the enemies of God – satan and his demons and ANYTHING that goes against God’s Word and tries to tell you otherwise from His truth. Beloved reader, God has NOT forsaken you! That goes against His promises! Deuteronomy 31:6 tells us:
“I will never leave nor forsake you.”
When we are at VERY lowest and MOST vulnerable, THIS is where we are open for attack from the enemy! This is where we NEED to trust God, even if we don’t understand! This is where we have to turn TOWARDS God and NOT away! Remember that God has created us with FREE WILL. The choice is ALWAYS ours! Comfort is found and understanding is found in turning to Him! I pray that if you are in pain, if you are in a confused state of mind, if you FEEL like you are at the end of yourself – TURN TO GOD. Listen, if we don’t give God our pain, He cannot help us! We become stuck and remain in the painful “fetal position” enwrapped in anguish, feeling alone, feeling forsaken, unable to move forward. Who gets the victory with that? The devil! Why? Because he doesn’t want you to go forward in your calling, to believe that God has your good in mind! If you remain “stuck” in your anguish, you cannot be effective in the calling God has for your life! Paul says in Philippians 1:6:
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul was imprisoned for his faith in God. He could have lived a life of despair, locked up for life, but instead he remained faithful to God, knowing God KNEW his circumstances and could STILL be glorified in his life, no matter his situation. In fact, if Paul had chosen the former, we would not have his writings to refer to in the Bible! His life and experiences should be an example of how we should handle ourselves when we find ourselves feeling “locked up” in whatever situation we are in! Paul even says in Philippians 1:12-14:
“Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.”
What situation have you found yourself in? Will you let God be there for you? Will you believe His promises? Will you allow Him to envelope you in His love? To be as it says in Philippians 2:13:
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
I promise you, if you in your pain allow God to do as He wants, to comfort you – He will.
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