Encouraging Myself!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you're having a wonderful day today! I thought I'd share a bit from what I learned through my quiet time and my devotion today. It completely encouraged me. If it does so for you, I'm thrilled! If it doesn't, please just share a moment of prayer for the one who is inspired and lifted up through these words.

Coming on the heels of reading The Shack, I'm also working through Beth Moore's Breaking Free study. Talk about some kind of amazing timing!! The past two days' worth of study have all been about "Hearts Broken in Childhood". If you've ever been a part of the Life Skills program (have I ever mentioned that you....nevermind!), you'll quickly learn that if a child is wounded in any number of very significant ways, they are forever changed from how God originally designed them to be. With programs like Life Skills, help from wonderful counselors or therapists, and the ultimate Healer Himself, our Papa, freedom from those chains can come. I believe in my heart now that is what is meant by God's amazing grace. How He can take someone like me or you who has been wounded by others or by our own sin, turn our lives around, restore the ground we gave over to our enemy, and then allow us to share our story with others to assist in their own healing, that just HAS to be Him!! (I'm not even sure that makes grammatical sense, but I guess it doesn't really need to....it's all about HIM anyway!!)

I wanted to share just a few snippets from what Beth shares in these two days' worth of study:

"God left our bare feet on the hot pavement of earth so we could grow through our hurts, not ignore them and refuse to feel our way through them." Boy, is that ever where I am now! Life's hard. It can cut you and it is often cruel. I've spent a lifetime ignoring my hurts, literally stuffing them away with bad choices (why, oh why, does Rocky Road ice cream have to have so many calories?). But now, I'm really seeing the re-emergence of the panic and fears as an opportunity, not as a punishment or a judgment. There HAS to be a lesson in all this, because I honestly don't believe that God allows ANYthing harmful to touch His child's life if He doesn't know that it can be ultimately used for HIS glory!! Praise, You Father for that promise! Kinda makes you wanna do a little "whoooo hoooo dance", doesn't it??

"Let me tell you how I deal with "why's?" to which I can't find answers. I find as many answers as I can in God's Word, fill in those blanks, and trust Him with the rest." After my "Why?" post this weekend, I had to laugh when I came to this portion. Also, a sidenote from meeting with Teresa, she mentioned that asking all the why's can often become a judgment on my emotions. She, again, suggested not going there when I was feeling that way. Just allow myself to feel what I'm feeling..."Oh! So, I'm feeling a little down today. Maybe I'm having a tough time at the moment. Ok, God, here's where You get to show up powerfully in me and comfort me." So, I'm encouraging you as I encourage myself....stop asking all the "why's?"....fill in the blanks with the help of His Word, and trust Him with the rest!!

"God's good from life's bad is one of the most liberating concepts in the entire Word of God. We'll never be free until we truly believe that God can do something with anything. God has promised to bring good out of anything we encounter, as long as we love Him and if we allow Him to use it for His purpose." ummm, see above!

"Completely surrender your hurt to Him, withholding nothing, and invite Him to work miracles from your misery. Then you must be patient and get to know Him through the process of healing. You will see fruit. I promise! But more than that, Christ promises!" Yayyyy!! That's exactly where I am now! Instead of knowing Him in my head, memorizing Scripture, knowing how to do the Ten Commandment Boogie (for all you Go Fish Groupers out there!), and being able to talk a mean game when it comes to knowing all about Him, NOW I'm actually getting it where it counts....in my spirit!! There's just nothing like it!!

Be encouraged, dear ones. I love you all. But He loves you more!!
Kara