Love team chat sessions! 🙂 And, also love when ppl share a verse that u either need to hear or recently looked at yourself for similar reasons without even having a clue! Tonight, I got all 3 blessings at once! I love my team "Ignite"
Here's what Erica shared w/ Ryan and I tonight:
Jeremiah 45 : 3-5 (the message translation)
"You say, 'These are bad times for me! It's one thing after another. God is piling on the pain. I'm worn out and there's no end in sight'. But God says, 'Look around. What I've built I'm about to wreck, and what I've planted I'm about to rip up. And I'm doing it everywhere—all over the whole earth! So forget about making any big plans for yourself. Things are going to get worse before they get better. But don't worry. I'll keep you alive through the whole business.'"
For those that know about any of the significant things that've been going on in my life these last few years, u should already know that these verses basically define that time period better than anyone or anything else prob. ever could! By far! Both the parts about being worn out with pain building up AS WELL AS the parts about not needing to worry and remaining alive! Remember "what doesn't kill ya only makes u stronger!" Psalm 16:8 states, "I know the Lord is always with me, I will not be shaken for He is right beside me." I love that, have felt that, & know that to be true! I pray u do, too! 🙂
I'm SOOO unbelievably thankful for the "this too shall pass" stage and uber excited about all that is to come this year! Life will always have rollercoaster moments, both the fun kind and the scary/trying kind, but good or bad: no moment lasts forever! 🙂 You can't have rainbows w/out first having some rain! And, I think people who always harp on the bad or things they can't change really need to look w/in themselves to let those things go… they're prob. not holding anyone else back or making anyone else hurt, angry, upset, bitter, etc. I think situations in life are about 35% of what the situation actually is and 65% of how u deal w/ it. "Pray not for a lighter load, pray rather, for a stronger back!" Pushing past trials does nothing but make u stronger! Sometimes, bad things need to happen in order for us to receive a wake-up call we need! Likewise, good things sometimes fall apart so better things can fall in place. But regardless, everything happens for a reason… even if we don't understand it
Some people have had an "easier" life and some people have had a much tougher (oftentimes for much longer) life than me thus far… but I've at least always had hope, my faith, & a strong support system around… which I want to share w/ the world! I couldn't care less about making comparisons w/ people about whose had it better/worse, etc. b/c it's completely irrelevant! Everyone has a unique story to tell and everyone deserves to be able to use their voice to tell it as they see fit! I'm thankful that, as an American, I'm one of the lucky ones that get that chance… because unfortunately, it's not the case in many other parts of the world.
Thankfully, as Ryan quoted last night (w/out even knowing that I also read & wrote it down less than 24hrs. earlier) 2 Cor. 5:27 states, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come." Regardless of what we have/haven't been thru or done, we can instantly be made new again thru Christ's sacrifice! No questions asked! PTL
How awesome is that?!
