The process of making us into whom we are truly meant to be is a messy one! But To anyone feeling heartbroken, remember Jesus is close to the brokenhearted! Jesus is a present help in trouble!
I am here to remind you that broken things become beautiful things in the hands of God!
On this journey called life, we may start off well, and then without any warning, there is an unexpected turn. The good thing about unexpected turns as children of God is that they do not mean that our journey ends when life lands us in a terrain we are unprepared for.
I am always so intrigued by nature and the way it works! Ever noticed that many processes that yield great results are so messy or painful?
- A woman giving birth
- A seed turning into a plant
- A plant being pruned
- Gold being refined
- Grapes turning into wine
It is the same with us!
When we are in a terrain we are unaccustomed to, going through our processing, it is hard to see any beauty. Our pain and the mess around us cloud our minds. It is hard to see the hand of our Loving Father working out all things for our good.
Who wants to suffer? No one wants to! Who wants to be broken? Not me!
We are living in a world in which
many people are going around broken.
In fact, we are all broken to a certain extent because we are all living in a world that has been impacted by the effects of sin.
How we handle or cope with challenges faced because of the effects of sin is different. Some people have excellent coping skills; others have strong support systems that help them to bounce back.
Some people have firm faith that allows them to bypass the natural realm to see themselves in the realm of the spirit. I think this is important because sometimes life events will make no sense and require us to walk by faith and faith alone!
Some people have no coping skills, and there is no support system in place. Where faith is concerned, they do not trust a God they cannot see to fix the situations that are real and tangible before them. These factors affect how an individual will walk out of a challenging season.
From my experience, I would say the duration one has to face a given challenge will greatly affect how well they are able to cope and, in time, expose what one is truly made of.
Some places that God will allow us to trod through in life; only God himself will need to carry us. Yes, no matter how humanly strong we are, sometimes we will need to rest so God can work things out! There are times in life when we will not know the next move or be able to understand why things are the way they are, and we will need to remember the promises of God over our lives.
People are hurting around us! Let’s stop being afraid to share when we are hurting. Many people choose not to share because they think it makes them come off as weak or lacking favour and faith.
If the Holy Spirit does not reveal to us that someone is broken, it is so hard to tell. We have all learned to pretend. We put on smiles and mask our pain because we have learned that we are not to feel. We are led to believe that a life free of challenges laced with prosperity and blessing is a Godly and good life.
A life that has not been marred by the effects of an earthly world that it is being lived in. We choose to operate under the world’s view of what life looks like when God is with someone, Instead of being real and open about the challenges we face along life’s journey so that we can encourage someone.
Is our approach to the challenges faced in life biblical?
I know you might say, “What about peace that passes all understanding?”
Having peace and pretending to be well are two different things. The peace that passes all understanding is having peace even in the midst of challenges.
Not everyone has a heart that is inclined to care for others genuinely. But even in this dark world, there are hearts that are under the hands of our Loving Lord, ready to reach a soul in need. Have you ever noticed that when in a dark place, the best person to help you out is someone that has experienced such darkness and came out stronger than they went in?
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Friend, in this life, we will have trials, but we have our Lord that overcame and has gone to prepare a place for us!
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
God is in complete control of our lives and all the details. He created all things with a specific purpose In mind. His will for our lives must come to pass. So no matter what we face or how broken we become, He will rewrite or rework the details of our lives to line up with His will for our lives! There is nothing we can do to change the plans God has for us that are all good and yes and Amen, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Do not feel like God has taken His eyes off you when faced with challenges. Challenges can and will surface in our lives even though we are in the hands of God.
Jeremiah 18:1-4 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
God is not asking us to pretend that life is perfect; He is asking us to trust that He is in control of all things. All the details of our lives so that when the storms of life are raging, we can trust that He is in control, working out all the details.
Over the last year, I am learning that in the midst of challenges, there are beautiful streams of blessings. Some of life’s greatest lessons are learned when we are out of our comfort zones.
Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Some of our most extraordinary encounters with God happen while walking through our wilderness season.
Our God is a present help in trouble!
When we are faced with challenges, and God makes a way out of no way, we understand how He loves and the fact that He will indeed leave the ninety-nine for the one. That’s when we understand that He will hold us in His hands and that His eyes have never left us. That we are indeed the apple of His eye, that He will take the wings of the morning and fly on our behalf.
Why do we pretend that life is free of challenges and everything is going according to plan? I am not saying that every happy person is pretending or that there are no seasons of rest, but I have been in such seasons, and there is nothing wrong with them, but that is not what life is constantly.
Life is not only made up of seasons free of challenges. In life, you will have challenges, but friends, even in your challenges, blessings and prosperity have been promised to you. Jesus is walking with us when we go through our wilderness seasons. He said in His word that He is a present help in trouble. He is not a man that He should lie!
Numbers23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Life is like a coin; sometimes, we are heads and sometimes tails.
Sometimes we are faced with circumstances that cause us to have more questions than answers. Seasons in which we cannot begin to understand anything at all.
Life is filled with processes. God made it that way for a reason.
A seed must be buried in order to grow.
A mother nurtures her baby in her belly for months, and then there is a day appointed for birth.
Friend, if there were no challenges in life, there would be no need for God!
I know what it is to be heartbroken and what it feels like to be in pain. I know what it is to be surrounded and showered with love. I know what it is to be alone; I know what it is to be in a season that is so intense for an extended period with no end in sight.
When life is difficult, it does not mean that God has forgotten you.
It does not mean that you are not loved.
It does not mean that where you are is where your story will end.
When our worlds are Spinning with no sign they are slowing down, God is with us! He is even closer to us then friends! No matter the season we are in, friend God is our constant. He is our firm foundation.
If we make our beds in hell, He is there!
Psalm 139:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in [a]hell, behold, You are there.
When the storms rage, please remember our loving Father told us that in this life, we will experience challenges.
Psalm 34:18 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’
John 16:33 Friend, if you are living for God and have more questions than answers, you remember that God will rework your situation into something good.
Do not allow Satan to fill your heads with lies. You are not broken beyond repair. You remember these light and momentary afflictions can touch our bodies, but our souls are secured.
Friend, broken things become beautiful things in the hands of the potter.
I am here to tell you today that at the appointed time. God will work miracles for you that no one can question.
Hold on to God.
Broken things become beautiful things when God does the mending.
Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can fall together.
Friend, continue to hope in the Lord!
He will never leave you nor forsake you!
Revelations 21:4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ [b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
Friend, when you go through a season of pain that your earthly mind cannot comprehend:
- Spend time with God. The safest place to find Him is in His word.
- Journal
- Worship God
- Find people to encourage
- Surround yourself with people who will pray for you until the heavens open up.
- Be still when you know you have done all that you can.
- Remind yourself of the promises of God
- Love on your family
- Do something you love
- Let go of things that cause you pain that you have no control over
- Friend, keep the faith!
Stay in the hand of the potter friend because even though we are marred, God is working at our broken, crooked pieces to turn our lives into something so beautiful we will not be able to doubt his hands are with us in our darkest moments. When God created us, He had a perfect plan in mind. Our God does not make mistakes! God will make all things beautiful in its time.
There is no safer, more comforting more firm place to be. Stay in the hands of your all-knowing father from this life into eternity.
A prayer for anyone that is feeling broken
Dear God,
I thank you for life. I thank you that your hands have been upholding me when I feel I cannot take anymore. Thank you for carrying me when I cannot carry myself. I am so grateful that when I am weak, Lord, that’s when you are strong. Lord, I trust you today and believe all the promises you have spoken over me. I trust that no matter the circumstances I am faced with, you are in control and reworking all the details of my life. I know this is not where my story ends. Just like the potter reworked the marred clay into something good, I know I am in your hands, and you are working out the details of my life to lead me into your will for my life. Help me, Lord, each step of the way to not look at what I see with my natural eyes but to understand that in the realm of the spirit, it is already well. Lord, I know you are a God that creates out of nothing! Today Lord, turn your eyes on my situation and breathe your life-giving breath on me. Remind me of the joy of my salvation.
Lord, today I cry out to you for help because only you can help me.
I pray and believe psalm 34 over my life today.
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Here is a song you can listen to while you wait on God to rework the details of your life. It has been a blessing for me, and I hope it is for you too.
Thinking out loud because life is better shared.
Kimberlee
PS: I am always happy to hear from you! If this post is a blessing to you, please send me a message or leave a comment.