Life is full of simple pleasures. Of course, it's also full of numerous little aggravations. Almost every day we experience both. It is our choice whether to focus on the good or the bad. We decide whether or not we are going to count our blessings or number our complaints. Which option leads to happiness and health? Which option enriches your life? Of course, we all know the answer to these questions. Hopefully, most of us choose to count our blessings most of the time.
I will admit that life is difficult sometimes. There can be days or weeks (or longer) when we feel like we are just moving from one mess to another -- and the blessings get really hard to see. It is at these times when we need to try the hardest to see -- to find a blessing of some sort because these are the times when we might give up altogether if we don't. We may never be able to get back to the point that we can see God does bless us -- if we don't seek to find His blessings at our darkest moment. We may forever become the pessimist. We risk becoming bitter and cold to others.
Just today, a sister from our prayer group said something in our group text that really hit home to me. Another sister is going through a particularly hard time. She texted to let us know that she would be facing some additional trials this weekend. The first sister said something like this --(and I am paraphrasing) -- 'I know from experience that the time when you don't feel like coming to prayer group is the time when you really need it the most.' I have been thinking about that one all day long today. She is right, of course.
This quote is another way of saying the same thing -- "When you think you are at the end of your rope, tie another knot." Have you ever heard that one? What is all this getting at? Well, for one - don't let yourself become so embroiled in the bad stuff that you completely lose the good stuff God does for you. If you don't feel like praying -- then you may be at your absolute lowest and that is when you need God the most and when you need to pray the most. It doesn't matter that you are hurting so much that you can't say the words. Just close your eyes and think of God -- and let the Spirit take your thoughts and emotions and give them to the Heavenly Father for you. That is one of the wonderful fringe benefits of being a Christian. We get a special audience with a God anytime day or night. AND we get an interpreter if we need one!
God loves us so much and He wants us to be happy. He also wants us know we can come to Him whenever we are feeling low. We all long to be comforted when we are hurting. As children, we cry for our Mama's when we are sick. I remember many hours of just sitting and holding my boys when they were sick and running a fever. As parents (Moms or Dads) have we kissed booboos, wiped away tears, applied bandages, given medicine and offered comfort and love to a sick or injured child? Even as we grow older, when we are feeling bad, it is often our parents we go to for advice or comfort.
Why do we do that? It is because we go to where the love is -- we go to those we know will take care of us no matter what. We long to be hugged and comforted by someone we have full faith and confidence in. As adults, when we have a strong relationship with our spouse -- we tend to think of them in our hour of need. I remember once when my Mom was not feeling very well at all. Dad was working and wouldn't be home until pretty late that night. I remember talking to her the next morning and she said that she had felt so bad that all she could think of us how she wanted Dad to be there.
No one can love you like a parent or a spouse can. No one that is except God (and His Son and the Comforter).
We all know this - it is not something new. God loves us so much that He sent His Only Son to redeem us. Jesus loves us so much that He willingly came to die for our sins and then conquered death through His resurrection. He also loved us enough to send The Comforter -- the Spirit of God to be with us now. And the Holy Spirit loves us so much that He is our intercessor - our interpreter. He is our Comforter because it is through the Spirit that we have the scriptures so that we can know about God. Yes friends, we all know the love is there. But if, in our darkest moment, we allow ourselves to forget -- or to refrain from seeking our God -- then we may lose ourselves in that very moment. We may not ever be able to find our way back to God again. It is a little difficult to find anything when you have allowed yourself to be blinded.
So think about it --God wants to take care of you. He wants to be the One who will take care for you while you are sick and hurting. He wants to heal your spiritual wounds. He wants to ease your suffering and give you rest from the pain you suffer in this old world. He wants to hold you in His arms and wipe away your tears. God wants to be your eternal comfort. He wants to cure your soul of any sickness and take away any stumbling blocks. In other words, He wants to take away your booboos.
If you don't feel any of this - go to one of your faithful Christian friends. Someone you know that loves you and loves God too. Tell them you are struggling and ask them to pray for you. Let them show you what God's love is all about. A true Christian friend loves God enough to love you. That is how we begin to understand the love of God.
Don't give up on God. Tie that knot at the end of your rope. Go to Him just as you went to your parents when you had that bike wreck or called for Mama when you were sick with the flu. Peter tells us to cast our cares on Him, for He careth for us. The writer of Hebrews tells us "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (4:9) He is waiting and He wants to bless you and to help you. There are so many scriptures in Psalms that tell us God will be here for us when we need Him.
Don't allow yourself to become so devastated that you think -- God doesn't care, so what's the point? That, my friends, is the biggest point of all......the point is for you not to give up or give in to the devil. This is when you fall down on your knees and call out to Him who loves you more than any parent or spouse ever could. If you seek Him --truly, humbly, lovingly seek Him -- then you WILL find Him. I can promise you that. You will find Him even when you thought you couldn't see Him anymore. You just have to be looking.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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