Rejoice
with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
- Romans 12:15 (NIV)
Well... we made it to Friday. The last two weeks have held a
plethora of emotions. One day you're in a pool with your grandkids, laughing
until your sides hurt. The next, you're praying over a friend with a difficult
diagnosis. In between, you're dealing with everyday frustrations like car
repairs and watching the weather radar.
Life rarely gives us a week that's all joy or all hardship. More often, it serves both at the same table.
The beautiful thing is that God is present for every conversation around that table. He celebrates with us when we laugh, and He sits beside us when we cry.
I think there are a couple of ways we can choose to live.
We can pretend everything is wonderful, putting on a smile while hiding the hard parts. Or we can become so consumed by life's struggles that we begin to believe everything is terrible.
Neither one tells the whole story. The better way is to hold both: gratitude and grief, hope and uncertainty, blessings and burdens.
Real faith doesn't require us to ignore pain, and it doesn't ask us to overlook the blessings either. It gives us permission to celebrate the good gifts God gives us while honestly bringing Him the things that break our hearts.
Wherever we find ourselves, it's important to keep the Lord at the center of our lives through every emotion. He doesn't ask us to have all the answers or to always understand His plan. He simply asks us to trust Him enough to walk with Him through it all.
As I look back on this week, I realize it wasn't perfect—and maybe that's the point.
There were cannonballs into the pool and conversations that broke my heart.
There were friends gathered around the table and storms rolling across the sky.
There were unexpected expenses and unexpected blessings.
Through every high and every low, God never changed. He was just as present in the laughter as He was in the tears, and that's the kind of faithfulness I want to remember.
As we head into a new week, my prayer is that we won't miss God because we're only looking for Him in one kind of moment. He is with us in the celebrations, in the waiting rooms, in the repair shops, in the storm shelters, around the dinner table, and in every ordinary day in between.
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
- Romans 12:15 (NIV)
Life rarely gives us a week that's all joy or all hardship. More often, it serves both at the same table.
The beautiful thing is that God is present for every conversation around that table. He celebrates with us when we laugh, and He sits beside us when we cry.
I think there are a couple of ways we can choose to live.
We can pretend everything is wonderful, putting on a smile while hiding the hard parts. Or we can become so consumed by life's struggles that we begin to believe everything is terrible.
Neither one tells the whole story. The better way is to hold both: gratitude and grief, hope and uncertainty, blessings and burdens.
Real faith doesn't require us to ignore pain, and it doesn't ask us to overlook the blessings either. It gives us permission to celebrate the good gifts God gives us while honestly bringing Him the things that break our hearts.
Wherever we find ourselves, it's important to keep the Lord at the center of our lives through every emotion. He doesn't ask us to have all the answers or to always understand His plan. He simply asks us to trust Him enough to walk with Him through it all.
As I look back on this week, I realize it wasn't perfect—and maybe that's the point.
There were cannonballs into the pool and conversations that broke my heart.
There were friends gathered around the table and storms rolling across the sky.
There were unexpected expenses and unexpected blessings.
Through every high and every low, God never changed. He was just as present in the laughter as He was in the tears, and that's the kind of faithfulness I want to remember.
As we head into a new week, my prayer is that we won't miss God because we're only looking for Him in one kind of moment. He is with us in the celebrations, in the waiting rooms, in the repair shops, in the storm shelters, around the dinner table, and in every ordinary day in between.
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
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