Down but Not Out
By Meg Bucher
For a season, chronic pain had created a temporary separation in my life, stretching into an unknown prison of draining solitude. As sanity slowly seeped out of the cracks, frustration rushed in. In the painful moments of every life,we look around …in …and up …in search of a solution bigger than we know how to pray for. We scramble for solutions when there’s no escape.
Today’s verse reminds us to dig back into those moments in our lives where the only way to climb out of the darkness was to hang onto God. We often talk about making it through a tough season or experiencing healing … but the next time we find ourselves in a situation to painfully endure, do we remember Who was there to hold us together the last time?
The moment before the results were in.
Crumpled up in physical painful.
When our stomach dropped at the news.
At the final good-bye until heaven.
Do we remember to boast in the Lord in those moments? Those ugly moments in life when only He knows what’s happening in our hearts. When people marvel at our strength and ask us how we got through it …do we tell them the truth?
“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whose the Lord commends.” 2 Corinthians 10:18 ESV
Whether we are climbing out of a pit of pain or picking ourselves up out of the perilous pain of loss …it’s not our strength carrying us. It’s our Savior.His name explains His powerful ability to pluck us from destruction.
In our careers, friendships, marriages, parenting, and beyond our accomplishments are no surprise to God. Nor are our failures. Our days are numbered by His compassionate love that looks out for us. Though the wages of sin is death we live on in grace through Christ.
We are promised pain in this world, and must endure the consequences of our sins, but He pulls us through it all. Though we don’t deserve it, He made a way to pull us all of the way home to His arms in heaven.
When we are faced with more than we can bear, we can turn to the cross and know that Jesus understands the pain of this world.Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. He requires only what He knows we are capable of upholding. Belief.
Father, Praise You for upholding us when our strength inevitably fails us. Thank You for providing a Way out of the pits of this world. We confess that we are blindsided by life and miss the glimpses of You that are ever-present in times of trouble and heartache. Bless our hearts to soften to Your voice, and to hear You above all else.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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