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"Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn't know you had, and dealing with fears you didn't know existed." -Linda Wooten

Friday, March 24, 2017

When Heartache Hits...



This week has been a week of loss. We lost my grandmother, a dear friend lost a family member and the Christian blogging community lost a sweet, sold out to Jesus soul – that loss is still gripping me this morning.

Personally speaking – in the midst of my cries for peace and comfort have been shouts of “why” and “help me understand Lord.” Death is never easy…it’s a lighter blow when it comes at the end of lengthy, uphill health battle…but easier, NO. But when death comes unexpectedly – to a young mama of 4 kids or a teenager just starting to make their mark on this world – death becomes deeper. And if we’re not careful we’ll let that deep hurt seep in and become whispered lies of the enemy that our God is not faithful, our God is not good…or God is not an ever present help…

Yeah, the enemy likes to take times like this and use them to create a divide between us and the only One with the power to heal that deep hurt, to give peace in those moments of devastation – to bring about assurance where that doubt has sparked up.

Psalm 73:26 tells us:

“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

No – my ‘self’…my carnal mind will not understand…grief can be a catalyst for doubt and fear and worry…and that’s why we desperately need to cry out to the Father during these times of heartache – because our strength will never be enough and our flesh will deceive us.

The Geneva Study Bible says ‘portion’ means “God is our whole sufficiency, and ONLY contentment”.

God is our ONLY contentment! When the storms of life arise and bad, unjustifiable things happen to good people – the world would have us blame God – but the Word shows us God is the only comforter that will suffice. He is our whole sufficiency – meaning nothing apart from Him will be enough to fill that void left by loss in our lives.

I’ve often heard that noting in life is certain…but death. It’s a morbid truth that still doesn’t make the sting of life lost any less painful. And believe me – questioning God’s motives or lack thereof, having doubt in the goodness of God, allowing our faith to slip in times of troubling circumstances only further delays the comfort and peace God longs to give us during these times.

But…I can promise (because I have been there this week) – crying out to God, letting God take all that pain and turn it into peace, is possible. He hasn’t equipped us to live this life alone – to carry these burdens by ourselves. He absolutely will allow us to go through things that we can NOT bear on our own – because it drives us back to where we belong…at the feet of Jesus, allowing Him to carry those burdens for us – and to give us strength to face each day that follows.

What do we do when devastating things happen? When heartache hits, when tragedy blindsides us; go to the Father. God tells us in Isaiah 41:10 He will “strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

And He will…He has given me comfort and strength this week – He has made grief and the pain of death more bearable…all I had to do was seek Him…and I found that our God IS faithful, our God IS good and our God IS a an ever-present help.

 

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