It only takes one moment to change our reality from going well to being in a situation we don’t wish to be in. It only takes one phrase to have us wish that we didn’t hear what was said or that we weren’t listening. The news about one person can completely reinvent our reality. Life is made up of unexpected, sudden changes. This is the week I have had. I find myself in a position, that if you told me I was going to be here, I wouldn’t have believed you. It has been a hard week. We all have weeks like this. The hardest part about experiences like this is the truth of knowing that what took a moment to come, is going to take a long time to go. When this hurt or pain or challenge will leave, is unknown. What is known for sure, is that the moment it came, it was already here too long. Pain is a hard thing to sit with. Yet God allows pain to be part of our experience, but he doesn’t leave us to journey through it alone.
Psalm 34:18 tells us that, “The LORD is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” It is in our pain that we can find God very close. He is not only close but he is doing something. He is saving us and lifting our spirits. I have had many moments of tears this week. In those moments, I have lifted my tears as prayers. When I find the strength, I add words and a hush comes over me. I speak my truth to God and share my heart. I feel a physical release- an inhale and exhale that takes me into the next moment I didn’t want to, or rather, didn’t think I could make it to. It is God breathing life into me-Spirit to spirit.
I think that pain acts as a tool to redirect us and reinforce who we are to lean on.
Psalm 30:5 gives us a picture that our minds can hold on to. I picture the sunset and the sunrise. I picture new days. This scripture tells us, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” I love God’s encouragement here, as he reminds me that there is a time limit to our pain. Just like the morning and night goes through a cycle and each does come to us in a regular pattern, there is a cycle for pain and sadness. It doesn’t stay. This too shall pass. Happiness does return. We will laugh again. I can thank God even in my sadness, that I am promised his joy. Taking a moment to let this truth sink in, already brings a smile to my face. We can look forward knowing that we will be able to look back and see what God has brought us through. His favour is what lasts! He will brings us through.
Who do you go to in your pain? I think that pain acts as a tool to redirect us and reinforce who we are to lean on. Although in our good times we may stay connected to God, I think in our hard times we stay close to him. We are reminded in Psalm 55:22 who it is that we want to carry our cares. We are reminded that only when we allow him to carry them, will we be sustained. “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. I thank God that no matter how it appears, we are not shaken. We are not alone.
Wherever our emotions take us, God is the strength of our heart. 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 matter what we are going through, what God gives, is enough to carry us. We can trust God to be what hasn’t, isn’t and will not fail. He sees us. He is El Roi. The God who sees. He sees our pain. He sees the beginning from the end. He sees it all. It takes God one moment to bring change to our lives, one moment to speak what we need to hear, one moment to reinvent out reality. That moment can be – at any moment. Your moment will come. God sees you!
Recent Comments