GIVEAWAY ALERT: You can win the Bible study book Finding God Faithful: A Study on the Life of Joseph by this week’s podcast guest. Keep reading to find out how!
In the middle of hardship and frustration, it can be difficult to see God at work. How do you hold on to your faith when things keep going wrong? How do you trust God is working all things for good when it just feels bad?
Don’t you just sometimes get tired of dealing with hard stuff?!
You know … strained relationships, difficult bosses, constant conflict, illness, financial stress … hard stuff!
Our hands can droop and our knees can wobble. We can look over our shoulder and think about turning back.
When I was pregnant with our first son, I thought that baby would never be born! I was so late delivering him that I actually dreamed I was an old woman — gray hair and all — still pregnant, panicking in my doctor’s office, begging him to do something!
Weird dream, I know. The point is, near the end of a pregnancy, a mama feels worn out. It’s easy to feel like the whole thing is lasting just a little too long, and that’s even when the baby comes on his due date!
Sixteen very long, swollen, puffy, unattractive, exhausting days after we expected our son Clayton to be born, the doctor used a steady stream of Pitocin to coax him out of the womb and into the world. I was so relieved!
Funny how those late arrivals seem to take their time and run late even when they’re teenagers. Too bad a Pitocin drip doesn’t work on them!
There is a reason a baby is supposed to stay in his mama’s womb for 40 weeks — he needs that time to grow, develop and be nourished. A baby born prematurely is at risk and a baby who is very late in arrival is at risk, too.
Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Psalm 50:15 NKJV)
God promises He will deliver us. So… how is that promise working out for you? Have you asked God to deliver you, but still find yourself sick or sad or scared or stuck? If He is our Deliverer, why isn’t He delivering on His promise?
He is.
Sometimes the way God keeps His promises is painful for us. And sometimes we don’t even realize He is delivering us because we don’t recognize the way He does it.
If you are sick or sad or scared or stuck, I want to show you the ways God delivers you.
All throughout Scripture we see that God is not only aware of those who are hurting, but He also cares for them. From Hagar in Genesis to the lepers in the New Testament, God stoops to care and heal with His touch. Just as we see Jesus bending down to heal all throughout the gospels, He meets us too. When our hearts ache, when we feel forgotten, when we face tragedy… He is near.
“I Am” promises “I will.”
I just love that. When we know who God is, we can trust how he will respond.
