God is Speaking

It's been one of those weeks! I've been tired the past few days and my mind tends to wander when I'm tired. I've had things going through my head that I know are not of God and just today I was reminded of that. I subscribe to Lifeway's Journey magazine. It's a monthly devotional that begins with a scripture, has an everyday application, then a little prayer to pray and then it ends with the deeper walk which is additional scripture to read. Today's spoke to me so much that I have to share!

Ouch!
"I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust." Joel 2:25

Life hurts, but here's some really good news. If your heart's in pieces, God is in the mending business. He's not just in the business-it's one of His priorities.

Jesus quoted the passage from Isaiah 61:1-3 on the offical opening day of His ministry (Luke 4:18). He spent the rest of His earthly life healing people. While He was on earth, He physically and spiritually healed the blind (Matt. 9:27-31); the lame (Matt. 9:5-7); and even raised the dead (Matt. 9:23-25). Jesus is still healing-even as you read this sentence.

It's God's heart to heal yours.

God doesn't make light of the things that wound us. He doesn't look down on us thinking how weak we are if something shatters our hearts. God isn't intimidated by how much we hurt or how wounded we are. We don't have to act tough with Him.
God doesn't scoff when we're wounded. In fact, He knows our wounds better than we do. He knows exactly what wounded us, even if we can't pinpoint it. He's even aware of wounds that we don't even know exists. Plus, He knows the depths of our hearts.

Because of all that, God is the best One to go to when we're hurting. That's why He's often called the Great Physican. He's actually the Greatest Physican-no ailment is beyond His ability to heal. And He wants to mend them all.
God wants to heal you. He wants to heal you from the past (Joel 2:25). He wants to heal your present (Isaiah 57:18) If you've got a wound, God wants to mend it.

Maybe you don't need healing right now. But since hard times are guaranteed on this side of heaven (John 16:33), you or someone you know will need God's healing touch at some point. The God who heals, the Greatest Physician, is ready and waiting- no appointment necessary.

Lord, when life get hard, remind me that You are always there to help and to heal me. Give me a heart of compassion so I can reach out to others who are hurting.

Deeper Walk: Isaiah 61:1-3

As hurt as my heart gets about our whole adoption process, I'm reassured that God already knows the hurt I feel! The waiting is so hard yet I know deep down that God is totally in control!!

Some days I think that my problems are just too big and I stress about them to the point that I can almost make myself sick. And then God sends someone to let me know that my problems aren't that big and I shouldn't stress about them. It's that gentle reminder from Him that lets me know He's still there orchestrating and composing the plan he has for my life.

Just today someone shared with me what a friend of hers has gone through. And when I look at what she's been dealing with compared to what I've been dealing with, I'm humbled and almost ashamed for thinking that my problems are too big. It's these God moments that point out to me that He's the one in charge, not me!

I'm learning that I've got to continue to give it all over to God and let Him take the burden for me.

Same Song, Second Verse

Chad told me yesterday that we weren't chosen again. And you know, I'm ok with that. It stings a little but not like it has before. I know that God in his infinite wisdom has a plan for Chad and me. And while I may not have anticipated that it would have taken us this long to grow our family, God knows best!

God is laying the groundwork and refining both of us to hopefully one day be the best parents we can be!

Adoption is not really on my mind these days and to be honest, that's a good thing! God has placed other things on my mind and heart to pray about and I'm grateful for that.