An Encouraging Word
4 Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert. 5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. 6 They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.
Psalm 126: 4-6 NLT
Dear Friend,
I don't know about you, but I have surely sown a lot of tears lately. It seems as though nearly every horrible thing that could have happened to me in the last few years has happened! I have been in situations from which I narrowly escaped with my life. I have suffered the grief of losing those I love, the pain of a friend's betrayal and the destitution of losing my home. At times, I have felt as though I had been almost completely stripped of the blessings and the favor of God. I have been angry,depressed, sad, guilty, frightened and frustrated and often there seemed to be no end in sight. All I could see was the next awful wave...
This morning, though, as I considered these verses in the Psalms, I was refreshed and encouraged. When I read this passage, it occured to me that often the waves we dread are the "streams in the south" which the Lord has ordained for our lives and that in each of those waves, as mighty as they may come, is the opportunity to experience God in a way that we have not previously. The question for all of us today is, "How will you approach the coming waves?"
For me, I have come to understand, after some serious, breakthroughs, that I have a choice in how I preceive those waves AND how I stand in the face of the meanest of them. What I once saw as "awful", God has shown me, is in fact, "awesome"!
The grace and mercy that He displays towards us... awesome! The power of His precious blood... awesome! The provision that has always been there... awesome!
The Lord shall surely restore and renew the desert places that we have walked through in this life. Even as we sow in tears; weeping over those people, places and things we may have lost, God is faithful to turn again our captivity.
Be encouraged!
Psalm 126: 4-6 NLT
Dear Friend,
I don't know about you, but I have surely sown a lot of tears lately. It seems as though nearly every horrible thing that could have happened to me in the last few years has happened! I have been in situations from which I narrowly escaped with my life. I have suffered the grief of losing those I love, the pain of a friend's betrayal and the destitution of losing my home. At times, I have felt as though I had been almost completely stripped of the blessings and the favor of God. I have been angry,depressed, sad, guilty, frightened and frustrated and often there seemed to be no end in sight. All I could see was the next awful wave...
This morning, though, as I considered these verses in the Psalms, I was refreshed and encouraged. When I read this passage, it occured to me that often the waves we dread are the "streams in the south" which the Lord has ordained for our lives and that in each of those waves, as mighty as they may come, is the opportunity to experience God in a way that we have not previously. The question for all of us today is, "How will you approach the coming waves?"
For me, I have come to understand, after some serious, breakthroughs, that I have a choice in how I preceive those waves AND how I stand in the face of the meanest of them. What I once saw as "awful", God has shown me, is in fact, "awesome"!
The grace and mercy that He displays towards us... awesome! The power of His precious blood... awesome! The provision that has always been there... awesome!
The Lord shall surely restore and renew the desert places that we have walked through in this life. Even as we sow in tears; weeping over those people, places and things we may have lost, God is faithful to turn again our captivity.
Be encouraged!
Amen sister, AMEN!!! I am in so much distress right now, and am really ready to scream! As I read on I cried and understood that God indeed IS marvelous and graceful! He still listens to me and my prayer requests.
Thanks for sharing, Felicia!
God Bless!!!