I’m becoming more and more aware of the intimacy with which God speaks to us. I catch a glimpse of the various ways Christ reveals Himself countless times in my everyday life. God redeems whatever we put in His hands. Nothing is wasted in God’s value system. Give Him broken, shattered, beyond recognition, and He gives it purpose, value, life anew.
I’ve shared in previous blog posts about learning how God speaks beautiful things in the dark. I had previously experienced God meeting me in my pain, so I knew he cared, though what I truly believed had not been fully tested until my husband passed away.
What I thought I knew about God in my pain and suffering was but a scratch on the surface of my life. The depth of His presence allowed me to be human. He received my deep struggle and never shamed me for my bold, accusatory questions. He grieved with me, and met me in my pile of ash and dust. But He didn’t leave me there. Dust in the right hands, His hands, is new life in the making.
Heaven reverberates in so many things in our here-and-now life. Seasons in our personal lives can look a lot like nature’s seasons. Spring—a time to plant and create. Summer—a time to nurture and grow. Autumn—a time to harvest. Winter—a time to celebrate and then slow down, rest, and regroup. And there’s so much more with the various seasons of our emotions, friendships, raising children, investing in a marriage, processing grief/trauma, etc.
We can take anything that was created and, when we hold it up to examine it against who God is, we will get a glimpse of His beauty, truth, creativity. We will see Him proved true over and over.
Another way to see God proved true is to test Him. When we follow His lead and do what He instructs, we reap refreshment, peace, joy, endurance. When we live as He leads, we get what He promises. We see someone’s patience in trying circumstances, provision when resources fail, healing when doctors say nothing can be done. From God’s creation to His instruction, we see He is not a liar.
While nature clearly reverberates heaven, so do our occupations. The person who blows glass, works iron, or refines gold has a specific purpose for the way they work. The process of burning away that which pollutes the strength and purity of what is being created gives us a glimpse of the process that God uses when He’s calling us. There is a refining process, a burning away of this world as He transforms us into who He originally created us to be.
God continually encourages our hearts by making the scriptures tangible. In nature you can find a myriad of science experiments in progress, as well as various life cycles. Trees and plants grow, bloom, die. Birds build nests and feed their young. The sun will rise, and the sun will set. The greater light that governs the day will change guard with the lesser light that governs the night. We could look at the gestation of a human, animal, or plant and see how it overlays the phases of our lives or the growth of our relationship with Christ.
God’s value system is about life and life more abundantly. Everything has purpose in Him. When it comes to the reality of pain and suffering, I can’t help but wonder if the pain we feel when we’re separated from that which we hold near and dear to our heart is still the goodness and kindness of God. Could it be a small glimpse, a dim shadow of the pain we’ll feel if we were to be separated from God for eternity?
Maybe our good God has given us a glimpse of this pain as a heads up, with the hope that we will make Him the Lord of our lives. God has a plan for the pain we experience. He gives us His Son, the Man who was despised and rejected, a Man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
This life is not void of suffering, but God pierces it with His presence, His beauty, and His truth. And we see those three things all around us in our everyday life.
Live Loved and Thrive!
Read more blog posts: https://alifeofthrive.com/2021/03/09/psalm-23/
Self-Reflection
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 the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- When it comes to nature, what do you notice that mimics something about heaven?
- With reference to your job, hobby, or something you’re passionate about, how does it reflect heaven (i.e., order, beauty, purpose, love, creativity, etc.)?
- Since God never wastes anything:
- Share something that He brought new life to.
- How did He give purpose to something difficult you went through?
Take Action
Use God’s Word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His Word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post 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!
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7-10 NIV)
Translation: Our created existence proclaims the beauty and truth of its Creator, God. He sustains all things. You are in good hands!
