Friday, March 20, 2015

Friday's Faith - Hope Amidst Groaning




May Your unfailing Love rest on us, O LORD,
even as we put our Hope In You.

~Psalm 33:22 NIV



Friday's Faith

Hope Amidst Groaning





Hope? Amidst Groaning? How do these two concepts fit together at all? 

How can we "hope" and yet "groan"?

Who of us Child-Loss Grievers "hope" to see our child again, nevertheless we "groan" all the while? I would hazard to guess, 100% of us! 

Hopeful Groaning feels like an oxymoron doesn't it? 
How can the two fit together? Shouldn't we be "hopeful" and "joyful" at the same time? That certainly seems to be the American way! 

And yet, we must admit, our hearts are still broken... even as we hope! Is there any hope for such a grieving parent?

How merciful God is to us to have had the apostle Paul explain how these two concepts do fit together in God's own Holy Word! Read on and see what you think...


Paul says in Romans 8 (yes, the same chapter that concludes by reminding us that absolutely nothing can separate us from the Love of God!) that everybody, and everything, in fact the "whole creation," groans inwardly until we see God's full redemption of our bodies...

Read this passage of Scripture, ponder it, question it, compare it to your situation, and let me know what you think...




Romans 8:18-27, New International Version:


I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. 

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.


In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but 

the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express

And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.





What about you? Do you struggle with the continual sorrowful groaning over your child who is no longer here, even as you hold onto your hope for seeing your child again in Heaven?






Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Tuesday's Trust - "I Am Come to Heal..."








Tuesday's Trust

"I Am Come to Heal..."







The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised...

~Jesus



~Luke 4:18 KJV


~~~


O Lord, quicken our broken hearts to rest in Thee, for You alone heal us ever so gently throughout our lifetime on earth, yet culminate our healing fully when You wipe all our tears away, forever! 

Thank You for Your faithful, tender, healing love poured out on us daily... 

Truly, we need Thee every hour!


~~~

2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,  
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 

~Revelation 21:2-4 NASB







Some capitalizations of Scripture, mine

KJV = King James Version

NASB = New American Standard Bible