Sometimes it isn’t all about chin up and put your best foot forward. Sometimes it’s about remembering that it is in our weakest moments that God strength shines so brightly.
I’ve had seasons in my life where I have gutted it out through confusing and painful times, most of those times feeling alone. The memorable ones, the times of real transformation have been when I truly let go and got very real with God. In doing so I had to acknowledge that I wasn’t alone. There He was, waiting for me to turn to Him.
He knows the end from the beginning! He knows our thoughts before we think them, and our words before they ever come out of our mouth. So the notion that I thought I was filling Him in on how I was really feeling is humorous.
So often I hear “everything happens for a reason” coming out of the mouths of well-meaning people. When I found myself in the midst of deep pain and unimaginable fear, I asked God why He said that. For the first time I earnestly dove into His word to learn and to hear from Him. You know what? He never said that!
On this Valentine’s Day evening, when the world is celebrating Love, I couldn’t shake the pain I saw deep in the eyes of the homeless as I was out running errands today. They are someone’s daughter or son, sister or brother, mother or father, someone’s friend…. they had someone somewhere. The cars whisk by and no one seems to care. I have met many people who stand in judgment, and condemn them for being where they’re at.
But the wealthy? They’re just as easy to identify. They are the ones with people fawning over them, their spouses, their children, what they wear and most anything they do or don’t do is applauded.
In both of these situations, it isn’t the poverty, and it isn’t the wealth that made them stand out, but rather the people that were around them - shunning or fawning.
The Holy Spirit is there even when you’re unaware of Him. He’s thee comforter. He’s gentle and He’s strong. He can handle it all. I believe that a praying friend is a wonderful gift. I also know the profound help we offer when we sit quietly and listen to the hurting. Even if all they can do is weep. Even if all they can do is breathe. The quiet presence of a loving friend ushers in the awareness of the closeness, the goodness of God.