WE MAY NEVER KNOW

Why must we suffer?  Why do good people have to go through difficult times?  Why does God allow really really bad things to happen to His people?  I DO NOT have the answer.  I DO KNOW that God will be glorified through ALL things---even those really really bad things that happen to us.

I heard a sermon recently on "Wounded Healers".  It gave me hope for how God may use my life experiences and the firm belief that though I may not see the results---HE IS having results and it is glorifying Him.  The consistent theme behind my book is how God has taken utter devastation and grown me in the knowledge of who He is---drawing me into a deeper relationship with Him.  The entire point--the consistent theme --on every page--is that God is always by my side and will carry me through the valley.

Who better to demonstrate, to those in the darkest hours of their lives, that you will survive, than one who has walked in your shoes?  It is not with sympathy that I speak, but with empathy---for I KNOW the pain you are enduring. Every page rings with the reminder of shared pain--but also the promise of God's faithful and constant promise of His presence in our lives.

We must also remember- we are not promised restoration of our losses but we are promised redemption.  Your loss--your pain--your suffering--may NEVER have an earthly explanation---You may NEVER know why---BUT you do know that God is working--God is glorified and He is using you for His good purpose-It is ALL part of the redemption story!

Today I am thankful for the joy of knowing 

that He is using me--even in my brokenness.

"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble"

Psalm 107:2