So what if today, in this month of hearts and roses, we could see all the promises of God, as valentines of love, spilling out from His vast abundance into our empty hands and hearts?
What if we could just catch them like light, falling stars and see the reality of them in the palms of our hands and depths of our souls? What if we could just grasp the reality of the promise that He who promised is faithful, both now and forever? What if we could do that and just look up into the heavens to see the sweetness of His faithfulness just falling upon us, surrounding us and sustaining us?
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to faithfulness when in 10: 23 he pens the words,
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”
So just maybe, as we step out today, in any way the shut down would allow, we could be challenged to hold on firmly to the hope of our hearts; that huge hope that transforms life because Christ’s death and resurrection effectively help us win a right relationship with God through salvation and forgiveness, so that every day of our lives, He is all we need to get through!
So many promises follow a saved soul, don’t they? Promises of unconditional love, protection, care, provision, vindication, strength, courage, help, preservation, healing, joy, peace, goodness, and blessing in abundance. Yeah, there are hard places where rough spots pursue, but we are winners in this race and as we look around we see those blessings keep spilling out and falling into our corners and we are blessed with so many of them!
We can know that He who promised is faithful all the time in every way. So, right now, look up and catch those hearts of love and promise, straight from the hands of the Father to you. Catch them! Grasp them! Hold them tight! Stand firmly on them and don’t waver then make every effort to share them, motivating and encouraging one another along! 
..☆¨´`’*°☆.¸.☆¨´`’*°☆.
( ․ ․ ƸӜƷ¸.☆¨´`’*°☆.․ ․:)
`• ․ ․ . . . .K. . . . . ¸¸.☆
․ ․`’*
°☆.¸¸.☆¨¨¸¸.☆
․ ․ ․ `’*°☆.¸.☆°
Where’s the joy when the world’s in a mess and your world follows close behind in its messed up footsteps? The joy you knew yesterday took a dive into the deep and it kinda seems like it’s gone forever.
The Psalmist in Psalm 46 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Life happens! It’s just a long time to hold it all together, isn’t it? To do it right? To make it work? But there is comfort for your crumpled spirit and your misshapen world. If you make our Sovereign God your fortress, He’s in charge and He will be exalted in your situation and in your circumstances if you rest “Still” in Him and know that He is sovereign overall. Rest then today ~ right now ~ you who are broken, and in your brokenness just be still in Him.
We’ve all been there haven’t we? Doing battle with the enemy? Trudging through the trenches, catching on the thickets, walking through the deadly fires of trial! In deep and just trying to keep our head above water as we find our way through the maze of whatever it is that’s going down? Yeah, we have! We’ve been there ~ everyone of us ~ trying desperately in our finite, and weak, human frame to just trust through a head knowledge that says “it’s” big and “it’s” steep and it’s so out of our control, yet, it hangs over our weary heads, and tired frames like a Pig-Pen cloud! A cloud of thick, messy dust that just wants to settle right there in our world. A dust cloud of “heavy” and “relentless” that wants to lodge right over our heads and weigh us down and push down, down and down even father still.
You know it don’t you? Those wars that blow in out of nowhere to distract our spiritual focus and undermine our faith in the God who we say we trust? So beautiful soul, these are the times to rise up on wings of faith above all the difficult, above all the nonsense, above all the hard places and the tight spots and let God plan the strategy for battle. He’s so skilled and so equipped to do it. He’s got just the right fight for the enemy and can run him off-course so quickly your head will swirl. He’s sovereign! He sees ahead and knows just the right move at just the right time. His strategy is out of this world and divinely sealed with perfection. His compassion so rich and His grace so sweet and His faithfulness so rock solid, that it can make our problem puny and pale.
Whatever it is that hangs over you today, as hard as it is, let it go! Let it float over the hard spots and right into the hands of the Saviour of your world. He’s got it and He’s got you and even though there might be difficulty ahead, you can know He’ll bring you through! When the battle rages and gets hot, step aside and make room for God.
So, on the upside of down today, it’s all ok. You know it is! Really, deep down you know it is! Sure, maybe a lot of downer stuff, snuffed out yesterday really good but there’s always an upside. Always something good in the bad. Always something positive in the negative. And always, always a lesson or two to learn from the stuff that went down, to make us better, not bitter.
“Suddenly a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. (What a downer!) But Jesus was sleeping. (What a downer!) The disciples woke Him up shouting, “Lord save us! We’re going to drown.”
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 