What God Wants for You

It has been said that a life watered by the tears of tragedy and suffering often becomes the most fertile soil for spiritual growth. Decades after his own brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph was able to say to them, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done." (Gen. 50:20)

Can you say that? If not, I encourage you to press in closer to the One who intends only good toward you, and has the power to redeem and restore and transform anything. As we pray more, immerse ourselves further in prayer, seek out others who have emerged from tragedy and disaster stronger and wiser and happier, we can grow out of feeling victimized and into triumph by His Spirit. I've been there, and I know.

So if you are not there yet, and despair of ever getting there, be encouraged. There is life, full and lovely, on the other side of whatever you've been through. Believe it!

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Hang on. Look up!

"Shattered dreams," writes Dr. Larry Crabb, "are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story." When we go through terrible things, it can be impossible to believe that there could be a purpose in all that suffering. There have been times I've said to God, "I don't know what this is about, but whatever you're trying to do in me, it can't be worth all this pain!" Yet God is the restorer of what has been broken, the redeemer of that which is lost, the one who transforms what is useless into something worthwhile. This is what God says: "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jer. 29:11) Hang on. Look up! God has it all planned out.

What God Says

Whatever is in your past, whatever challenges or disasters have plagued you in this past year or years, as we close out 2010, stop listening to despairing thoughts and fearful refrains. Listen instead to what God says:

"But this is a people plundered and looted; they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons; they have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say,

'Restore!'"

Isa. 42:22

"But forget all that...It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

For I am about to do something new.

See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland."

Isa. 43:18,19

"Nothing is impossible with God."

Lk. 1:37

Nothing!

If I Could Just Understand!

Not understanding what's happening, and why, is one of the hardest challenges we face in life. When something goes wrong, we immediately want to know, "Why?" If we can't figure it out, it can be hard to recover, and it can be hard to let go of pain and sadness.

The thing is, God doesn't always tell us why; in fact, he usually doesn't. His thinking is so different from ours. He says, "Trust in me with all your heart, and don't depend on your own understanding." (Pr. 3:5)

When we finally manage to relinquish control of our lives, when we relax into him with trust and faith, we can also give up the quest to understand everything. "Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to understand everything that happens along the way?" (Pr. 20:24)

"What will become of any of us? I mean, tell me honestly, Dora. Did you ever imagine that this would be your life?" (Caroline in The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards.

Have you ever felt like that, shell-shocked by life, wondering how some tornado had been able to swoop down, pick you up and set you stunned and reeling in the Land of Oz? I have.

Look around, even here, for the Tree of Life. Pick its fruit, for from it comes fresh-squeezed Life. There is nothing like it. Sometimes it tastes like lemon juice, I'll admit, but you can trust it, for the One who puts it before you here in this alien land is eminently trustworthy.

This is the One of whom is said, "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory; like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, "This is the One!" (from John 1, THE MESSAGE)

This is the one I call "As Real As Apples."

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Honor Your Own Heart

When disaster strikes, the damage can be far-reaching. We look around and count one loss after another, until it feels as if we have lost everything. We have a tendency to tell each other "chin up" messages at these times. If you've ever been in the middle of complete devastation, you know what it feels like to be told some variation of, "It's probably for the best," or "It could be worse." It's interesting to me that God doesn't respond to us this way. In Joel 1:8, when swarms of locusts had destroyed every crop, God told his people to mourn as if someone had died. We are expected to grieve when bad things happen to us. We need to grieve. Grieving is painful, and when you're in the middle of it, it seems to go on forever. In order to stop grieving, though, we have to go ahead and admit how horrible things are, how hurt we are: grieve. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. Honor your own heart by admitting how much you've lost. Your pain matters to God, and it will matter to those who know how to be true friends.