pain – My Grace Untold

We Are Not Without Comfort

^“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John 14:26-27

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he reminded his disciples that they would not be left orphaned or without comfort.

I cannot think of a time when we have needed more comfort than these times that we are living in. Rising suicide rates, rising mass shootings, rising divorce rates, rising fear, rising anger, rising uncertainty, and rising numbers of those who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ.

We live in a time of fearful reality that threatens to harden our hearts or infuriate us to vengefully react and create bigger problems than solutions.

For anyone who dares to cling to the hope in Jesus Christ, there is grace to be reminded that we are not without comfort. Jesus Christ told us that he overcame the world. We serve a Lord and Savior who is not oblivious or dismissive of our great pain and wounds of our gruesome reality.

We are not without comfort.

We do not have all the answers. In fact, we have more and more questions than we have answers. We do not have a blueprint of what the next moment holds not to even consider what tomorrow will hold. There is uncertainty everywhere around us. Still, we are not without comfort.

Friend, the Word of God remains faithful as God himself. The power and authority of God has been proven time and time again in different ways throughout our life. Indeed, we serve a good, good father, a merciful father, a gracious father, a merciful father, a loving father, a promise-keeping father, a way-making father, a miracle-working father, a mind-renewing father, a heart-cleansing father, a chain-breaking father, a compassionate father, who has not left us by ourselves to endure the pain and suffering of this unpredictable world. In this lies our comfort.

Be reminded today, that we have been given a gift of comfort by the God of comfort, who reached down from heaven in the Person of Jesus Christ and left us with the Person of the Holy Spirit after Christ’s resurrection. So we know, there is nothing that is outside the power and authority of God. In this, lies our comfort.

God sees all and knows all and most importantly as it pertains to our present groans, God, through the Holy Spirit is a God of all comfort. We are not without comfort in Jesus name. Amen.

There is No Waste In God’s Process – Part 2

“I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.”

Isaiah 57:18

At 24, the hardships I have faced, still facing, and watched, and still watching others around me face, has honestly been challenging. I come from a place where abject poverty and hopelessness is a norm. Even after my move to America, I grew up in a community (suburb and all) that fell from grace each time a young life was gunned down or another young life turned to the path of destruction.

So, admittedly, I have asked inwardly and outwardly over the years, through my personal pain and my heartache over the world around me, ‘where was God?’

It took time, prayer, and more prayer to tap into the grace of God, to trust His Way above all other thoughts.

See, God’s Higher plan goes beyond what we see or how we feel even in the face of havoc and discomfort. And I know how hard it can be to keep that in mind sometimes. We have to remain grounded in faith and hope and trust God, and know and know and know that we serve a loving, merciful, and powerful father!

Friend, there is purpose in your pain.

Over 4000 homes were lost in this one tornado. 4000 lives halted, scattered, shattered with one event. I can’t begin to imagine the pain and tiredness from such a life-changing occurrence.

But God’s purpose for the community of Moore was greater than the material things that were demolished in the storm. God’s purpose proved powerful in love and togetherness that became greater than the anguish of losing loved ones. The community of Moore did not wallow in pain. They worshiped IN FAITH AND HOPE… How great is our God?!

Hearts were restored with the fullness of God’s mercy and grace as families drew nearer to one another to comfort and help carry each other’s burdens. Wounds (present and past) were healed as former addicts opened up to the Lord seeking forgiveness and a new start. Faith was strengthened as survivors who clung to the mercy of God in the eye of the storm, praised God for preserving their lives and loved ones…It wasn’t all good, but it was all God.

So I wonder today what parts of your journey the enemy has convinced you was a waste. What has the voices of doubts and hopelessness told you over and over again? What lies of worthlessness and inferiority have you succumbed to in the past? What tragedy has left you without solid grounds to stand or walk on?

Will you please bring it to God today? Will you please come into the arms of your Maker for the comfort you desperately need and has been seeking for in all the wrong places? Do you know that healing comes from God?

Friend, I cannot stress it enough that there is NO waste in God’s process. It is all for His glory!

May your heavenly Father in His tender-mercy, pull you close in your time of loss and despair. May your Almighty father restore your faith and hope today to behold the fullness of His glorious plan in Jesus name. Amen.

There Is No Waste In God’s Process – Part 1

“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD…”

Jeremiah 30:17

When you consider the process that gold or diamonds have to go through to shine in their purposeful form, there is some sort of waste shed during the process.

Funny enough, you and me as children of God, have to endure a similar process for the Glory of God to shine in us and through us in its truest divine form. The only difference between the two processes, is that there is absolutely no waste in God’s process.

Every part of your journey is for the glory of God.

Today, I watched a Netlix documentary titled, Where Was God? – a film that captured the story of hope, faith, and restoration for the survivors of the 2013 Oklahoma tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. 25 people, including seven children at an elementary school, lost their lives.

I was amazed at the power of God in more ways than one.

I first sat in awe at the power of God as I saw the video of the powerful and fatal winds that carried and toppled cars and houses in the blink of an eye.

Then I watched in awe at the rubble after the storm, as a community prepared to recover from loss and tragedy.

The parents of one of the young children, Nicholas, told their story. Nicholas was a gift from God to a father who was told at 16 that he would not be able to father any children in this world. So the love for Nicholas was beyond ordinary…But God gave and took away.

Another 14-year-old tornado survivor recounted the story of the Oklahoma tornado that happened two years earlier in 2011, in which she lost her father and her younger sister.

The film brought tears of sorrow, joy, and hope to my eyes.

Loss is so painful. Read ‘GOD GIVES EVEN WHEN HE TAKES AWAY’

But something deeper is struck when young lives end so soon, so unexpectedly. I wondered myself ‘Where was God?’

After the tornado, something great happened in the community of Moore. Strangers became friends, a community grew through pain and became stronger in faith and hope. Lives were turned around when survivors received Christ as their savior even through discomfort.

God was there, as He is always with his children.

When I first sought the spirit on the direction of this particular post, I thought I only had to speak about the goodness of God even through our worst times in life. But I heard the Word remind me that even as we lay in waste out of confusion, pain, anger, or misguidance, God is there.

Friend, there is no waste in God’s process. FINISH READING HERE.