Yeah, He’s there even in your hard times, and in your down and outters. He’s always there, right there beside you, around you, surrounding you ready to lift you up and hold your head high. When you see the Saviour and when you look into the face of our Lord you see the Hope that He holds for you in those scarred palms and in those hands that outstretched the cross for you. Yeah, He’s the One, the sovereign One who’s right there with you now ~ very much alive and very much real and very much present in your deepest hurt. His light shines darkest in your night ❤
“You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Psalm 32:7-8
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14
So needy for grace today? So needy for just some assurance that it’s ok and it’s alright and nothing will touch you that isn’t God filtered and God ordered and God ordained? Yeah, we’ve all been there, and we know that sometimes God allows the bad to save us from the worst of stuff. Ponder Jonah the Prophet and his story of rebellion against a God, who had given specific orders. Think of the stench he was allowed to be swallowed up into in order to survive the wild storm on the sea ~ all because of his rebel spirit. Yeah, for sure, one would really wonder what the worst of the two evils really was? The belly of the fish threatening to digest or the wicked waves that threatened to pull him under for the last time? Ahhh, but His sovereign God knew and because he wanted his attention, He orchestrated it all and in Jonah’s disobedience he had to struggle with not only himself, his precarious situation and his hardened heart but his neck-deep consequences of sheer rebellion. His ‘On The Run” caught up with him at God’s command and yet, in God’s mercy and grace, his pit of despair became his transport to safety. Oh, yeah, we may find ourselves in neck- deep in the thick of bad choices and we may find ourselves being swallowed by unpleasant surroundings, but we can always be sure, God has His eye on us and He cares, oh yes, he cares and even in the pit, He’s got you and He desires nothing more than your undivided attention. Jonah couldn’t escape or get away from God or disobey Him without consequence, but he never found himself beyond the reach of God’s grace. Nor do we, not even for a moment in our journey. So ~ On the brink of drowning, Jonah prayed for help, for life, and for God’s presence to be renewed in his life and God heard! He rescued him and used him in spite of his hardened heart and his anger.
Know today, that God doesn’t need perfection but just a willingness to be obedient. He desires to snatch you from the jaws of death and pit of despair where you find yourself today. Let Him come to your rescue and be your salvation, and just as He managed Jonah’s situation let Him manage yours!
“I sank beneath the waves and waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head and I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock and shut forever. But you O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!”
Jonah 2: 5, 6 #SoulFire#lovedonthebrokenroad
So I know it’s a big world out there and a fragile one with a lot of broken pieces scattered in all directions. A lot of broken people and a lot of Humpty Dumpties that have fallen to their despair from walls of pride! Some beautiful souls have fallen, paralyzed by fear and insecurities and some hurting souls, have fallen prey to the world and their present circumstances. So many broken hearts stand in need of repair. So much brokenness ~ so much pain! Yet all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t put them back together again. The souls at stake are ‘our’ souls, precious souls and beautiful souls and some are the innocent souls of children caught in the cross fire and strife of it all. What are their options? How did it all begin and where does it all end? Will it ever end? Tender and compassionate hearts can help but our all knowing God and the One who specializes in transforming hearts and lives and making beauty from ashes can lead you through it! It took some time to get there so it will take some time to get out but a decision to walk with God in obedience is your best option. We don’t have to be perfect to be blessed and we don’t have to be perfect to be used by Him. So for those failures that haunt your soul ~ give them over and choose today to make a difference regardless of your circumstances. God is in the business of getting us out of deep trouble and leading us into the safety of His home and the shelter of His arms. Rest there ~ with Him and find peace for this troubled hour and troubled heart.
The Sovereign, omnipotent King and the one True God ~ creator of life itself, has all the brilliant credentials and the awesome mastermind to put you back together again. Begin now! Be clay in His hands! Walk with Him and listen to His counsel. ~k
Isaiah 61: 1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.
So you’ve just wiped up spilled milk, scrubbed crayon off the wall, threw in your fourth load of wash for the day, wrestled up a quick, nutritious lunch for your hungry brood, kissed a hurt and sealed it with a band-aid! You’ve rocked, and lulled, and sung sweet lullabyes, while all the while just wanting to have a spare minute for yourself but you can’t find one anywhere. The day wears on and the hours are tedious and so the same with whines, and cries, and fussiness and wet diapers, and quarrels, and how come no one ever told you that motherhood assigned you referee credentials? So, you’re a mom, and when you signed up for parenthood, you were unaware of it’s strange mix of excitement, fear, joy, panic, happiness, sorrow, fun, or anxiety. But it is and there you are right up there in the top ranking of it all, and it’s awesome but it’s scary, and it’s sheer delight but it’s frustration, and it’s rewarding but it’s so time consuming. Oh so time consuming!! Yeah, motherhood; there’s really nothing like it on the planet! It’s challenges are out of this world and it’s rocked yours to the moon and back. It’s got you booked solid ~ hook, line and sinker and drowning in it’s many demands! The hats you wear are ridiculous and next to impossible and your sanity? Well it’s gone south for a break and right now as you think you might go under for the very last time, know that you won’t! You won’t because your job is the toppest of the top notch jobs in the whole wide world. You’ve been entrusted with gifts from heaven, all ‘little life’, wrapped up and so tenderly placed in your lap. And there you are!! Smack dab in the middle of days that don’t end and nights that don’t sleep. Those gifts of life are yours to cherish, to love, and to nurture, guide, teach and train and when that journey overwhelms your beautiful soul, remember King Lemuel’s mom had some good words of advice for him in Proverbs 31: 10, 17, 25, 26, 28. She told him exactly how fortunate he would be to find a women of noble character just like you. You may be tired and exhausted but your value is outstanding…. “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies…….she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks…she is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue….Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her.”
Little Thoughts For Big Days
God hasn’t promised pastel rainbows for your days of motherhood, in fact some days might just well be purple and red, but He has promised joy to the mom who seeks Him and grace for the one who walks the ho – hum of the daily journey by His side. No, your rewards won’t necessarily be seen nor given out today there in your little kitchen nook, but your loyal works and your tedious steps will etch their memories into little hearts that will grow big and strong to become mom’s and dad’s of their own little gifts of life. So mom, take heart! Your tasks performed faithfully today will navigate back and will find their way into your seasoned heart of hearts when all you have left are the memories of the long lost, good old days. So yeah, beautiful Mom, enjoy these joyous but trying days of motherhood. They’ll be gone all to quickly.
So needy for grace today? So needy for just some assurance that it’s ok and it’s alright and nothing will touch you that isn’t God filtered and God ordered and God ordained? Yeah, we’ve all been there, and we know that sometimes God allows the bad to save us from the worst of stuff. Ponder Jonah the Prophet and his story of rebellion against a God, who had given specific orders. Think of the stench he was allowed to be swallowed up into in order to survive the wild storm on t
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 