“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”—Psalm 34:18 (NLT)
Do you ever wonder if God causes our difficult seasons in life? Or maybe you think He need not lend a hand, as there are plentiful opportunities for suffering in this broken world.
Does He create circumstances in order to test us? Or will He put us in situations to mature us? Maybe He simply lets life happen, because He has the power to transform any situation.
I’m turning this over more so lately as I move through my own personal valley of unexpectedly losing my husband. I’ve had plenty of difficult seasons in my life, but this one is by far the most difficult.
It is my humanistic inclination to try and make sense of what has happened. I turn to the scriptures to see what, if anything, God has to say about it, and I see that my answer is a combination of the above.
God allows: Remember Job and all that he endured? A man whose wealth was measured both in the size of his family and his possessions, God called him a righteous man, one He was pleased with. I pray I’ll never understand firsthand the type of dark valley he passed through. He lost absolutely everything except his wife, and she was in so much pain she took it out on him, too. I did take note that God put a restriction on Satan. After Job passed through the darkest experiences of his life, God restored everything.
God uses: Joseph, the eleventh son of Father Jacob, experienced some horrible situations in his life that were totally out of his control. Not only was he sold by his brothers into slavery, but a false witness landed him in jail for double digit years! But God restored all that was taken from him and placed him in a significant historical time. At the time of restoration and reconciliation, Joseph proclaimed that what was meant for bad God meant for good.
God tests: Daniel was in exile because he was wise, strong, and good looking. While in a foreign land serving a foreign king, he faced two major tests, including one in which he was not allowed to pray to anyone except the king. When Daniel would not pray to the king but continued his daily prayers to God, he was bound up and thrown into a lions’ den. God sealed the mouths of the lions, and Daniel survives, miraculously unscathed. The king saw that Daniel’s God had spared his servant, and the king gave praise to the Lord.
These guys never gave up on God. They held fast to who He said He was and the past personal examples He had given them to back that up. They were standing strong on the experiential, personal relationship they had directly with God.
God’s Word says He remembers me not according to my sins/mistakes/bad judgment but according to His great love for me. God’s love for me is not dependent on whether or not I’m good enough. He says He will not withhold any good thing from me. That He has a future and a plan for me.
Christ is always pursuing us. He will do so until we draw our last breath. He’s the Father who has the genuine jeweled ring, and He wants to trade it for the bubblegum machine ring we’ve been holding onto.
I do believe everything has to pass through the hands of God before it can touch me, yet I feel conflicted when what I’m experiencing is not in line with my definition of a good and loving God—specifically, the good and loving God of the Holy Bible.
Here’s where I am on my personal, experiential discovery curve with God. These three things I know:
1) Love is not self-referencing. God is the origin of love and defines it. His love surpasses anything we can ever measure or define. We love conditionally. We think we love unconditionally, but we have expectations and definitions, and we measure (in gesture or word) people by those self-defined expectations. We are fickle and unpredictable, so—if we leave love to us—it would be all over the place and constantly changing. In Jeremiah 17:9 we’re told, “The heart is deceitful and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
2) The God of the Holy Bible is the God of restoration. He’s in the business of restoring all that has been stolen from us. I love when He makes the enemy pay us those things back. Take some time today and talk to Him about what has been stolen from you and literally tattle on the thieves. It’s not that God does not know what has been done, but He wants to build a one-on-one relationship with you in which you get to discover His heart for you.
3) Some things just belong to God. We won’t understand them. We’re only called to trust in who He says He is. I’m grateful that I have a past with God. Scandalous as my contribution is, He has shown Himself faithful in various situations in my life. He has a track record in my heart. I do not understand why He would take my husband at such a young age. It does not make any sense to my logical mind, my broken heart, nor my self-defined definition of love. But I do know how much I love Him and how much He loves me.
What season are you in today? Is it one with joy or one with challenges? Is it one of the darkest valleys you’ve walked through to date? I want to encourage you that there is a lifeline for your heart, mind, body, and soul. His name is Jesus. He paved the way for us to have relief in this broken world. He made it possible for us to experience good in the midst of evil.
Jesus is our first love, the One who loved us by laying down His life for each of us so that, if we choose, we can have the chance to know and experience Him for ourselves.
He elected to be draped on the cross with iron nails. He’s the One who saw your face in the future and said, “Yes, that one, I’ll do it for her. She’s worth it. I’ll love her first.”
Now LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take what you discover and hold it up to the Light to evaluate it against who God says you are.
- What do you think it means when the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”?
- Should you make major decisions in life (investing, major purchases, marriage, legal agreements, etc.) based on how your heart feels about it? Explain.
- Do you have experiences in your life where answers elude you? If so, can you agree that it is something that belongs to God? Do you trust Him with it?
- Do you think what Christ did on the cross qualifies Him to be your first love? Why or why not?
- What is your understanding of why God would allow/use/test with pain?
- Even in pain, can you still believe that He loves you?
Use God’s word to take control over traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts, take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises found in His word.
Print, then cut and carry this Scripture with you and/or post it in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s word says to encourage you and to give you an example of His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”—Psalm 34:18 (NLT)
As you read God’s word say to yourself: No matter what it looks like and no matter what it feels like, God is right here with me. He’s as close as my breath, and He is already working on my restoration.
Now LIVE LOVED and THRIVE!
