In this life we will have troubles, that is promised to us; but Jesus also promised that He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) A few days ago I talked about 'The Lord's Healing,' this is His greatest desire for us, to heal us and make us whole. This world will try to destroy us, and unfortunately our enemy destroys many. The reason the Lord allows our enemy to continue his work is to contrast His great love and His good works, for everything good comes from the Lord. (James 1:17)
The Lord for sure is close to the broken hearted and saves all of those who are crushed in spirit. When Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders of his time about the company that He kept, His response to them was, "It is not the well who need a doctor, but the sick. Just as I have not come for the righteous, but for the sinners." (Mark 2:17) What Jesus meant by this was He did not come for those who are "good enough," as the religious leaders saw themselves as, but He came for those who were sinners, knew they were sinners, and needed Jesus to save them.
Just as a horse that is not willing to submit to its rider is hard to work with, it is also very difficult for the Lord to work with those who are proud of heart. There have been many nice horses that I have worked with in my lifetime, but they just would never submit to my leadership. These horses, unfortunately, have had "wheels put under them" so to speak, meaning they were moved along down the road. The Lord will work with us as much as we allow Him to, but if we continually refuse His loving hand, and will not humble ourselves before Him, He will give us over to our evil desires. (Romans 1:24)
In my life I have made many poor decisions that have led to a lot of heartache for myself, and for those who were close to me. I grew up in the public eye in my community with my family's position and my dad's work and as result of many of my dumb decisions, they came back to those who knew of me and I was labeled. I wasn't a pastor's kid, but it was pretty much the same feeling. I knew about God my whole life, but I couldn't get close to Him and the reaction of many of these "church people" only pushed me further away from Him.
Yet in one of my darkest moments, when I cried out to Him, He answered me. I was at an ultimate low in my life, and He heard my prayer and answered it immediately. This is what it means that God is close to the broken hearted.
From that time going forward, I wasn't perfect, I still made some poor decisions, but the Lord's hand was on me. I knew that all of my own attempts to make my life what I thought it should be were futile. From there the Lord took over and it was because of this very low and dark period of my life that I was able to meet my husband, whom is a treasure; I got moved to a small community where no one knew of the baggage that was heaped on me, and I was placed in a church that didn't judge me, but helped me to grow spiritually and helped me get closer to the Lord that I had ever been.
I do have to tell you about one encounter I had in this church. I wanted to get involved with the teens and so I began working with the youth leader. All the baggage that I had weighed on me and out of fear for someone finding out what I had done in my past, I shared with the youth leader, just so she knew what type of a person she was getting partnered with. I didn't even get most of my past history out and she stopped me, "It doesn't matter, you have been forgiven of it. It's time to move forward." I had never had anyone talk to me that way before. Those were words of life to my dry spirit. When I tried to rebuttal, she told me, "God has forgiven you, it is no longer held against you, but you haven't forgiven yourself yet." Her response to me helped me to understand that the problem was no longer my actions, but my heart. Because of her kind words the Lord was able to heal me, to mend my broken heart, to give me a crown instead of ashes, and a garment of praise instead of despair.
The Lord wants to do the same for you, will you let Him? Because of others being willing to be His ambassadors and submit to His ways I was able to be healed. The Lord never once hurt me, people hurt me because they imposed their ideas on me rather than showing me who God is. I tried living up to man's ideas, no God's, and His ways are so much better. The Lord was able to comfort me in my pain, and I thank Him for that, for now I am able to comfort others. If I had not lived with the pain that I had, I would have no idea how to comfort someone. The Lord truly worked out all things for my good because I love Him, and He had a purpose for me. He has the same purpose for you and will work all things for the good for you as well. Are you willing to let Him?
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