Blessings
Just a word of encouragement to everyone. I recently heard a man preach about pain. What he said was such an encouragement to me and I had to share some of it with you.
It seems like sometimes God sends us down paths that are dark and seem to have no end. We lose hope. We are fearful and quite often become self-centered because we can't seem to focus on anything but our own problems. We become so focused on ourselves that we lose sight of God and what his greater plan is. God does not send us out on these journeys to see what we can accomplish on our own, but he wants us to draw closer to him through it. Sometimes he is molding us into something that we could never be if we had not gone down those paths.
Sometimes we want to be all that God wants us to be, but we don't want to suffer the pain that God wants to use to strengthen and form us for his glory. We try to short circuit-pain but in reality, we are short-circuiting God's plan and work in our lives. When you endure long-term pain, you need to remember that God has a long-term plan. (Romans 8:28) Long term pain is often God's pathway to his ministry and service. Joseph's life was a great example of how God can take pain and use it for his glory.
Just remember that whatever you are going through, God does have a long-term plan for your life. Don't stop. Don't sit around and wait. Be a faithful servant. Pain is not an excuse to sit around and not serve, instead it is a reason to serve. It is a reason to love God more and run the race will all your might. Don't lose sight of God. He is a faithful friend that will never leave nor forsake you. Don't put your trust in man or anything in this world because they will fail you. Put your trust in God!
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
Psalm 118:6
The words to this song were also a huge blessing to me:
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
When friends betray us When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near
What if my greatest disappointments
or the achings if this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
this world can't satisfy
And what if trials in this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1b)
I love getting a suntan in the middle of a snow field
Summertime!! :)
