Thursday Encouragement #127

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He and He alone is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

---

Today’s Thursday Encouragement comes from:

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer me in Your saving faithfulness.

Psalm 69:13

I have to admit that I have been struggling mightily for a couple of weeks. I’m anxious, I’m worried, I’m as sad as I’ve ever been, and I’m whatever the word is that means “beyond overwhelmed.” I’m a little scared that I’m losing hope. I have gone to God in prayer. I have Bible studied every day. But I’m still struggling. So much so I basically don’t sleep.

Yesterday morning was the last straw. I gave God what for!

Then I stewed in anger and guilt.

Then I got a phone call.

When I gave God what for I told Him, “It’s too much. You can’t take all my people from me, you can’t lock me up in my house with no release-day in sight, you can’t allow my daughter to have these seizures with no reason why, you can’t take my best friend away, you can’t allow my husband to get violently sick to his stomach with no reason why and think I’m just going to be the passive, good Christian girl all the time. I’m mad, God. I’m mad at You. You ask way too much of some people and very little of others. I feel like You are allowing the world to poke at me, poke at me, poke! My life is a constant test that I can’t pass. And I’m done!”

After that fantastically vitriolic prayer, I really did stew in anger and guilt. Anger, cause that was the stinky mood I wanted to sit in for a while. Guilt because I just said all that to God and I was pretty sure He didn’t deserve any of that insanity, but I didn’t really know the next right step to take. Yes, the good Christian answer is to ask for forgiveness, but I’m in a valley right now. Forgiveness isn’t coming easy.

Doesn’t God see how awful life is right now? Does He see my broken heart? Does He hear me? Why is He SOOOOO far away? What have I done wrong?!

These were some of the questions I had playing through my mind yesterday when my phone began to ring.

At 1:51 PM yesterday a lady from the prayer team at my church called. To understand how significant this is, I’ve NEVER been called by my church before and I’ve been going to this church for 6 years. But at 1:51 PM on the day I reached my limits, this sweet lady from my church called to let me know that I’m loved. That’s what she said, “You are loved.” Are you crying right now, dear reader? Cause I burst into tears. Actually, I said, “What?!” And the woman on the phone repeated, “You are loved.” I told her she was a miracle from God and then I really did burst into tears. I told her everything. By the end of the phone call, one I’m guessing she hadn’t bargained for, we were both crying and reminiscing over life’s obstacles like old friends. We ended with an amazing, RESPECTFUL prayer to God, and she told me to call her back anytime.

God blows my mind! When I needed Him most, in HIS acceptable time, God was there via a phone call from a woman from my church. God very clearly heard through my anger that His kid was hurting and He acted on my behalf. This woman from church didn’t need to tell me that I’m loved, but God needed me to hear it.

Dear reader, if you are struggling today pray! I know not all prayers receive quite as definitive an answer from God as I received yesterday, but our prayers do reach His ears. God sees you. He hears you. He knows what you need when you need it because God is the BEST Dad, hands down! And who knows?! Perhaps you too will receive a God-ordained phone call one day soon!

---

NOW, IT’S YOUR TURN!

WHAT BIBLICAL VERSE IS ENCOURAGING YOU TODAY?

Check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective

Becca @ The Becca Files

Gina @ Stories by Gina

Rebecca @ Rev. Rebecca Writes

Andi @ Radiant Light

Leslie @ Words of Hope

Claudia @ Claudia Moser

Keneesha @ Women Loving God’s Way