"Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to reconnect with God. Our tears are sacred. They water the ground around our feet so that new things can grow."
-from Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
"I hear the Savior say, 'Thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in Me thine all in all.'" -from "Jesus Paid It All"
Times like this when we are weak are some of the best times of our lives. When I say "the best", I definitely don't mean the most enjoyable. Let's face it, times of weakness are tough. They can make us depressed, bitter and want to punch things.
It's interesting how in the Bible, they tell us to "rejoice" when bad things happen.
Rejoice? Like throw a party? That's weird.
Okay, maybe not that far. Times of trial though can be amazing times of spiritual breakthrough. Paul in his letter to the Roman church said this profound statement about suffering: "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (5:3b-5).
Hard times teach us things. Not as punishment, but definitely as discipline.
Maybe a hard time is a result of a particular sin in our lives that we've been consumed with and are avoiding.
When Paul was writing that verse I cited in the previous post, God was teaching him about a flaw of his called boasting. In that verse he described a specific "thorn in the flesh", though he never said what that thorn actually was. It was something that Paul frequently cried out to God for release from.
Do you have a thorn?
Constant back pain,
significant debt,
a physical illness that just won't go away,
a cloud of depression and sorrow over your head,
unemployment,
doubts about God,
insufficient funds,
car troubles,
no friends,
horrible "friends",
constant criticism,
no food,
parents who filed for divorce,
someone close to you passed away,
________________. <--------Fill in the blank
Maybe God is actually trying to teach you something.
Maybe God is actually trying to tell you, "I miss you."
So many times people say it's hard to cry out to God when bad things happen. You know what? I disagree. It's easy to cry out to God. It's easy to tell Him at the very least how mad we are at everything, how confused we are, how broken we are.
When I look back at old journal entries I wrote, some of my most beautiful prayers to God were during some really bad days.
Bad times cause us to be vulnerable. They show us that we are weak, that we can't do this life without the strong hand of God in it.
They humble us.
They show us that weakness is the best place to be.
Weakness is where we should always be.
So, Child of Weakness, as you can't walk.
As life hurts.
As you ache.
As you cry.
Remember you're in a very beautiful place,
The place where you were meant to be:
inside the Everlasting Arms of God.
And He will never, ever let you go.
