I was privileged to attend Women of Faith this weekend. The highlight of the weekend was hearing Laura Story tell her story which is the foundation for her song Blessings. I have loved that song for a long time but now I have a greater appreciation for the message in the song.
Her challenge was that many times we are looking for blessings in the wrong places. We are looking for answers to our prayers, and God hasn't answered them yet, or at least not in the way that we expected. In our dashed expectation of "the" answer, we become distraught and downcast.
What if our trials are "God's mercies in disguise?" The rain, sleepless nights, rejection, and the many other hardships that so often turn our hearts to other sources for peace and hope, but only makes us more miserable. Can we really trust God in these seasons of suffering? The answer is yes!!
We are pilgrims on a walk, through the desert, and on mountain tops. This world is not our final home. Trials are for our growth in Christ. God has promised that we will suffer. Are they fun? Not at all. But if we keep our hearts and minds on God and His Word, we find blessings in the storm.
Perhaps you have been in an ongoing trial or suffering, and you wonder how much longer it will last. Where can we find encouragement? God's Word. Read the stories in the Old Testament. God's servants suffered greatly, yet they stood strong. For example, Daniel suffered in a foreign land away from his family for 70 years! He didn't know the end of his story. But what he did know was that God was his Fortress, his Rock and strength. Hebrews 11 is a great chapter that takes us through the Great Hall of Faith of God's people in the Old Testament.
Truly God's mercy and grace comes in the midst of trials, suffering, and hardships.
Isaiah 26:3-4 "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock." (NAS version)
His Grace Abounds
Barb
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