Video Transition: Lauren Daigle on Grief
Our Theme this year - Breakthrough 2020
Thesis: In 2020 we are looking for spiritual breakthroughs in our lives, our souls, our families, our church, our school, and our community. This is our vision and prayer! But to get the desired breakthrough in our lives we need to have 20 – 20 vision from the Lord. We need to see into the spiritual realm and learn how to use His weapons which will bring the spiritual breakthroughs.
Scripture Texts:
2 Corinthians 10:3-4: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Philippians 4:19: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."
Summary of last week’s message – Job and his three friends – the poor counselors – they piled more pain on Job rather than comforting Job.
Job’s 3 friends!
ELIPHAZ THE BLAMER and SHAMER (Job 4, 5)
Eliphaz responded by telling Job in 4:6-9. He is declaring, "God is angry with evil people and He destroys them, but the innocent are spared." (Johnson, 32). You are responsible for your suffering not God Job – you did evil – He is punishing you for it! He accuses and blames Job for all his problems.
BILDAD, THE ANSWER MAN (Job 8)
He says, “You sinned, your children sinned, therefore, you got what you all deserved” (Job 8: 2,3,4). Like the coaches of the U.S. gymnastics team say, "Suck up the pain and deal with it." How is that for empathy! Bildad has no clue how to help someone going through trauma! Bildad’s the one, two, three do this solution guy to all life's problems. Job I have a program follow it and all will be well.
ZOPHAR, THE BULLY and EXCUSE MAKER FOR GOD (Job 11)
Zophar is not the brightest of the three but he is full of emotion. He comes in throwing his "guilt bombs". Johnson's point here, "How weak are our attempts to "help" God or defend His ways. We are false witnesses when we pretend that what ought to be, is." (65) Job. 11:3: “Will your idle talk reduce men to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?” Then – “I will defend God!”
We need to learn from these three friends what not to do in times of suffering and instead be dispensers of Good Grief for people going through the trials and tribulations of life.
Sermon 4: Breakthrough and Good Grief
Thesis: The Body of Christ needs to learn how to administer “Good Grief” in times of loss, in crisis and in trauma situations of life. You may ask “Why?” answer is so we get spiritual breakthroughs and we help others get spiritual breakthroughs. “Why?” So, our church becomes known as a church that brings healing not hurt to others going through suffering.
Introduction:
We learned last week that Job was in a severe state of grief and sorrow not because of sin but because he was sinless. We need to know that we all will face times of loss and trauma in life as a result of sin or because we are living God honoring lives. As a result of this truth, we need to learn how go through Grief in a good way and here are some important lessons to know about Grief?
We need to look at grief as good not bad. Grief has purpose it helps us to heal and it is used to make us interdependent on God and others. Grief is the journey to healing of a wounded heart, and we need to have appropriate responses to it. Grief also has certain recovery steps that we need to understand and progress through and help others progress through. In spite of dealing with death and tragedies as God’s fault we need to still believe God is good! We need to understand that death is not the end but the beginning of a “Great Story!”
A story of Good Grief - The hymn story: It is well with my Soul
Mr. Horatio G. Spafford was a successful lawyer in Chicago and a member of the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church in that city. In the financial crisis of 1873, he lost most of his property. In the stress and strain of the times, he prevailed on his wife and four daughters to take a trip to France—to get as far away from the scene of worry as possible. He booked passage for them on the Ville de Havre. They set sail November 15, 1873.
The trip was uneventful, and its hundreds of passengers were enjoying the indescribable uplift of an ocean voyage. That is, until the night of November 22.
Shortly after midnight the Loch Earn, bound for New York, collided with the Ville de Havre. In a few minutes, the French ocean liner sank beneath the waves. The Loch Earn, which was not damaged by the collision, rescued as many survivors as they could find. Of the 226 passengers on the Ville de Havre, only 87 survived.
Mrs. Spafford was among the survivors, but the four daughters perished. As soon as Mrs. Spafford reached land, she telegraphed from France to her husband: “Saved alone Children lost. What shall I do?”
The Chicago attorney left immediately to join his wife and bring her back to Chicago. It was in the depths of their bereavement that he wrote his one and only hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul.” The grief of his terrible loss and the peace he experienced as he and his wife submitted their lives to God’s providential dealings, he describes in the four stanzas of the hymn.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrow like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Though Satan should buffet, though trials
should come,
Let this blest assurance control;
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall
descend,
“Even so,” it is well with my soul.
From sermoncentral.com —How to Win Over Worry, John Haggai
We need to learn that Grief is God’s design for helping a person to recover from loss. It is a therapeutic response and it is “Good Grief” it is not evil or bad grief. God himself grieved according to the Word of God. We all will grieve at some point in our lives and we also need to be willing to be the hands of Jesus in fallen world to help others progress through the journey of grief. We need to remember that grief is God’s therapeutic process.
Grief will always accompany loss, crisis, and trauma. The heart wrenching questions many of us will ask after experiencing these tragedies is, “How will I ever recover?” “How can I go on?” “I cannot press on because the pain is so crippling!” “Why me God?” and even “Where are you God?”
C.S. Lewis wrote in his book A Grief Observed: “Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, if you turn to Him with praise, you will be welcomed with open arms. But to go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away.”
C.S. Lewis is very honest in his book Grief Observed and he captures the pain and the loneliness of that suffering in the above statement. But he does in the book help us understand that these moments will arise in the grief journey but the key is we must press through them to healing and recovery.
So, we return to our story of Job again today:
Job was a man who faced great hardship and pain but in the midst of it all he still praises God. Did you hear that? In his misery and grieving he did not sin by blaming God for evil even though at one point he does cross the line with God by demanding answers for why he is suffering.
Scriptures from Job:
Job 1:20-22: At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 3:26: "I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest, but only turmoil.”
Question: Can you relate to Job’s comment here – to his grief – to his pain and suffering?
Tony Evans stated, “We shouldn’t run from being broken. Even though it’s not pleasant, it will produce a better life. Brokenness is a blessing because it puts us on the road to a breakthrough. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). Those who are spiritually broken will be blessed because they will see God, and God’s power will flow through their lives. Brokenness is a blessing because it puts us on the road to a breakthrough.”
Job was spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally broken by the attacks of Satan – which from our text is allowed by God (such a mystery) – note: God did not do the evil acts Satan did! Job goes into a time of mourning, despair, grieving but it is connected with prayer, praise and fasting. Spiritual coping mechanisms to pain and suffering. His 3 friends come to help, but instead of comfort they bring more pain and shame. Elihu speaks up when he had enough of the other 4. He is a young man with wisdom and insight and challenges Job and the three friends with truth and insight. He disappears and God shows up out of the storm rebuking Job and the three friends, they all repent and then God restores all that Job has lost.
The breakthrough in Job’s life came through a fresh glimpse of the greatness and the glory of God in the midst of his suffering. Job had to change his mindset and not put God on trial for wrongdoing and instead focus on God as the solution to his pain and suffering. The encounter was devastating. God asked Job nearly 40 questions from out of the storm - like the following:
1. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? (38:4)
2. Who marked off its dimensions? (38:5)
3. Who laid its cornerstone while the angels sang for joy? (38:6-7)
4. Have you ever given orders to the morning? (38:12)
5. Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea? (38:16)
6. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow? (38:22)
7. Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you? (38:35)
Job cannot answer a single question. He’d been a worshipper of God all his life, but now he sees that God is far greater and more glorious than he had ever grasped before. He realizes that all of the questions he has about his life are just a tiny fraction of what he does not know. There are more mysteries in God’s vast universe than he could begin to comprehend. Job had been trying to make sense of the mystery of his suffering. Demanding an audience with God – really a trial with God. But when he saw the glory of God, opened his spiritual eyes, he found that he was able to live with his pain and his unanswered questions. Job’s friends turned him inward. God turned him upward, and that was when things changed.
Job asked why without ever losing faith, but he was close to the edge once too often with God. When he saw the glory of God, he realized just how close to the edge he had been, and he says, “I spoke of things I did not understand. Therefore, I repent.”
Job teaches us that pain and suffering will come in this life – tragedies will happen – the key to these times is using Good Grief which deals with our mindset through the grief – will we seek to put God on trial? – will we blame God for evil? – will we accept the trial and tribulation and look to God for comfort and peace? The decision we make will determine if we get a spiritual breakthrough and or fall deeper into a spiritual breakdown.
Scripture Texts like Job remind us about how to deal with tragedies, loss and trauma’s: This story points us away from accusing God - “Is God to blame for my tragedy?” but to teaching us that the important question is, “How will I respond to this crisis, trauma, or loss?”
Here are some other Scriptures reminding us to do the same:
James 1:2-5: 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
1 Peter 1:6, 7: 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 4:12, 13: 12Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
These verses do not answer the question about why something happens but they do answer the question about how we should respond to the crisis? Which is the point of the book of Job. It’s all about how I will respond? Really this becomes the most important question that needs to be answered in the journey of grief. This answer determines how we will recover and if we will experience a spiritual breakthrough.
T.S. - So to help us respond appropriately to the journey of grief let’s answer another common question: Where is God when it hurts?
I. He is closer than you think! God was there with Job listening!
a. God is always closer than we think He is and we need to learn see Him daily in the good and the bad.
i. John Ortberg stated, “The central promise in the Bible is not ‘I will forgive you.’ The most frequent promise is ‘I will be with you.’” (God Is Closer Than You Think, page 15).
1. The promise was made to Adam and Eve, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Samuel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Amos, Mary, Paul, Peter, John and a host of others from the beginning of time until the climax of his return the promise goes on – verbalized by God to the one’s He loves over and over again.
2. Even Jesus name was Immanuel – “God with Us!” Reiterates this promise from the Father.
3. God is with us through the good times and the bad times!
b. So where is God? He is right here with us! Even at this very moment God’s presence is in this church service. He is here with us – at times He may be quiet, but He is still here! The truth is God is with us every day and every night and most of the time we ignore Him and never speak to Him nor acknowledge Him. But He is still there.
i. It becomes important to understand that we need to start recognizing that Jesus is with us and incorporate Him into our everyday lives. Why? Because when tragedy strikes you will see Him quicker and recognize His presence faster.
ii. Sometimes pain is the element that turns us towards His face. The truth is many of us have a tendency to forget to face God each day when things are going good. We seem to forget about him in the busy ordinary day of life. Yet God is still there whether you acknowledge Him or not.
1. 2 Cor. 7:8-11: 8Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—9yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
a. Paul noted that the suffering of preaching the truth and his correction of the Corinthian church did cause a good thing to happen. It turned them back to God and it lead to their repentance.
i. Repentance by the way as we see at the end of the book of Job always leads to spiritual breakthroughs.
ii. Job apologized to God and repented – he got a breakthrough.
iii. God rebuked the three horrible counselors who repented by offering up sacrifices and they to were forgiven and received a spiritual breakthrough.
c. The focus here is on a person’s response to sorrow, loss, grief and suffering not who is to blame.
i. God does not answer to us – we are not God’s judge!
T.S. – God is closer than many of us think in those crisis and loss times and He desires us to reach out to Him so that He can helps us through the journey of grief. He will also use this time to develop our Christ like character.
II. He is right there to help your character be developed in times of loss and trauma!
a. In these horrible times God is there to help us learn certain lessons that will develop our character if we respond appropriately.
i. Romans 5:3-5: 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
1. Roman’s tells us that our perseverance with God through a trial will produce Christ like character and a hope that will not fade. He also notes that through the struggle God will pour out His love to us by the great counselor the Holy Spirit.
2. If we respond appropriately to struggle and or trouble in our lives then James tells us we will mature:
a. James 1:2-4: 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
b. Our faith will be tested by struggles, crisis, trauma, and the death of loved ones. But the key is to press on with God in spite of the loss and still believe.
i. As we learn to press through hard times with God then we will mature in the faith and eventually not lack anything.
ii. Suffering can help us to be molded more in the image of Jesus and we need to be reminded of this as we go through crisis and trauma.
1. Job had to be reminded of this by God speaking to Him out of the storm!
iii. Romans 8:28, 29: 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
T.S. God is with us in the midst of loss and suffering and He does teach us valuable lessons in those tough times, but He will also comfort those who call on His name in the midst of their deep sorrow.
III. He is right there to comfort you in your trouble! Just call out to Him!
a. In the middle of all the grief, the why’s can take over if we let them. Instead of asking for the why to be answered why not ask for spiritual insights and strength from God to push through the grief.
i. Psalm 116:1-7: (The Psalm of Grief)
1. I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simple hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.
b. Let me share a story about the ability of God to comfort individuals in even a horrible place during World War 2. This story comes from Philip Yancey’s book “Where is God When it hurts?” pages 94-97.
i. Dachau Chaplain: Christian Reger’s Story.
1. The story reveals that even in the horror of a Nazi concentration camp God’s comfort and presence came to a man in need of hope and comfort. He will tell the horror stories but he also tells us that he was visited by a God who loves. He stated to Philip Yancey, “I learned to know the Who of my life. He was enough to sustain me then, and is enough to sustain me still” (95).
2. The Bitter Road to Dachau by Robert L. Wise reviewed by Cheryl Russell: Pastor Christian Reger's descent into hell begins in 1940. As a leader in the Confessing Church during World War II, he is arrested by the Nazis and eventually sent to the Dachau concentration camp. Here, as prisoner number 26661, he will spend the next five years fighting to survive. In this place where brutality thrives, Christian’s physical survival is not the only thing at stake. His faith is also in danger of destruction, and the God he believes in seems a million miles away. Bitterness threatens to overtake Christian, as it has fellow pastor, Wilhelm Dittner. But other clergy-prisoners—men like Leonard Steinwelder, a Catholic priest, and Werner Sylten, a Protestant pastor sentenced to imprisonment because he had a Jewish great-grandmother—are trying to hold onto their faith, trying to take the higher road. And in this hell on earth, small amounts of grace shine through. A matchbox with a secret message is slipped to Reger before he is packed into a cattle car and shipped to Dachau. A simple catechism lesson from long ago surfaces, reaffirming that even though the Nazis see him as a number, to God he has a name. And a time spent praying for his enemy gives Christian a deep sense of the peace and presence of God. Eventually the Nazis permit the clergy to build a chapel. It is small, and confined to Barrack 26, the Pastors' Barracks, but the small, humble room is what keeps the men of Barrack 26 hopeful. These once-a-month services bring new life to Christian’s faith and sustain him throughout his imprisonment.
3. They learned to pray to God in the midst of suffering for help – for comfort for peace and God showed up in that concentration camp time and time again.
T.S. – The truth is God’s is always there in the middle of crisis, trauma and loss to comfort us and we need to just sometimes allow our faith to lead us even when He seems quiet.
IV. He is right there even when it seems He is not there.
a. The key to remember in this loud silence is to allow your faith to take over. Let it grow! Trust Him!
i. Philip Yancey says that today, “We make faith not an attitude of trust in something unseen but a route to get something seen-something magical and stupendous, like a miracle or a supernatural gift. Faith includes the supernatural, but it also includes daily, dependent trust in spite of results. True faith implies a belief without solid proof – the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. God is not mere magic” (73).
1. Faith is so misused today in our Christian circles and its time we go back to the Biblical roots of it. Let’s re-read Hebrews again and remind ourselves that faith is about believing in spite of what is going on in our fallen world and its impact on our personal life.
a. Hebrews 11:1: 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
i. Even when God seems distant - He does love us and He desires what’s best for us because His Word tells us so and our faith drives home the truth of this promise even in crisis.
2. Jesus himself experienced this when He cried “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
a. Mark 15:33: 33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?“—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
i. Jesus’ lonely cry of, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” is a desperate cry of loneliness. I believe this was the worst and the most horrible part of the crucifixion for Jesus. I believe it was worst than the beatings, the betrayal of Judas, the desertion of the disciples, the humiliation of the crucifixion, being spit upon, the crown of thorns, the nails in His hands, the mocking, the emotional torment, and even the mental torment. None of these compared to what He is facing at this moment on the cross. This was the worst moment of the crucifixion. Jesus is all alone at this moment in His life. Not even the Father is with Him.
1. Can you hear His lonely cry?
a. Hebrews 5:8-10: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
b. C.S. Lewis called the physical- emotional pain of life “God’s megaphone” and it reveals to us how much we need Him in our pain and suffering.
i. Philip Yancey stated it this way, “What can God use to speak loudly enough so we’ll pay attention? What will convince us that this earth is not running the way God’s creation is supposed to run?...
ii. …C.S. Lewis introduced the phrase “pain, the megaphone of God.” It’s an apropos phrase, because pain does shout. When I stub my toe or twist an ankle, pain shows to my brain that something is wrong. Similarly, the existence of suffering on this earth is, I believe, a scream to all of us that something is wrong. It halts us and makes us consider other values…
iii. …We could (some people do) believe that the purpose of life here is to be comfortable. Enjoy yourself, build a nice home, engorge good food, have sex, live the good life. That’s all there is. But the presence of suffering complicates that philosophy. It’s harder to believe that the world is here just so I can party when a third of its people go to bed starving each night. It’s much harder to believe the purpose of life is to feel good when I see teen-agers smashed on the freeway. If I try to escape the idea and merely enjoy life, suffering is there, haunting me, reminding me of how hollow life would be if this world were all I’ll ever know” (Where Is God When It Hurts? Pages 55, 56).
T.S. – We need to remember that God is with us even when He seems so quiet, our response is to trust Him in spite of silence and understand that there is always something to learn as we go through tough times in life. Grief and it’s process will teach us much about God, this life and the life to come.
V. He is right there to teach us something and to make something good come from this ordeal!
a. Why do events like this happen? As I ask this question the answers form in the form of even more questions:
i. Because we live in a fallen society?
ii. Because we suffer the consequences of natural laws implemented by God?
iii. Because God allows them to happen?
iv. Because God is trying to teach us a spiritual lesson?
v. Because I did something wrong?
vi. Because someone else did something wrong?
b. I really think the question in grief is not “Where are you God?” but “How am I going to respond through the grief process?”
i. Will I draw closer to God?
ii. Will I run away from God?
iii. Will I seek His comfort?
iv. Will I push His loving arms away from me?
v. Will I blame God?
vi. Will I love God more?
1. These are the eternal questions we must ask ourselves even in the midst of grief and in the agonizing pain of loss.
2. How will I respond in the midst of a crisis, trauma, loss or even the truth that I am going to die on day?
Conclusion:
Question: What do we need to know from this message?
The Bible always places a spotlight not on the “Why” of suffering but on the “End Result” of going through suffering. The Bible tells stories of people who grew closer to God through hardship and even some who became bitter toward God and then rejected His ways. There are those who loved Him more and others who came to hate Him as a result of their pain. Job loved God through the whole ordeal! Would you do the same?
Question: Why do we need to know this message about grief?
It deals with our story and its connection to God’s story. How will your story be told in the end? How will you recover from crisis, loss and trauma? God will help you recover if you allow Him to help you! How will you go on through the journey of grief? God will strengthen you if you ask Him!
What do we need to do as a result of this message?
Learn that God is enough! Decide that when your time of grief comes you will choose the path of Good Grief with the Lord at your side. Understand this will lead you to a spiritual breakthrough!
Illustration: “God is enough!” share when Joni preached this message at AACC!
Will you ask, “Why me God?” Or will you hear His reply “My son and daughter it will happen to everyone and it’s just your allotted time in life! There is a time for all things in life. But understand I love you! I am here for you! I will never leave you nor forsake you! Just trust me through the journey and I will reward your faithfulness.”
Reference: Footprints poem, by Margaret Fishback Powers -1964 - Thoughts from the author on her poem!
She shares these thoughts with us about her poem: "If the pleasure of sharing these thoughts anew has taught us anything, it is this: that God’s Word is true. Our Heavenly Father is faithful and He will never leave us or forsake us. As we come to Him daily, willing to be shaped and directed, His Word gives guideposts of clear direction. Almost everything we read, see, and experience shows us in some way that, although we do not visibly see God, He is with us. Over centuries of time others have looked back to understand that God’s Spirit and presence were there, even when they felt alone…In our quiet moments of reflection, in the fellowship of others, and even in dreams, God opens the doors to our hearts. This is what happened when I originally wrote this poem, "Footprints". After hours of wrestling with the darkness of doubt and despair, I finally surrendered (my life) to Him and, in the early morning light of peace (the next day), I wrote the poem as a result of that spiritual experience… So listen for the gentle stirring of God’s grace in your own mind and soul as you read these verses of encouragement. Each of us is different in our spiritual need, just as each of our days is different. God wants to place His signature on your life in a unique way. As you spend time, even just a few moments each day, reflecting on His Word, it will help you to know Him better. Spiritual growth is not so much what we have done, but the feeling of love for Him we put into everything we do. It is not so much in knowing about God that we grow, but in getting to know Him in a personal, and a relational way. It is in becoming "a friend of God" as Abraham did that we grow in His grace, talking with Him as our companion along the way…”
FOOTPRINTS
By Margaret Fishback Powers -1964
One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene,
I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and
One to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
There was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest
And saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me
And I questioned the Lord
about my dilemma.
"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You,
You would walk and talk with me all the way.
But I'm aware that during the most troublesome
Times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I just don't understand why, when I need You most,
You leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child,
I love you and will never leave you,
never, ever, during your trials and tests.
When you say you only saw one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
Scripture Verses:
Nahum 1:7: "The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him."
Isaiah 40:29-31: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint.”
Where are you God? His response: “I am closer than you think! Look up at me – I am here!”
When we have the right mindset as we go through grief and suffering we will discover that there is a spiritual breakthrough coming our way we just need to journey through to the end and not give up or get stuck in the process!
