Especially When It Hurts

If you've been around long enough, you know that life is pretty interesting in that the seasons are always changing. 

By seasons, I don't mean like spring, summer, winter and fall. I meant life seasons, you know?

Sometimes there are really awesome seasons, when you feel like everything is in the right place, and you are absolutely secure in who you are and the people around you are loving, generous and kind. It's really easy to be thankful up there. 

But then there are really awful seasons when everything just comes crumbling down all at once, and you realise that the fortress you've built to keep you strong doesn't actually hold up against the storm that's wearing you down. These are the seasons when nothing around you holds any kind of certainty; not your friends, not your family, and sometimes not even yourself. These are the seasons when it's really a sacrifice to praise. 

I'm in one of those seasons right now, and in the past week I've been having to remind myself that no matter how difficult this time in my life is turning out to be, my God is faithful. God sees YOU. You are not lost in the crowd. He sees your suffering, and He knows your pain.

 In painful moments like these, there's really nothing else to do but surrender your circumstances to Him. At some point you have got to say, "Father, You have to take this one for me. I cannot bear this pain on my own." 

Give your heart to its maker. He knows where the most broken places are; He knows how best to glue them back together. There is no brokenness that the God of the Universe cannot make whole again, and you have got to have complete confidence in that. 

I know it's painful to praise when you have no song to sing, but no matter what happens, maintain a position of worship. There's no better place to be than in the arms of your Father. Trust me, He cares. He will see you through the storm. You are so, so loved. 

So hang in there, friend. With a God like that loving you, there is not storm you cannot withstand. You've got this. The morning will come, I promise. 

But while the night is still dark, let your prayer be this: "Lord, let this broken heart of mine be still pleasing, acceptable and glorifying to You." 

Friend, if this is also your season of drought, let me know. I want to pray for you. :)