Reason #458
There are those people who get up early every morning to work out before going to work. There are those people, like myself, who consider getting out of bed early a work out in itself. And today, there were thousands of people who strapped on their tennis shoes to run in one of the most well known marathons, the Boston marathon.
The interesting thing about waking up each morning is that you have absolutely no clue what your day will be like. If you're anything like me, you have plans and a good idea of what will happen, but there's really no way to ever know what you'll face during the day. Good or bad, you just have to take things as they come whether or not you're prepared for them.
These runners had been preparing for this marathon for months. Saving money, diligently training, dieting, and gaining excitment. Today was the day. Today they would run for a few hours, and today, they would experience the joy of completing a marathon. Today, explosions happened. The marathon was interrupted, people were injured, fear spread rapidly, and lives were lost. Today, they didn't see it coming. They didn't expect this to happen. Today is one of those days that will go down in history.
Maybe you've had a day like that before. It may not have made headlines or national news, but you may have had one of those days that has gone down in your history. A day you won't forget. A day when you were blindsighted. You didn't see it coming and you never would have imagined it. A day when the wind was knocked out of you. You were speechless, scared stiff, shocked, in disbelief. Maybe you cried. Maybe you were too confused to cry. Maybe you felt numb as if it was only a bad dream. Hoping and praying with all of your might that you'd wake up soon and it would all be over.
I remember that day it happened to me. I woke up early to "run" (and by run I mean speed walk) a 5k. I had my day fully planned out with things to do. But the end of the day rolled around and it happened. No one knew. No one had any idea that my world had just been rocked. But as I sat in my bed, totally caught off guard and feeling numb, I wasn't alone. Because even though I was in the privacy of my home, wearing my pj's getting ready to call it a night, the Lord was there with me. Sitting next to me for hours holding me together. And you know what, although that was, to date, the most difficult situation I've ever gone through, I look back and I see that there was never a moment I was alone. And even though I was caught off guard and shocked to the core, He wasn't. And the next morning, when I woke up, it was real. It wasn't just a nightmare. It wasn't anywhere near being over, either. Yet, I sit in my bed again tonight, in my pj's ready to call it a night, and I just praise the Lord for allowing my race to be interrupted. Because regardless of papers being served, notices being sent, the verdict that's made, the diagnosis that's given, the pink slip with your name on it, the police knocking on your door step, or the sound of sirens right out side of your window, He is there with you. And how comforting it is to realize you never have to walk through these situations by yourself.
These situations are really hard. In fact, it's not fair, it's not right, it makes me mad, and that's okay. We can be upset, we can cry, we don't have to get over it right away. God understands us. He gave us our human emotions, so He gets it. He knows heartache, He understands loss, He feels pain and sympathy. He doesn't expect us to shrug our shoulders and pretend like we aren't bothered by it. We can hurt and we can ask. He can handle our questions and He can ease our hurt. And although it doesn't add up, it doesn't make sense, the beauty of it all is that if we place these things in His hands, our anger, our frustration, our tears, the sorrow, the pain, and allow Him to help us deal with them, He'll do big things. He will heal us, teach us, restore us, return our joy, trade in our sorrow, ease the pain, remove the anger, lighten our frustration, and most importantly, pour out His peace and love on us. And, as I have learned, no matter what we face, we can trust Him. We can trust that He is right there with us, that He will gladly help us, that He will bring forth beauty from our ashes, and that He will faithfully carry us through it.
These things take time, and like the saying goes, "time heals all wounds." But so does Jesus. And so give yourself time, give Him time, and in time, you'll be amazed at what He will do. I know I was!
#458 - Because He takes the time to heal our wounds and does so in perfect time.
“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them." - Jeremiah 33:6-9
The interesting thing about waking up each morning is that you have absolutely no clue what your day will be like. If you're anything like me, you have plans and a good idea of what will happen, but there's really no way to ever know what you'll face during the day. Good or bad, you just have to take things as they come whether or not you're prepared for them.
These runners had been preparing for this marathon for months. Saving money, diligently training, dieting, and gaining excitment. Today was the day. Today they would run for a few hours, and today, they would experience the joy of completing a marathon. Today, explosions happened. The marathon was interrupted, people were injured, fear spread rapidly, and lives were lost. Today, they didn't see it coming. They didn't expect this to happen. Today is one of those days that will go down in history.
Maybe you've had a day like that before. It may not have made headlines or national news, but you may have had one of those days that has gone down in your history. A day you won't forget. A day when you were blindsighted. You didn't see it coming and you never would have imagined it. A day when the wind was knocked out of you. You were speechless, scared stiff, shocked, in disbelief. Maybe you cried. Maybe you were too confused to cry. Maybe you felt numb as if it was only a bad dream. Hoping and praying with all of your might that you'd wake up soon and it would all be over.
I remember that day it happened to me. I woke up early to "run" (and by run I mean speed walk) a 5k. I had my day fully planned out with things to do. But the end of the day rolled around and it happened. No one knew. No one had any idea that my world had just been rocked. But as I sat in my bed, totally caught off guard and feeling numb, I wasn't alone. Because even though I was in the privacy of my home, wearing my pj's getting ready to call it a night, the Lord was there with me. Sitting next to me for hours holding me together. And you know what, although that was, to date, the most difficult situation I've ever gone through, I look back and I see that there was never a moment I was alone. And even though I was caught off guard and shocked to the core, He wasn't. And the next morning, when I woke up, it was real. It wasn't just a nightmare. It wasn't anywhere near being over, either. Yet, I sit in my bed again tonight, in my pj's ready to call it a night, and I just praise the Lord for allowing my race to be interrupted. Because regardless of papers being served, notices being sent, the verdict that's made, the diagnosis that's given, the pink slip with your name on it, the police knocking on your door step, or the sound of sirens right out side of your window, He is there with you. And how comforting it is to realize you never have to walk through these situations by yourself.
These situations are really hard. In fact, it's not fair, it's not right, it makes me mad, and that's okay. We can be upset, we can cry, we don't have to get over it right away. God understands us. He gave us our human emotions, so He gets it. He knows heartache, He understands loss, He feels pain and sympathy. He doesn't expect us to shrug our shoulders and pretend like we aren't bothered by it. We can hurt and we can ask. He can handle our questions and He can ease our hurt. And although it doesn't add up, it doesn't make sense, the beauty of it all is that if we place these things in His hands, our anger, our frustration, our tears, the sorrow, the pain, and allow Him to help us deal with them, He'll do big things. He will heal us, teach us, restore us, return our joy, trade in our sorrow, ease the pain, remove the anger, lighten our frustration, and most importantly, pour out His peace and love on us. And, as I have learned, no matter what we face, we can trust Him. We can trust that He is right there with us, that He will gladly help us, that He will bring forth beauty from our ashes, and that He will faithfully carry us through it.
These things take time, and like the saying goes, "time heals all wounds." But so does Jesus. And so give yourself time, give Him time, and in time, you'll be amazed at what He will do. I know I was!
#458 - Because He takes the time to heal our wounds and does so in perfect time.
“Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild their towns. I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Then this city will bring me joy, glory, and honor before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see all the good I do for my people, and they will tremble with awe at the peace and prosperity I provide for them." - Jeremiah 33:6-9