If 2024 has been a year of loss or difficulty and you are finding yourself emotionally in a place you’ve never been before, then this post is for you.
The holidays are almost upon us, and I know many who are trotting the unfamiliar path of sorrow and loss this year. Feeling bleak and filled with sorrow? I get it and when I say that to you, I mean it – for this year I lost my husband and three months later, my mom. The two pillars in my life who were the reason for my happiness with life and with future plans, if not for the fact that I place my love for Jesus above my love for people I don’t think I would be able to carry on.
BUT FOR GOD
Listen, I don’t know what 2024 has brought your way, but in the midst of my double-portion sorrow I want to encourage you with this –
NO MATTER WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR, GOD SEES YOU… GOD LOVES YOU… GOD IS WITH YOU, CARRYING YOU WHEN YOU AREN’T EVEN AWARE THAT HE IS. GOD IS REAL.
This is why He continually tells us that we MUST place our faith IN HIM. Hear me?
IN GOD ALONE!
I’m not saying, “don’t love people,” I’m saying don’t STOP loving people, but stay focused on God. Because life is uncertain, we live in the kind of world that God NEVER intended us to live – a fallen world. A world FULL of sin, sickness, illness, disease and death, because Adam and Eve did what God told them not to do – they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Even though God had told them what would happen when they did. How it must grieve the Father, seeing all of us living in a world that ultimately will bring about death…
BUT HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS!
Nothing comes as a surprise to God. He knew what they would choose (with the free-will He had created them with) so He put into place a plan of redemption, which can ONLY be found in His only begotten Son, Jesus. If you don’t know this already, listen to this; if you DO know this already rejoice in this!
God loves you SO much, So VERY much that He left the glories of Heaven to come down in human flesh and meet you RIGHT where you are at.
HEAR ME!
John 3:16 tells us:
“God so loved the world, that He gave His ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, SHALL NOT perish but have everlasting life.”
Born of the virgin Mary, Jesus lived a sinless life and chose to take our sins upon Him and die on the cross for forgiveness of OUR sins. Our sacrificial Lamb Who has redeemed us to a RIGHT relationship with the Father.
If you don’t know or understand how God exists as the Trinity, Three in One. please click on the pink link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to learn what the Trinity is:
I personally attest to you, what I know. What I have experienced…
IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE SOMETHING THAT IS GREATER THAN TEMPORARY HAPPINESS – IF YOU WANT TO HAVE UNBELIEVABLE JOY IN THE MIDST OF SORROW
PRAY THE PRAYER BELOW WITH ME!
“Father God, 2024 has been a horrendous year for me… I feel forsaken. I feel lost. My sorrow is beyond any words I can convey. I am having trouble stepping forward with my life. Often, I feel as though I don’t want to. So, I come before You, and I thank You for directing me to this post. I’m giving this ONE MORE TRY. Father God, IF You are real, I NEED You to make Yourself real TO ME. Reveal Yourself to me! I thank You for the gift of salvation, and I of my own accord and free-will choose to accept this gift You have provided. I ask that You forgive me of my sins and wash me with the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus, I choose to accept Your gift of salvation. I invite You into my life to be my LORD and Savior. Please come into my life now and fill me with Your good and perfect joy to overcome my worldly sorrow. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, AMEN.”
I promise you beloved reader, unlike people, unlike this world – God will NEVER fail you! He truly IS an EVER-PRESENT help in times of sorrow. I attest to what I know! There is NOTHING like His love! How it will surprise you that in your deepest sorrow, you still CAN experience God’s overflowing joy! When you pray that prayer above, the Third member of the Trinity (Holy Spirit) will take up residence in your heart. The Bible describes Him in MANY ways, but in 2024 (more than ever before) Holy Spirit has been (and is) my Comforter. The Lifter of my head. I pray that this holiday season, you allow Him to be yours. No matter what we go through in life, there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. As I reflect on the lives of my husband and my mother, I am incredibly thankful that God loaned them to me. That I can look back on the memories we created and eventually know that instead of sorrow I will one day be filled with gratefulness and love. For it was God Who gifted me with them. I can be thankful that God has given us “internal cameras” inside of us called, “memories” that flood my soul at holiday times such as those approaching. I can walk in gratitude that God has blessed me with love and with life and with another day, even when I don’t know what the day holds in store – He alone IS the Author and Finisher of my faith. I pray you will let Him be yours! Truly I tell you there is NO greater sense of purpose or joy than knowing that YOU belong to the Creator! That He has created you for such a time as this! That the number of your days He will fulfill! That NOTHING that comes your way surprises Him! That even when we feel as though we are out of control, GOD IS NOT! That at the end of our earthly days, if we have accepted His gift of salvation, we will enter our everlasting ones! And NO one will take us out of the Father’s hands! Such a day of rejoicing that will be! I have no doubt that as you read these words, Holy Spirit is filling you with joy! A Joy that can ONLY come from knowing Jesus! It is indeed called a personal relationship for a reason! You ARE personal to God. He LOVES you! I’d say that is something to be thankful for – taste and see that the LORD is good! It is the BEST Thanksgiving choice you will EVER make! I pray you do! 😉
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