GOD SPEAKS IN DREAMS

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I found myself in large, unfamiliar building—a museum perhaps. As I rounded a corner, I happened across a white stone statue of the virgin Mary. Slowly, I raised my camera to shoot a picture when I was struck with a sudden, deep sense of dread that took my breath away. Something was warning me that I was about to do the wrong thing.

Quickly I turned away from the statue and found myself standing on a balcony, looking down at a young woman perched on the edge of a large body of water. She was screaming . . . so loudly that I could see the tonsils in the back of her mouth. Her feet were working frantically to run, but something unseen was holding her in place. All the while the kicking motion created splashes that rippled across the breadth of the water.

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I woke up abruptly, the dream still vivid in my head. My heart thudded with fear. Beyond a shadow of a doubt I knew the dream meant something important—that it held some spiritual significance. But what? I couldn't get the woman's face out of my mind. I felt sorry for her—so terrified, yet unable to flee.

A month or so later, I called a good friend, Paula, and asked if I could meet with her for prayer. I was feeling desperate and down from months and months of unresolved medical problems, and I felt the need to act—to do something, anything, to help myself. Maybe the effective prayers of a few righteous women would avail a healing, in one way or another.

A few days later, I met with Paula and her friend Jeanne…a noted prophetic and powerful prayer warrior. I shared my medical story with Jeanne and ended with a recount of my recent unnerving dream. Her response took me by surprise.

"Sometimes the Lord shows us what's going on in the spiritual realm through our dreams," Jeanne said, "And I think that you are battling with a religious spirit."

At first her words stung. What was she saying . . . that I was a "religious" person but lacked real faith? Even more, I am not a big fan of mystical Christianity. I don't look for signs or seek wonders; I'm not comfortable with talking about such things as demonic influence or deliverance. I've always taken a more practical approach to faith . . . relying upon scipture, rather than experience, to form my beliefs. I did believe that God could work miracles at His will, or impart information to us through any means that He chose, but I just wasn't prone to search for such things. Still, I sensed that Jeanne was saying something God wanted me to hear.

Lord, help me to be open to whatever You are doing. Help me not to be too rigid or to reject something You might want to do. Please help me know the truth.

Then it dawned on me how as a child I had been raised in a very religious, liturgical church. Even though I left that church at the age of 13, and 15 years passed before I became a Christian at the age of 28, perhaps some religious seed had been lodged in my soul and needed uprooting.

The two women prayed mightily over me that day—for healing, for wisdom, for hope and for freedom from a religious spirit. I left there feeling thankful but uncertain of what to expect. Mostly I was afraid that nothing would change at all, but I tried to cling to God's promise in Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

A couple weeks later, still troubled by Jeanne's words, I shared the event and the dream with another friend. "Do you think I am just religious person?" I asked. "No," he said. "That's not what I think she meant at all. It's just that you have a tendency to feel guilty a lot. I don't know where that comes from . . . whether it's from your upbringing or what. But you tend to weigh your faith . . . your sins on one side and your obedience on the other. But it's by grace that you're saved."

As he spoke, a light went off in my head. I literally saw a scale in my mind's eye. Suddenly I completely understood the dream as well as Jeanne's interpretation. Deep inside me, I had come to believe that God was punishing me with medical problems for sins I'd committed in the past. Somewhere along the line, I had allowed fear to cloud my heart and to define my standing before God.

Christianity is not about doing enough right to outweigh the wrong. And I knew that . . . but I had wandered from the truth. The challenges of suffering had clouded my perspective. I knew that I needed to return to my first love . . . to set my face toward the fact that God is faithful to His promise to pardon all our sins—past, present and future--in Jesus Christ!

In that moment, a true healing had begun. More than a physical crisis, I had been suffering from a crisis of faith. But no more. I determined that day to focus on God's promise that despite what I suffered in this world, my salvation was secured on the cross. I could not follow the lie that my trials were signs of God's displeasure. Yes, obedience is the goal . . . but obedience is not the fee. Salvation is a gift.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21).

SUFFERING AND PRAYER

Friendship With God

“Life without a friend is death without a witness.” --Eugene Benge

Who is your best friend? How would you describe the qualities of a good, deep and lasting friendship?

I have been blessed throughout my life with some really wonderful friends—friends in whom I have been able to confide my deepest and sometimes darkest thoughts—and yet they have stood by me and always will.

In the most difficult times of my life, these dearest friends are the ones whom I run to with my problems because I know that they understand me. More times than not, they don’t have the solutions to my problems . . . but that’s not why I go to them. I go because I need them to listen, to care, to help carry my heavy load in this world, if even for just a few minutes. And I know they will pray for me.

When a friend allows us to reveal who we really are, without fear of rejection or condemnation, then they validate our worth. In essence, their listening says, “you matter.” We all need to know that we matter, especially when we are suffering and undergoing difficult times. Knowing that we matter gives us the strength to push forward, even when we don’t know where the road is leading.

It took me a long time to realize that God is not only my Father, but my friend. During the darkest days of my medical afflictions, months of unresolved problems drained every ounce of energy or determination to go on, and I spent hours on my knees before God beseeching Him to heal me, to deliver me, to tell me what I needed to do or to say differently so that He would respond. Without realizing it, I had compounded my own suffering by believing that God wanted me to change something in my life, something in myself, before granting my petition. I turned myself inside out looking for that one elusive black mark to eradicate and nearly drove myself crazy in the process.

Then one day, while on my knees, I was getting ready to offer up my same old requests to the Lord—"God, please heal me." "God please deliver me." "God, please show me why this is happening to me."

I was so tired. Finally, I just said, “Lord, I’m just too weary to confess, to ask, or to pray. I just need to talk—to tell you how I feel.”

Suddenly I heard that still small voice say, "Are you seeking the blessings, or are you seeking the Blesser?

Stunned, I slowly proceeded to freely unload . . . to share with God as I would with my best friend. I didn’t ask for anything; I didn’t try to please. I simply let my words gush forth from the deep well of a broken heart.

When I was done, I felt more refreshed, more relieved than I had in months. And I was struck with a new realization: That was exactly what God had wanted me to do . . . to simply enjoy the Blesser.

From that day forward, my perspective toward prayer changed. I finally understood that in spending so much time asking God for things, I was missing out on the deeper reason that God had created me as His child. I am not implying that we should not ask God for things. In fact, we are told by God, Himself, to do just that.

But prayer is much more than asking. It is more than praising. Prayer in its simplicity is to commune with the Living God and to discover the joy of His fellowship as we relate to Him, even as a friend.

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15).

SUFFERING AND GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

Spiritual Sickness

Just as physical sickness can zap our strength and dim our vitality, sometimes the circumstances of life can tax our spiritual strength and deplete our reservoir of faith.

One potential threat to our spiritual health is our perspective toward prolonged suffering. Life is replete with circumstances that create long-term pain: the diagnosis of an incurable condition or disease; the loss of a loved one; an unfulfilled goal or heart’s desire; unemployment; betrayal; catastrophe.

When suffering persists we naturally ask the question, “What have I done wrong to deserve this? Is God trying to teach me a lesson?” When clear answers fail to emerge, the tendency may be to dig deeper which can lead to erosive doubts: “Does God really love me? Have I pressed Him too far?"

Once “spiritual sickness” takes hold, it has the potential to spread like a cancer, afflicting us with relentless anxieties that shake the core of our faith. The enemy will whisper into our heads: “You’re going to lose your salvation. You don’t have what it takes to hold on to God. If you were really a Christian you wouldn’t even be thinking like this.” Before we realize what’s happened, we find ourselves caught in a web of fear and spiritually paralyzed.

Unhealthy Doctrine, Unhealthy Faith

Part of what causes us to succumb to spiritual sickness is the lack of knowledge or the lack of trust in the basic doctrines of the Bible—particularly the assurance of our salvation. God has chosen us from the foundation of the world and has covenanted to keep us to the end. Prolonged suffering always presents the temptation to doubt this truth.

For the longest time I saw the amount of my suffering as a measuring rod of God's love for me. The more I suffered, the more sinful I must be. The more I suffered, the more God was displeased with me. So when I started undergoing a series of medical problems, and God did not grant the physical healing I had prayed for, I interpreted that as God’s rejection and I became plagued with the fear that I was not saved.

The Road to Spiritual Health

My afflictions brought me to a new place where I had to re-evaluate my deepest beliefs. It all boiled down to one question: Did Christ really die for all my sins—past, present, and future—or didn’t He? Which was it? If the former was true, then I had fallen for a lie.

I finally saw that in setting impossible standards of spirituality for myself, standards I could never attain, I had inadvertently consigned myself to a prison of fear. But God’s word says: “Perfect love drives out fear.” (I John 4:18). Obviously something was wrong with my thinking. If my sin had the power to undo what God had done (regeneration), then my sin had more power than God—and I knew that WAS NOT true.

I finally learned that I could no longer allow my circumstances to define truth. In doing so, I had lost sight of the foundation of the Christian faith: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1).

I like the way Philip Graham Ryken is quoted in the book Assured by Faith by Burk Parsons: “If our salvation depended on us, then we would be about as faithful as the stock market.”

The Faithfulness of God

I found a number of verses confirming the faithfulness of God and began to read them out loud, incorporating them into prayers on a regular basis. In time, the power of God’s living word, the sword, forced the enemy of my mind to retreat.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned so far is that even when we cannot hold on to God, He holds on to us. We do not make it to the end because we have great faith, but we make it to the end because of His great faithfulness! This is the assurance that we have in Jesus Christ. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:29).

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13).

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. (John 6:38-39).

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39).

Subtle Beauty

Photo By: Eileen Gregory Selby

THE SEASON OF SUFFERING

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4).

If suffering could be compared to a season, it would certainly be winter.

Winter is dark, cold and isolating. As the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer, flowers die, creatures hide, and the world recedes into a canvas of gloom and gray. Winter--the longest of the four seasons--has a way of triggering depression as it wears out its welcome and stretches the limits of human patience.

If suffering is like winter, then it’s no wonder we disdain it so deeply. Suffering is an uncomfortable “activity under heaven”—one that provokes cross emotions and behaviors while rubbing up against our godly strivings for hope, joy and peace.

But the sorrow of suffering has an appointed time and purpose in each life under heaven. God does not want us to deny our pain, nor to escape it—rather He calls us to embrace what He has paradoxically designed. Like winter, our suffering has a subtle beauty that can only be appreciated within the framework of faith.

PERMISSION TO SUFFER

One of the greatest acts of kindness we can extend toward someone in crisis is to grant them the permission to suffer. We don’t always need to cheer people up, or to suggest explanations for their troubles, or to put a positive spin on every circumstance. Sometimes when people are suffering, what they need most is validation—someone to simply acknowledge that their crisis is, indeed, sad. As Romans 12:15 says: “Rejoice with those who rejoice—and to weep with those who weep.”

I think some people try to brush off sadness because they fear it is a weakness of faith. But sadness is not an unrighteous emotion, and a number of scriptures display this truth. One in particular is Psalm 88. Please take a moment to click on this link and read over this unique passage in the Bible.

Did you notice what was so unusual about this Psalm? Unlike most of the others, this one both begins and ends in despair. The author of the Psalm is a man named Heman, which is Jewish for “faithful.” Look at the words he used to describe his feelings: afflicted, rejected by God, close to death, the object of God’s wrath, cut off. Yet, Heman’s psalm reveals an ember of faith as he casts his sorrows upon “the God who saves me.” (vs. 1).

If you are in a season of suffering, no one but the Lord knows how long it will last. But God does not expect you to pretend. He does not condemn you for your feelings. Jesus is a compassionate high priest—a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3). God is able to use the uncomfortable emotion of sorrow to conform us to image of Christ, for within the experience of sorrow is the opportunity to develop compassion.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You have created the seasons of our lives—each with a specific purpose and designated time. Even winter, in Your hands, reveals a subtle beauty. Thank you for allowing me to feel what I feel without the fear of Your rejection. Help me to grieve my crisis for the appropriate length of time, and to know when I should look for the spring. Meanwhile, send me a companion who will mourn with my mourning and allow me to be real. Amen.

WHY?

by Anne Graham Lotz

"Have you doubted God's love for you personally? Are you mentally wandering in confusion as you seek to determine what you have done that was so bad as to deserve this?"

"Bad things do happen to those Jesus loves. But remember the spiritual principle: Glory follows suffering, and life follows death. It's a principle that's as true today as it was in olden days..." Read more in Why?

THOUGHTS IN CRISIS

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

The Mind Set on the Flesh

The mind is a restless wanderer, continually seeking to occupy itself with thoughts. Often when we suffer, our minds become obsessed with our troubles, rehearsing them over and over until they loom so large that we can see nothing else.

Chronic pain, whether physical or emotional, has the capacity to wear down our mental resolve and to take our minds hostage. Thought processes can easily become caught in harmful repetitious patterns, sometimes before we even recognize what has happened. And once we allow our uncensored thoughts to interpret who God is, rather than filtering our thoughts through the light of God’s word, then we become vulnerable to the darts of fear and discouragement. In time, these hurtful emotions will drive us away from the One we need the most—our Heavenly Father.

In his book entitled Far From Home, Joseph Stowell, former president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, talks about the deceitful spins that Satan attempts to put on our thinking patterns. Here are a few:

• God cannot or will not fix this;
• God likes others better than He likes me;
• God hasn’t rewarded me for my sacrifices;
• God’s ways are too hard and strict.

Now I’d like to add a few of my own:

• God doesn’t love me any more;
• I’m not worthy of God’s love;
• I’ve lost my salvation;
• I’ve committed the unpardonable sin.

In your suffering, have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind? If so, I can guarantee you are not alone! Satan’s very first move in the Garden of Eden was to twist Eve’s thoughts about God, and nothing is new under the sun. The enemy still uses the same strategies today.

The Mind Set on the Spirit

2 Corinthians reminds us that when our faith is in crisis, that crisis takes place in the battlefield of the mind. Here, in our thoughts processes, is where we will either win or lose the fight. At times we need to disengage ourselves from our emotions, and with an act of our will to think about WHAT we are thinking about. In this way we will be able to expose the lies. As we read God’s word and become more familiar with the truth, we will become better armed to resist the attacks of the enemy.

Has suffering stolen your peace? Perhaps its time to take inventory of your thought life: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6). If you are feeling the weight of “death” in your heart, it may be that your mind is filled with dark (carnal) thoughts. Only God’s word has the power to break the chains.

Suggestion: At one point in my crisis my mind had become so entrenched in fear that I was unable to pray myself out of it. So I wrote the words of Joshua 1:7-9 on an index card and placed it beside my bed. Every night before going to sleep, I read that verse aloud, and every morning, the moment my eyes opened, I did the same. Before long, that verse reached deep into my unconscious and began running through my dreams. Eventually, the power of God’s word set me free from the tyranny of fear.

GOD'S RESPONSES

TO SUFFERING

Disoriented. That’s what I felt from months of suffering with no relief and no answers from God. It seemed I had prayed every prayer I could think of, beseeching God for healing, for mercy, for understanding. I longed for the days when I would read the Bible and sense God’s voice speaking to me through the scriptures. Those moments warmed my heart and made me feel secure. God seemed so close then, so involved in my life.

But prolonged suffering had dulled my spiritual ears. I wondered if I would ever “hear” from God again. Then one Sunday in church, my pastor preached a sermon I will never forget. He talked about the three ways God responds to our suffering:

• Sometimes God delivers us from suffering.
• Sometimes God preserves us through suffering.
• Sometimes God permits something in us to die.

God Delivers: There are times when God chooses to protect us from suffering. When the Jews sought to kill the Apostle Paul, God made a way of escape through the disciples who lowered him in a basket over a wall. (Acts 9).

God Preserves: There are times when God allows us to pass through a storm, but He preserves us intact. When the Hebrew children were thrown into the fiery furnace, the Lord shielded them so that not one hair on their heads was singed. (Daniel 3).

God Permits: There are times when God allows us to suffer “to the death” in order to create something new within us. Whether it be a deep and faulty perspective, a binding habit, an undesirable character flaw, or some aspect we cannot even imagine, God permits a part of us to “die” so that He can plant new life in its place.

Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:23-25).

That Sunday morning I finally heard from God. In my heart, I knew that I was undergoing the third response. I did not know, at that time, what in me was “dying,” but I was deeply comforted just to know that God was at work in me, and I sensed He was guiding me how to pray about my situation.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You didn’t even spare Your own Son, but allowed Him to die in order to create life in us. Just as you created the world out of nothing, I know that You can create something new out of the ashes of my life.

Mount Greylock, MA ( Byways.org)

ONE STEP AT A TIME

One of the fondest memories of my younger years was the summer that I interned as a park ranger at Mount Greylock State Reservation in the Berkshire Mountains. The summit, which tops off at 3,491 feet, is the highest point in Massachusetts and offers a breathtaking view of five states.

I was looking for a serious adventure that summer, so I decided to pitch a tent in the campgrounds and rough it for three months—alone. Nothing stirs my senses more than being submerged in nature. The subtle snapping of a tree limb in the stillness of the woods, the pungent aroma of pine mingled with earth, the prickly sting of cool mountain air on bear skin, the taste of food cooked over an open fire all made for an exhilarating experience, except for one minor detail . . . the out house!

In the mountains, the sun descends early giving way to a thick blanket of darkness at night. Without fail, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, every evening I would have to trek 100 yards through the woods in order to relieve myself. On cloudy nights, with no moon or stars to light the way, this became a particularly nerve-wracking experience. I was acutely aware of the potential dangers lurking out there—bear, bob cat, skunks and porcupines.

My only source of navigation was a flashlight. Even then, it was impossible to see beyond a few feet at a time. All I could do was plod forward, trusting the light to lead me to my destination. Yet, in the back of mind was the gnawing fear that if the batteries died mid-journey, I’d be hopelessly lost in the dark.

Learning God's Ways

More than two decades have now passed, yet the memories of those nighttime jaunts have crossed my mind countless times over the years. It’s funny how spiritual analogies exist all around us, yet we often fail to perceive them. Looking back, I believe God orchestrated those night time walks as an illustration of an important spiritual truth--God wants us to depend solely upon Him for our direction.

Letting go of my independence has been one of most difficult challenges of my illness. By nature I am a person of high mental energy and a lot of drive. When something blocks my goal, I’m quick to devise a plan B, C, or D. And when I cannot resolve problems, I tend to become easily frustrated—with both myself and with God. When my crisis dragged on for months, I started to resent the way all my plans had been put on hold. It was impossible to project into the future or to work toward anything when my energy was consumed with just making it through one day. I even attempted to reason with God—“Look at me! I’m useless to you in this condition. I can’t even help myself, let alone serve anyone else. How can this possibly be Your will?”

Then I came across a passage of Scripture which reminded me of those night walks, and I sensed the Lord was trying to teach me something new:

After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By
day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel
by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by
night left its place in front of the people. (Exodus 13:20-22).

For more than 400 years, the Israelites had lived as slaves under the bondage of the Egyptians, until God miraculously intervened. Using Moses as His instrument of deliverance, He led the Israelites out of darkness and into the wilderness with the intent of bringing them to a new land--a land “flowing with milk and honey.” But the only way to get there was by following God's light. Through this process, I believe God was trying to develop their faith by teaching them to depend on Him one day at a time.

It can be scary to relinquish our sense of control--to find security in the Person and character of God rather than our own ingenuities. But the reward is peace. Particularly when we are suffering or in crisis and life feels like it has spun out of control, the only way to move securely through the darkness is by relinquishing our self-sufficient tendencies to God and by following His light to safer grounds. Just realizing that God was, indeed, using my suffering to develop an understanding of His ways gave me comfort and lifted my spirits. How wonderful to catch even a glimpse of how God uses the baffling circumstances of life for our good.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)."

Prayer: Dear Lord, sometimes I am so self-reliant. I know that your Word teaches me to depend solely on You for all things. Help me to trust You with my future--that whatever becomes of me is completely in Your hands. I can't see where this path is taking me, but I trust Your leading, one step at a time. Amen.

REFLECTIONS

Sandwich, MA

Photo by Eileen Gregory Selby

HOPE IS FRAGILE

After receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze appeared on a TV interview and made a comment I will never forget. Weary of the naysayers and negative forecasts regarding his prognosis he said, "Hope is a fragile thing." Those words reverberated in my mind for weeks. I got to thinking how mysterious hope is. What creates it? Where does it come from? Why do some people have it while others lose it altogether?

Swayze's comment was profound. Hope certainly is a delicate matter. When we are suffering, just one discouraging comment can utterly shatter our hope; likewise, just one encouraging word can fill us with the hope to face another day. In the midst of overwhelming circumstances, when our spirits are crushed, hope, if even a flicker, is the vehicle that carries us forward.

In the Bible, Romans chapter 4 says this:

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

God had promised Abraham a child from his loins. Twenty-five long years passed before that promise was fulfilled—years, no doubt, filled with longing and frustration. Abraham was 100 years old when his wife, Sarah, finally gave birth to their son, Isaac. Despite over two decades of waiting for God to answer Abraham’s prayers, Abraham continued to hope against hope. He knew who His God was and what God had promised, and that belief sustained him.

The book of Job reveals something interesting about hope as well. This great Old Testament saint suffered the loss of 10 children, his livelihood, and his health all at the same time. At first he courageously declared, "Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him." (Job 13:15). But as days of torment turned into months without any signs of relief, Job asked the rhetorical question: "What strength do I have that I should still hope?" (Job 6:11). The pain had begun to wear on Job’s determination.

These were the examples that I clung to at the peak of my medical crisis. When I returned home from a week-long stay in the hospital, my hope for healing was paper thin. In the painful months of recuperation that followed, there were moments when I felt like I had lost hope altogether. Was I going to suffer like this for the rest of my life? Would there be no end? When to the naked eye our circumstances appear to be turning out for the worst, it's easy to embrace the lie that God is angry at us. The loss of hope can be a terrifying feeling that leads to deep despair.

I’ve learned that hope is a gift from God, and God is always faithful to His children. In our weakness we may lose sight of Him, but He never loses sight of us. When hope fails, we must ask the Giver of hope to fill us once again. For all good gifts come from the Father above.

Prayer: Lord, I admit my weakness…that I have lost my hope. But I believe that You are able to restore it. Just as you created the world out of nothing, You are able to create hope where there is emptiness within me. Please fill me with the strength and courage to know that You still love me, and that You have a purpose for this pain in my life. Amen.