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Just Marinating

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How to Hold On When Everything Is Coming Apart
Remembering God’s love in the midst of deep trials.
How to Hold On When Everything Is Coming Apart
Image: Flickr

God hears the cries of his people.

God hurts when his people hurt.

God bottles every tear that his people have shed (see Ps. 56:8).

As we experience life, we will most likely know the feeling that “God is hiding his face” (see Ps. 30:7).

Perhaps it will be the betrayal of a spouse.

Or bad news from a doctor.

Maybe your world will come crashing down around you like an avalanche.

Even when it seems like he is hiding face, he is working his grace to complete a beautiful work in you. Your circumstances will change, but God wants to change you more.

Held in the nail-pierced hands of the potter

Over the last 17 years of walking with Jesus, I have learned that God hasn’t wasted a single hurt, disappointment, or tragedy. With his nail-pierced hands, Jesus the potter reaches into the messy clay of our lives and sculpts each of us into a masterpiece. What looks impossible to human eyes looks like an opportunity for Jesus to do the him-possible and reveal his greatness to us. I know this to be true. I just need to be held together while the potter is lovingly, sovereignly, and meticulously working to transform me into something beautiful. Nothing is more beautiful than God transforming me into the image of Jesus: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:28–29, ESV).

With his nail-pierced hands, Jesus the potter reaches into the messy clay of our lives and sculpts each of us into a masterpiece.

Just know that even when you feel you can’t go another step, or another day, under the crushing weight of your circumstances, you can, by faith, cry out, “Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!” (Ps. 30:10, ESV). He hears you, and he’s near you. He’s fighting for you. He will never abandon you.

One day, though I’m not sure when, you and I will say to Jesus, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” (Ps. 30:11–12, ESV).

Whatever trial you are facing today, hold on. Remember God’s faithfulness and trust in his goodness.

Marinate on that.

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February 19, 2015 at 3:00 AM
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