God with you

The Darkness that overwhelms…

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I must confess that I have felt upside down the last few weeks.  This is the season of darkness before the return of light.  I have always struggled with this time of year when I know the light will decrease day by day until that very short day in December comes and the light begins to slowly return.

I am a sun-loving individual. I enjoy the warm days with the blue skies and leaves rustling in the summer breeze. Those once brilliant greens of summer have long since changed from brilliant reds and golds to a withered brown and have fallen to the ground.  All that is left is a few dry leaves that rattle in the chilly air of late Fall. For me it is the beginning of the dark and cold days of winter. 

This is the time of year where we reminisce about the months that have gone by and look forward to the approaching holiday season. Usually the sparkle and lights of Christmas lift my spirits, but more recently those things do not seem to have the same effect. Memories of my children’s laughter and exclamations of joy have faded as the new realities of what is going on in their lives have taken center stage. 

After expressing this to a friend she asked me, “What would it look like for you to experience the knowledge of and belief in the love that God has for you?”  My response to her was, “I think it would feel like this season of darkness would feel less fearsome.  The sorrows and regrets that I experience would be lessened because I would know that I am not alone in the midst of them. There would be a calmness in the knowledge and the faith that God loves me always.”

Can I ask you a question? Are you struggling with a season of darkness? My friend shared a verse with me that day that lead me to a place of comfort. She reminded me about what we have in Christ. 

In 1 John 4:15-16 it says:

“Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.” ~The Message

The ESV version says, ” Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”  

Abiding is a two-way intimate relationship with God.  We cannot acknowledge and believe in God’s love without practicing the presence of God.  How do you practice the presence of God? One way is being silent with Him. I know that sounds crazy, but studies have shown the positive impact of finding a place and just being quiet. Taking time each day to just sit in silence with God and being still does have a profound impact on your understanding of God’s love for you.

How you can abide with God:

  1. Find a quiet place where you will not be distracted.
  2. Be silent.  Really just be quiet!
  3. Wait on God and just breathe.
  4. Push away the thoughts that creep in and continue in your silence.
  5. Listen for what He has to say to you.
  6. Write those thoughts down.
  7. Close with prayer by
    1. Taking time to glorify God
    2. Confessing any sins that might have been brought to mind in the silence
    3. Expressing gratitude and thankfulness to God
    4. Bringing your needs before Him.

Your first few times doing this will feel awkward, but eventually you will hear God speak to your heart in the silence. And your soul will be refreshed by your time spent with Him. 

Isaiah 30:15 ”For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength.”

 Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Sword of the Spirit

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Normally I try to post every other Tuesday, but this week has been a struggle.  I am sure you all have experienced a week where there are days too full of things, both good and bad, happy and sad, productive and time consuming to take the time to think.  Followed by other days where there is nothing to do but you find yourself too overwhelmed, sad, angry, or tired to think. If you are nodding your head right now then you understand how this week has been for me. 

As I pondered what to put into words to encourage you in your journey with your prodigal or prodigals, it occurred to me that when I need to be refreshed in my spirit and hear from God I have a journal that I can pull out and read. This precious resource holds verses and thoughts I have written down over the last several years.  They are words that I feel God used to build up and enable me to move forward on my path of faith. I thought I would just share a few of those verses with you today.  Also at the end of my post I am including a short prayer that is easy to memorize and say at any moment of the day for those you hold so dear in your heart. 

The verses below were the result of a search I did after reading a daily devotional in Judy Douglass’ book “When You Love a Prodigal”. 

In the devotional, Judy said, “If we are going to consider how we can radically love our prodigals, we ourselves must be certain of, confident in, and comfortable with God’s love for us.”

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:16-19

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

“…the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

“…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  2 Timothy 1:7

“But I trust in you, O Lord ; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!” Psalm 31:14-16

I am sure you can think of other verses that talk about God’s love for us that are special to you. We can be encouraged that God loves us extravagantly and we can share some of that extravagant love with our wayward hearted children.  

Here is the prayer I mentioned before:

Momentary Liturgies for the Practicing the Presence of God: 

Upon Randomly Thinking of Another Person

God, as I hold _______
a moment in my thoughts,
I ask that you would hold them
eternally in yours,
remaining ever at work
in their heart and life,
even now directing their paths
toward your good ends.

Amen

From the book “Every Moment Holy” Volume 1 by Douglas Kaine Mckelvey; Rabbit Room Press, 2017

“A thin place to see glory.”

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“God makes a thin place to see glory.” ~ Ann Voskamp The Greatest Gift

When Ann spoke about this in her book The Greatest Gift it made so much sense to me.  I thought of the thin places I have in my soul. They are places that have been worn through and made raw by the hurt and pain I have experienced. New ragged holes in my soul have revealed and renewed a precious truth to me in my journey with my two wayward hearts. That truth is: God is always with me.

Where do those thin places come from for parents whose children have wayward hearts?

  • They come from conversations filled with tears, anger, and accusations of hate because we hold to our beliefs on sexuality even as we hold to our love for them and they cannot accept the two are compatible or true. 
  • They come from the on-going sorrow related to calls from the police because of a failed attempt to remain sober or clean.  
  • They come from manic days ending in hospitalization because the demons of mental health are attacking their mind and winning the battle with the one you love so deeply.
  • They come from the unanswered texts, calls, or emails you’ve sent to the one who loved God at one time, but now wants nothing to do with Him or you.  
  • They come from hurts that have not been mentioned above. Pain caused by a wayward heart that you love and weep over.

These are the things that rub and tear thin places in our souls. Hopefully you can see His glory peeking through those ragged holes. God did not cause the pain, but He will use the pain to reveal His glory and draw you closer to Him. When these holes in our souls are revealed, try not to focus on the pain alone instead look for the presence of God with you. To be totally honest, that presence is sometimes hard to see. When that happens we have to hold on to the truth of His word. God said in Isaiah, “I will be with you.” Trust Him He will!

Isaiah 43:2
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

What are the thin ragged places in your soul?  Are you trusting God with those things?  Do you see him there with you? If not, take the time now to ask God to show you how He is with you in the midst of your pain.  Ask Him to help you trust Him with your pain, sorrows, regrets, and rejection. Then take the time to thank Him for always being there with you.