By Eileen Slattery Berglund
Have you ever been hurt so bad that you weren’t sure how you’d ever survive? I mean, a deep, gut wrenching, cry yourself through the day and night kind of hurt? I’m talking about a hurt that was so strong and so painful that it robbed you of all energy and left you vulnerable to seemingly everything and everyone? A hurt that caused your physical body to shut down and send you into panic attacks…a hurt that caused you to retreat in such a way to never be hurt like that again?
I have.
The good news is, I survived. It took a while to heal. It took “another while” to re-engage. But I made it through. And you will too.
There's a great verse at the beginning of 2 Corinthians that has always given me hope and helped to make some sense of these difficult times. It says:
"Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."(2 Cor 1:3-4)
Take some time to read that through slowly and really take hold of it. Here is the same verse in The Message translation:
"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us."(2 Cor 1:3-4)
So whether it is a little hurt you are managing, or a huge horrible hurt that has crashed over you leaving you feeling heartbroken, betrayed or destroyed, the good news is God is with you. Trust in Him, lean on Him, totally bury yourself in Him and He will give you strength for the day. This pain you are in is not a permanent pain. You can still hope. You can still dream. You can count on Him. For now, just open yourself up fully to receive His comfort, so that one day, like me, you can use the comfort you received to comfort others.
Things may look bad, but He always looks good. Fix your eyes on Him and trust in His love for you.
As always, I’m cheering you on.
Коментарі