Crumpled. Squeezed so tightly that you are left bent and wrinkled. This word describes my life in the past few months. It has been extraordinarily difficult. Most people assume that my struggles have just been with migraines, but my struggle has been a raging battle in my heart. I have been caught up in a epic spiritual battle whose outcome affects my future, my calling, and my ministry.
I know that many of you are in a crumpled season as well. I see on Facebook the struggles that many of you are going through, real time, right now. I receive your gut-wrenching email responses to my blog posts. I read your heart-breaking texts and prayer requests.
Young sons have died of heart attacks.
Daughters have been severely burned all over their bodies.
Beloved husbands have gone on to be with Jesus.
Medical costs are all consuming.
Jobs are hard to come by.
The prayed-for husband has not yet come.
Doctor’s have no treatment for your unrelenting pain.
Cancer is knocking at the door.
Treasured friends get angry and unfriend you on Facebook.
You are wondering if you made the right decisions.
I hear you, girls. We go through faith-wracking trials on this earth, things that we think that we cannot endure. We pray for Jesus to come to take us out of our pain and misery. We can’t see the path to regain our emotional and spiritual health. Deliver us, O God!
The Psalmist Asaph understood that there were times when his physical body and his emotions would fail him. He says in Psalm 73: 25
“My heart and my flesh, many times they fail…”
Our heart and our flesh, they fail. Sometimes we come to places where we are at our wits end. We are pushed beyond our ability to endure. We are broken and weak and we feel utterly helpless with nothing left to give. We have no strength to walk the difficult path that is set before us. Yet we still must face into grief, financial strain, chronic pain, broken dreams, and damaged relationships.
Verse 26 of Psalm 73 gives us hope, girls.
“But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
BUT GOD. This is a “But God” moment in your life.
You don’t know how you will go on without your loved one. But God.
You don’t know how to pay that bill. But God.
You don’t know how to find peace for your broken heart. But God.
You don’t know how to restore that relationship. But God.
You have no strength left. But God.
You don’t have hope for your future. But God.
But God is the strength of your heart. God will be the rock of your heart. God will be the stabilizing force in your heart. God will be the anchor for your thoughts and your emotions. If ever you have needed it, you need it now.
Friends, today in your crumpled state, God is a secure foundation, a stabilizing force in your heart. He is holding you together even though you feel like you are falling apart.
And He will hold you together until this difficult season comes to an end. Cling to Him. Hold fast to Him. He will not fail you.
He is the strength of your heart and your portion forever.
Care to share that situation that has brought you to the end of yourself? I would love to pray for you.
Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
