Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of. ~Charles Spurgeon

Monday, July 4, 2011

A Tall Glass of Encouragement

Not that anyone noticed....and not that I expect anyone to notice but, this blog took a bit of a shift.  I went from sharing spiritual things...to sharing about my thrifty finds and the fun home projects I have been working on at home.  Not that that is a bad thing but if you could see my heart as the Lord does you would see that the shift was due to my lack of zeal, disappointments and very discouraged heart.  Don't get me wrong, I am going to keep up with my fun projects because I really enjoy them but I just have to say that my heart is in a better place.

Here is what I know, and what my heart is totally okay with...

Relationships are seasonal.
Relationships are purposed.
Sometimes they last and sometimes they don't.
Friends come and go. 
They are a gift to be enjoyed.
Friendship brings wisdom, love and comfort.
Friends share truth. 
Friends love you through the growth spurts.

Having said all of that...Here's what I also know,
Relationships were NEVER meant to end on a bad note.  Even though they are sometimes seasonal, God would never end a season on a bad note.  Although it does happen and God is so good to reveal so much to us in those times of separation, we as believers should never be okay with unreconciled, unresolved issues.  It should be a deep pain in our heart and soul until things, Lord willing, get resolved.

A good and very wise friend of mine encouraged me that when relationships goes through a rocky time it is very important to always (and I say all of this with a lot of !!!! because they are all so very important)...
1.  WAIT, Be Patient!!!
2.  While you are waiting, ask the Lord to reveal what He needs to reveal!!!! (Usually the issue that caused the break is not the real reason for the break...God allowed the break to happen so that He could reveal the real heart issues.)  If you continue to focus on the "issue" you will miss it all.
3.  Commit to Pray for restoration, even if your heart is not there yet!!!
4.  Think the best of that person!!!!! (so hard!!!) 
and then most importantly, TRUST that the Lord IS doing good work.

Even though I knew all of that to be truth my impatient heart began to hurt so bad from some spiritual battles in my life that I became soooo discouraged and depressed. 

Literally last night and this morning I told the Lord that I felt like my heart could not handle it anymore, that my heart desperately needed some encouragement.  I asked him this morning to heal one of those spiritual battles in my life.  That afternoon He did more than that.  He not only restored a friendship, He made it stronger than before.  Pride was washed away, Satan's lies were revealed, pain was totally removed, hearts were completely encouraged and truth prevailed.  And because of what was done on the cross, there was complete restoration.

Needless to say...I AM TOTALLY ENCOURAGED!!! 

God's work is...... SOOOO GOOD.  and I say that like I was completely! and utterly! dehydrated! and the Lord just poured me a nice big, huge, over flowing, refreshing cold one. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.    of course I am talking about a drink of water ;)