Everything that God allows to come our way always has a purpose. He uses our worst mistakes and deepest pain to mold us into the person He created us to be. What a statement of truth. After being at a standstill as far as writing goes for the past couple of weeks, I came across this statement and felt led to examine my own life. The past week or so, I hadn't been feeling well and I of course took a week or so off from writing because I just didn't have it in me to do anything and no inspiration. The saying "idle hands are the devil's play thing" couldn't be further from the truth. The busier I am the better; when I stop is when I start thinking of every hurt, every pain, every mistake, every bad choice; all of the negative things that have transpired throughout my life so far. As I was in my thoughts, I just so happened to find this statement and at church this past Wednesday night I was reminded that evening that even though my salvation means I am a finished work in Christ, I still have work on this Earth to do and He is not done molding me yet. I was so inspired. I knew what my next topic had to be: His plan behind your mistakes. Have you ever thought, "Why did I make 'X' choice?" Have you ever pondered over the hurt you may have caused yourself and others due to some of the choices in your past? Has God ever woken you up using painful circumstances in order to get it through your head that you need to take your faith and your Christian walk seriously? I know all of these things mentioned have occurred with me. I can prove how and why. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28 KJV: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to His purpose". Yes, He uses EVERYTHING in your life, and I love that verse. I know I include that a lot in the blog; it's my favorite and one I continue to cling to since I came back to the Lord in 2015 (I got saved June 24, 2004). However, I would like to dig deeper tonight and show you the benefits of some of your deepest heartache. My message tonight is, wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, it will be okay and He will see you through. No matter what you lose, He will be there. I encourage anyone who is not saved, to get saved and receive Him as your personal Savior before it is eternally too late; it will be the best day of your life and you will begin a journey you could never have imagined full of purpose. We are all sinners and in need of a Savior.
I am so glad I have a Savior who can let me know if He is not happy with my life. I am thankful for His love and his correction. I am glad for wake-up calls. A lot of Christians today live their life as if this world is all they'll ever know. The best part about a wake up call from the Lord is the correction you receive because of it; some of my deepest pain has in reality changed my life for the better; when we are children of God, consequences are used to lovingly correct us and to bring us back to Him. Hebrews 12:6-7 KJV tells us, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"
What can be some signs of chastening? In doing some web browsing I found these on multiple sites.
-Depression
-Relationship fractures
-Broken friendships
-Illness (self or loved one)
These four are the major signs I found. Let me be clear, I'm not saying that anyone who is sick or depressed or experiencing friend problems is being chastened, I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that if you know you are truly saved BUT you are actively indulging in sin and yet have experienced some relentless problems and feel it just can't get any worse, it may be the Lord trying to get through to you and He may be letting you know things need to change. He knows all. Listen to Him. His goal is to bring you back to Him, so He can bless your life and use you; often times, He uses our very worst mistakes to help someone else when we least expect it.
I have so much more on my mind that I want to include in this post, and I may write more in future posts on this subject, I'm not sure yet. All I'm sure of is that I know the Lord loves me. I am thankful for all that I have been through, all of the pain that I've experienced. I have questioned so much in my time on this Earth, and shamefully I have often thought "Why Lord?" or "Really?" Honestly, without my past I would not be where I am today; because of some of my pain I have a deeper desire to serve the Lord now, not just with my words but with how I live my life; as I said earlier, it is a way of life. The Bible tells us in Romans 5;1- "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Even though we are justified by faith, we are also plainly told not to let sin have control over our lives, but to let God have control. (Romans 6;14-15)
I know tonight's post is long, and I don't know if this will help anyone, but I hope it does. Pain is not the end. God is not done with you yet. That's my point. We must obey His word and do our best to serve Him. No one is perfect, but the mistakes we make can even be used for His glory. As Christians, we are a finished work in Christ, but He is not finished with us. Remember Romans 8:28, and Phillipians 1:6 KJV. Don't let the devil steal your joy, or let him make you think it's over, because it's not. God has a plan and a purpose. I have things in my life that I wish would have worked out how I'd hoped, but I am working on accepting that things turned out for God's good. I can tell you for certain that I am really happy to be where I'm at. Healthier than I've ever been. Depression free for over a year now. Don't quit. I just want to keep going for the Lord, and even though I was really slow and careful to put this out here and I prayed and prayed, I'm still nervous and I just hope it helped someone tonight. I really do.
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