it's a good thing

Lamentations 3:19-33
The Message (MSG)
It's a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God

 19-21I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
   the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
   the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I remember,
   and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
 22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
   his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
   How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
   He's all I've got left.

 25-27God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
   to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
   quietly hope for help from God.
It's a good thing when you're young
   to stick it out through the hard times.

 28-30When life is heavy and hard to take,
   go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
   Wait for hope to appear.
Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
   The "worst" is never the worst.

 31-33Why? Because the Master won't ever
   walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
   His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
   in throwing roadblocks in the way

*

Let this soak into your spirit, give it a minute. This passage has been so comforting to me this year. Today I feel like some of you need it, so even if it's just for one person, here you are, hope from God.

Wait for hope to appear.

Jesus Christ, the Lord you serve, is a faithful God.
is a mighty God.
He is Almighty.

He will get you out of this, there is an end to the times you go through.
Go through them well.
Don't focus on your pain, concentrate on being there for others, it's going to help you :)

John 8:36 “if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!”

 God loves you!

Let's talk

Let's talk about the times,
When everything seemed so full of pain,
that any kind of hope or even a nice word
looked just wrong and unfitted.

The times when the spirit felt broken
The heart crushed into pieces
The tears impossible to count
And eyes swollen from weeping.

Silence of dried lips
That scream we wished anyone would hear
Hand... unholded
And arms bend in loneliness.

Dreams then...
Were put on hold.
We only wanted to be able to fall asleep
And not wake up at 4am
Under the knife of painful memories.

Staring at the phone
Daring it to ring
Begging for anyone to care
And remember about our need.

Those dreams others would die for
Were nothing to us then
Because what are those great things,
Without a soul that can be free?

Never before
Has forgiveness been such a struggle
When trust has been left standing
At the doors of our heart.

To break through pain
To stand up again
Is a fight no man will understand
Unless being in that very place.

'To forgive is to let the prisoner free
And discover, that the prisoner was
You'.

Nothing can hold back from life
As much as memories that haven't been
Left behind.

Nothing can destroy the future more
Than holding on to past.

Nothing can free you
Except for Jesus.

Let's talk about dreams.
Those that seem insignificant in the eyes of others,
and those that are the basic ingridients for life.

Let's talk about new beginnings,
Where grass seems greener than usual
And the sound of rain
Is the most beautiful music.

Let's talk about the place
At which God wants us to be
The place where we are stronger
Only because we've gone,
Left and closed the doors,
Once and for all,
To that old one.

We are free,
Only when we let go.
We are able,
Only when we make God the head of our being.

We are,
And that's all that matters.

Corruption

Stop right here.

Corrupted by sin.
Caught up, wasted, dirty.
No coming backs, no running away.
Right here, right now is the point of conclusion.
The point at which the issue will either be confronted,
Or accommodated for.
The issue could be faced.
It could be dealt with,
Once and for all,
Doors to the past,
Closed.
From this moment on,
It's all gone,
It's forgiven, it's forgotten,
It will never be reminded of.
The new beginning could start in just a minute.
Unless....
Unless the issue was chosen to be accommodated for.
And this...
This means changing the life in a way that the issue would stay safe,
in the midst of life,
It would be never spoken of,
It would be the little secret
Of one mind and one room,
The secret that this one person,
Is actually double minded.

So here,
It is.
Imagine,
That we can no longer hide.
What do people do when it rains?
They want to hide under umbrellas.
But imagine that we use umbrellas of hindrance
For people to not be able to guess that we're dealing with sin.
And one day,
As we walk down the street, as usual,
Suddenly God takes away every single umbrella.
Suddenly,
Like Adam and Eve,
We run trying to hide from each others sight.
But this is it.
Everyone can see what one was trying to hide.
All the things we were trying to make work in our life
All the sin we didn't want to deal with.
Suddenly it's all right there,
Visible to everyone.



What would people find out about you if God took that umbrella away from you?