I received such a precious encouragement today that wasn't even meant for me by it's author. Evidently it was meant for me by *my* Author however. :) I just have to share. Maybe in so doing, I can pass the encouragement along.
This encouragement came to me in the form of a text message and brought tears to my eyes. Part of the reason for the tears was because of the young woman who sent this message. A brand new Christian, this young woman has known severe hardships over the course of her life. But she has chosen over the past couple of years to turn and follow hard after Christ. Her sincerity in her faith inspires and challenges my own.
This young woman sent me a message because she has a friend who is going through hardships of her own. She wanted to encourage her, but wasn't sure if this would be the right thing to say and valued my opinion... I responded quickly to let her know that not only was it the right thing to say to encourage her friend, but that I was also deeply encouraged by her words. She gave me permission to share with you.
"I'm sorry how you feel... i know it's hard... But you MUST remember the most important thing is that GOD loves you SO MUCH! What you're going through is called 'hardship' in the Bible. Things about hardship, it's hard and sometimes painful. The Bible teaches no matter how hard life gets, you must never give up or stop doing good because you're hurting or upset. Talk to God and tell Him how you feel, what's on your mind, how you're hurting, that you need His love and his strength, tell Him anything and everything if you want. God LOVES you, even though we can't understand the things He does or why He would, but His reasons are good no matter how we choose to look at it. Don't let this hardship push you away from the one that loves you the most and that is God. I know right now it may not feel like He loves you but He does and you have to remember you're also hurting which makes it harder to believe it. As a friend and as a Christian I also love and care about you and don't want you to give up or stop doing what's good. I will pray for you and I will continue to help you in any way I can."
Simple and Sincere. GOD loves you. God LOVES you. God loves YOU. Anyway you look at it, He's 110% for you. One thing that I have learned over the years is pictured in the song my sisters & I sing when we serve at churches, "The Broken Ones". See, people often cry out to God in hardships and ask where He is in times of their deepest hurts. But I heard a Bible Teacher once say and I whole heartedly agree; God so many times wants to reply back, "Where is My Church? Where are My people? - I Am where My people are.”
Maggie came home one day with a raggedy Raggedy Ann. She said "Momma look what I found in the neighbor's garbage can!" It had a missing left arm and a right button eye - hanging by a thread. She carried it gently up to her room and laid it on her bed... with her other dolls
Twenty years later in a shelter on 18th avenue. A seventeen year old girl shows up all black and blue. With needle tracts in her left arm, almost too weak to stand; She says I lost and I need help, as Maggie takes her hand... and says "Come on in!"
She loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patching up.
She sees the diamond in the rough, and makes it shine like new
It really doesn't take that much,
This encouragement came to me in the form of a text message and brought tears to my eyes. Part of the reason for the tears was because of the young woman who sent this message. A brand new Christian, this young woman has known severe hardships over the course of her life. But she has chosen over the past couple of years to turn and follow hard after Christ. Her sincerity in her faith inspires and challenges my own.
This young woman sent me a message because she has a friend who is going through hardships of her own. She wanted to encourage her, but wasn't sure if this would be the right thing to say and valued my opinion... I responded quickly to let her know that not only was it the right thing to say to encourage her friend, but that I was also deeply encouraged by her words. She gave me permission to share with you.
"I'm sorry how you feel... i know it's hard... But you MUST remember the most important thing is that GOD loves you SO MUCH! What you're going through is called 'hardship' in the Bible. Things about hardship, it's hard and sometimes painful. The Bible teaches no matter how hard life gets, you must never give up or stop doing good because you're hurting or upset. Talk to God and tell Him how you feel, what's on your mind, how you're hurting, that you need His love and his strength, tell Him anything and everything if you want. God LOVES you, even though we can't understand the things He does or why He would, but His reasons are good no matter how we choose to look at it. Don't let this hardship push you away from the one that loves you the most and that is God. I know right now it may not feel like He loves you but He does and you have to remember you're also hurting which makes it harder to believe it. As a friend and as a Christian I also love and care about you and don't want you to give up or stop doing what's good. I will pray for you and I will continue to help you in any way I can."
Simple and Sincere. GOD loves you. God LOVES you. God loves YOU. Anyway you look at it, He's 110% for you. One thing that I have learned over the years is pictured in the song my sisters & I sing when we serve at churches, "The Broken Ones". See, people often cry out to God in hardships and ask where He is in times of their deepest hurts. But I heard a Bible Teacher once say and I whole heartedly agree; God so many times wants to reply back, "Where is My Church? Where are My people? - I Am where My people are.”
Maggie came home one day with a raggedy Raggedy Ann. She said "Momma look what I found in the neighbor's garbage can!" It had a missing left arm and a right button eye - hanging by a thread. She carried it gently up to her room and laid it on her bed... with her other dolls
Twenty years later in a shelter on 18th avenue. A seventeen year old girl shows up all black and blue. With needle tracts in her left arm, almost too weak to stand; She says I lost and I need help, as Maggie takes her hand... and says "Come on in!"
She loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patching up.
She sees the diamond in the rough, and makes it shine like new
It really doesn't take that much,
a willing heart and a tender touch
If everybody loved like she loves
If everybody loved like she loves
- there'd be a lot less broken ones.
And if you called her an angel, she’d be quick to say to you,
She's just doing what the One who died for her would do...
HE loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patching up
HE sees the diamond in the rough, and makes it shine like new
It really doesn't take that much,
And if you called her an angel, she’d be quick to say to you,
She's just doing what the One who died for her would do...
HE loves the broken ones, the ones that need a little patching up
HE sees the diamond in the rough, and makes it shine like new
It really doesn't take that much,
a willing heart and a tender touch
If everybody loved like HE LOVES,
If everybody loved like HE LOVES,
- there'd be a lot less broken ones.
Excuse me as I step on my bandwagon for just one moment. Church, it's time we "be the Church". Act as His Body... Serving, Reaching, Loving, Healing. It's not enough to have Bible Studies, talking about what Scripture means and even memorizing it. We have to LIVE it out! That's when we are the Church! When Jesus was here on the earth, serving and ministering with His disciples, they didn't just sit around in the synagogues and discuss the Law and the Prophets. It's definite that Jesus had the knowledge of exactly what Old Testament Law and Prophecies meant and I'm sure He had every word memorized. He definitely taught while on earth as well. But what I love is the few verses preceeding the famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. First was the calling of the first disciples, then the following verses... "News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possesed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them..." (Matthew 4:24) This was the disciples introduction to ministry. Jesus asks them to follow Him and the next thing we see is the sea of hurt, the deep need surrounding them. I believe that Jesus wanted to show them that people are in real pain out there. There is real hurt. Real need. Jesus first met their physical needs and then their spiritual needs. James 2:14-17 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." And yet sometimes there are people with hurts we can't fix. Sometimes just the blessing of a few simple words is all we can do. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why. But I do know, God loves you."
My friend, a brand new believer, hasn't lost her passion for her God, a God who LOVES. A God who HEALS. She doesn't have answers. She doesn't need them. All she knows is God LOVES. And that is enough.
Hannah
hannahseale.blogspot.com
Excuse me as I step on my bandwagon for just one moment. Church, it's time we "be the Church". Act as His Body... Serving, Reaching, Loving, Healing. It's not enough to have Bible Studies, talking about what Scripture means and even memorizing it. We have to LIVE it out! That's when we are the Church! When Jesus was here on the earth, serving and ministering with His disciples, they didn't just sit around in the synagogues and discuss the Law and the Prophets. It's definite that Jesus had the knowledge of exactly what Old Testament Law and Prophecies meant and I'm sure He had every word memorized. He definitely taught while on earth as well. But what I love is the few verses preceeding the famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. First was the calling of the first disciples, then the following verses... "News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possesed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them..." (Matthew 4:24) This was the disciples introduction to ministry. Jesus asks them to follow Him and the next thing we see is the sea of hurt, the deep need surrounding them. I believe that Jesus wanted to show them that people are in real pain out there. There is real hurt. Real need. Jesus first met their physical needs and then their spiritual needs. James 2:14-17 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." And yet sometimes there are people with hurts we can't fix. Sometimes just the blessing of a few simple words is all we can do. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why. But I do know, God loves you."
My friend, a brand new believer, hasn't lost her passion for her God, a God who LOVES. A God who HEALS. She doesn't have answers. She doesn't need them. All she knows is God LOVES. And that is enough.
Hannah
hannahseale.blogspot.com
