ABANDONED and AFRAID

ABANDONED, ALONE, AFRAID

but NOT FORSAKEN

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

GOD PROMISES to never leave us or forsake us. This promise is golden. Circumstances may defeat us. People may betray us. Conflict may depress us. God says He is here for us. We can count on Him. It's true. God is our rock in times of trouble. He doesn't abandon us.

WHEN YOU are abandoned, you can feel all alone. Fear, worry, and pain make it difficult to move forward. The isolation one feels is overpowering. God says, "I'm here. Let me help you. Give it to me. Trust me with it." You wonder how to do that. You picture your hand in His.

I WAS ABANDONED by my mate more than once. The pain went deep. My babies were hurting. Most people didn't know how to help us, though they tried. I needed God so very desperately. Knowing He was there and wouldn't forsake me gave me great comfort. I clung to Him. He said, "Trust me."

I LEARNED to trust God with the many difficulties that come when you are left and alone. When I'd been abandoned, it was with no knowledge of my mate's whereabouts. My life collapsed. I had to make a new path. I sought God every day for the strength I needed. I prayed and read His Word.

GOD MET ME where I was at. He heard my cries. He ministered to me in the deep places of the heart. He helped me find work, take care of the kids, and get a handle on things. It was harder than I can put into words. God became my 'enough' to make it to the other side. God carried me through. I am so thankful.

TGBTG

Songs in the Night

YOU ARE MY HIDING PLACE

 I am glad God watches over me. Sometimes I fail. Sometimes I miss the mark. Sometimes I come across different than I mean. Sometimes I fail those I love. I am a peacemaker at heart. I don't want to disappoint or cause pain. Yet it happens. Then I can't sleep. Like right now. (4:00 a.m.)

Long ago I learned to take it to the Lord in prayer. He is where I receive comfort. When I hurt, when I am fearful, when worries crowd in, I can't handle them well on my own. I struggle. I need God. I need His wisdom. I cherish His grace. He gives me hope in the hard times. And then He gives me songs in the night.

"You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah." Psalm 32:7 NASV

You Are My Hiding Place https://youtu.be/uUx2WcC9JKoaa

Thoughts and Prayers Count (Part 1 of 2)

Thoughts and Prayers

“I’m praying for you,”  ‘thoughts and prayers,’ or ‘thinking of you,’ are statements that roll off the tip of the tongue, close out a Get Well card, and more often than not, end a Facebook or Twitter posting in response to the other person’s troubles or loss. ‘Thoughts and prayers’ speak to the need and says the message the writer wishes to convey to the friend or colleague going through a hard time. 

     But there is an outcry against this sort of thing. Some say it has little impact and falls short of caring, indicating it's trite and silly. But is it really? I beg to differ.

     When the person infers they’re praying, the other person receives it as ‘I’m standing with you in this, and I am backing you up in prayer.’

Yes, words like these bring comfort to the afflicted and light to the journey. People need each others’ comfort and encouragement. Dark days in the daily or on the horizon come to all people, spiritual or not. How others respond to the crisis, with love and prayers, makes a difference, and may determine whether the hurting person feels alone, or feels cared for by those who know their troubles.

I am more aware and self-conscious when I write the phrase ‘thoughts and prayers’ because of the criticism. Some see the sentiment as shallow, disingenuous, or as something that simply doesn’t work or move people to do the right thing. Is this criticism justified? Are ‘thoughts and prayers’ at fault? Does it not deliver the goods? Certainly, prayers should include right hearts and spiritual actions. The phrase is meant as an encouragement, a kind way to say, I’m hanging in there with you. 

For some, it’s not just a phrase, they do pray, and their prayers make a difference. How much difference, only God knows.

People reach out to each other in a way their community accepts and believes. In the Christian/religious community these kinds of phrases communicate the human element in combination with the God element. It invokes the Divine Presence to minister to the human area of need. “Thinking of you” is a secular form of addressing and acknowledging a loss or struggle. I think it brings comfort in its own way.

I mean it when I say, thoughts and prayers. How about you?

God Makes Beauty from Ashes: Comforting Others

Beauty from Ashes

That we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, 

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  

2 Corinthians 1:3,4

In God's economy, our troubles are repurposed to help others.

COMFORT makes me think of soft blankets, hot cocoa and a good book. Comfort foods are those delights which make of us think of hearth and home and a safe place where all is right in the world. Comfort in the context of giving care is a delight of another kind. This kind of comfort extends love and empathy by offering to come along side the hurting person by giving support in any way she or he can.

Comforting others takes many practical forms as in listening on the phone to someone under stress, sending encouraging notes to bring cheer, delivering flowers at just the right time, responding with immediacy when the crisis occurs. All are ways we make contact with people in need of comfort. These acts say, I care.

While in the midst of severe trials or afflictions it is hard to believe that your area sadness may one day be used to help another person. But it works that way. Those things which have been hardest for us provide opportunities to connect with other people in similar circumstances. We know what they are going through and its pain and challenges. Thus, we have earned the right to be heard.

There are many descriptors of this phenomenon such as beauty from ashes, joy comes in the morning,  the sun will rise again and so forth. Each of these phrases contains a measure of hope. They are expressions that encourage our thoughts when the day is dark and sorrow has gripped our hearts. Hope and courage plus God's help carry us through.

God intends for us to respond by reaching out to him when we find ourselves buried in an avalanche of despair, when the sun seems lost to us and too far away to access. Take heart. Trust is learned in this place. Our faith increases as we yield our stuff to God.

In all of these things there is a divine purpose that we cannot fully comprehend. Nevertheless, this will come to fruition. God sees what we cannot see. He knows what we have yet to learn.. God desires that we become fully equipped to fulfill the mission he has for us.

Dear Father God, The days are long, full of disappointments, discouragement, suffering and pain. Use these days to teach me that I may one day use these experiences as an opportunity to comfort someone else in need.