Since my last post, we've added our first grandbaby (born in October of 2021) our 3rd daughter-in-law (Son #4 married in June) and our 2nd grandbaby, born also in June. We now have four married kids, four bonus kids (so much to be thankful for, there!), two in college (daughters #5, #6), two in highschool and two grandsons (11 months and 3 months old).
And here we are, once again in somewhat of a difficult season in our home... for various reasons... and I find myself turning back to what I know is true.
Either God is good, or He's not.
Either I trust Him, or I don't.
If God IS good (spoiler alert, He IS), then whatever I'm in the midst of has been filtered through His loving hand. Nothing has touched me (or my kids) that He has not allowed. Even if the origin of that thing is sin, death, destruction, sickness, the evil of others, or just a fallen world... it's not outside of God's sovereign hand in my life.
Either I CHOOSE - in this very moment - when things don't make sense... to trust God. Or I don't.
P.S. He is faithful.
So what this really does? It pushes me back on His promises. It's a good place to land. He goes before. He prepares the way. He walks with me every step. (Read about Joseph - Genesis 50:20) He PROMISES these things to me. I can land there and it will be safe and secure - no matter the raging storm around me.
He will never leave me or forsake me. (Deut. 31:6)
He has GOOD plans for me. (Jer. 29:11)
He will finish the work He has begun in my life (or in the lives of my kids). (Phil. 1:6)
He is in control. (Hebrews 2:5-9)
Nothing, no NOTHING, can separate me from His love. (Rom. 8:38-39)
I am safe and secure in Him. (John 10:29)
And when I remember His promises... it helps me choose - once again - to trust Him. He is so faithful.
I can choose to look back and remember His faithfulness in the past... the Coach and I have walked through a lot with these kids of ours - and we've never once, not even for a second, been without the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the tangible presence of Christ. We've had the power of His Word, we've been tranformed through worship, we've experienced the hands and feet of Jesus through those He's sent to help.
So today? None of that has changed.
God is good.
I can trust Him.
I WILL CHOOSE to trust Him. And He will continue to be faithful. No matter when this current difficulty takes us and no matter the outcome. I will HOLD FAST - because nothing, NO NOTHING, can separate me from His love. And that's enough.
If you're facing a difficult season, can I make a suggestion? Or a few of them?
1. Get in God's Word. Whether that's reading one psalm or a yearly bible plan or an in depth Bible study. Whether you sit with it, read a little or a lot, or have the audio of it playing in the background - get in God's Word.
2. Worship. Listen to City Alight or Maverick City or the Gettys or whatever you like. Turn it on in the car, while you do dishes, while you shower. Fill you heart with worship.
3. Pray. Can I be honest? There have been times in my life when the only prayer I could utter was, "Help, Jesus." And you know what? That's a great prayer. If you can't find the words, ask those who love you to lift you up in prayer. We have been sustained by the prayers of others too many times to count.
4. Remember. Write down God's faithfulness to you in the past. How He's led, guided, comforted you in difficult seasons. We should all have our "pile of stones" to return to, so we don't forget how He's rescued us.
5. Be thankful. No matter how bad it is, find something to be thankful for. Thank God that the sun still rises or that you have coffee (even if sleep is no where to be found). Thank Him for His mercies that are new every morning. Thank Him for Jesus. Even if everthing else is taken from us and all else is lost (Read about Job - Job 1:21), we have a Savior who loves us. Thank God for that.
Somehow... day by day... moment by moment... this too shall pass. Things may never be the same and we may come through with scars, but God will still be there on the other side. One day we'll look back on this as yet another time we learned to lean harder on Jesus and trust Him more. And that's just one more thing to be thankful for.
Happy Wednesday.
