Tag: God’s plans

Truths For When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

Trudy Den Hoed20 Comments

I didn’t get a post written last week as my emotions felt too raw and needed some processing.

Yesterday I came across an old post. Within it were some truths that encouraged my heart. I’m sharing them again with you, praying they will give you hope through whatever storm of life you are in.

♥ God is God. We are not. We don’t need to make sense out of everything. Someday we will fully understand the bigger picture of all this.

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now
what I am doing, but someday you will.”
John 13:7 NLT

♥ The events and circumstances that perplex us can lead us into a deeper faith in God. They help us to rely more heavily on God and His promises. They refine us to be more like Jesus.

“But He knows the way that I take
[and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth
as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].
Job 23:10 AMP

♥ Bad things happen when people who are given choices choose evil. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us or doesn’t care. No evil will separate us from His love.

“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory
is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing
can ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed,
nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from
the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:37-39

♥ God has the power to protect us from evil, but sometimes He chooses to allow us to break, so we can be led deeper into the brokenness He suffered for us. The more we connect with His brokenness, the more He can use our brokenness to help others who are broken.

“As for you, you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people
should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20

♥ No matter what happens, God’s plans and thoughts are for our good, not for evil. He gives us a future and a hope in Him.

“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’
says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not
for disaster to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 AMP

♥ The sufferings we go through here are nothing compared to the glory hereafter.

“For I consider [from the standpoint of faith]
that the sufferings of the present life
are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is about to be revealed to us and in us!”
Romans 8:18 AMP

“Look Up Child”
by Lauren Daigle

“Where are You now
When darkness seems to win
Where are You now
When the world is crumbling…”

God Is Greater Than Whatever We Face in 2018

Trudy Den Hoed28 Comments

Are you discouraged or afraid of what awaits us in this new year? Perhaps while others are singing “Happy New Year,” you are entering this year with worry about what’s around the corner for us in this journey of life.

I think being a worrywart is my life’s default mode. It can weigh my heart down so much that I have trouble remembering how strong God is to overcome the giants blocking the way. I compare myself with the giants instead of comparing the giants with God.

I’m learning step by step to trust God and His all-sufficient grace more than the giants. And more than my feelings. My feelings can sway with the wind and can be misleading. They can cause me to cower and curl up in a ball of defeat when the giants overshadow me. They tell me that God has forgotten to be merciful in this world.

Not true! God’s Almighty power, love, and faithfulness never sway or change. God is loyal, constant, and steadfast. He was faithful in the past, He will be faithful today, and He will remain faithful in our future. He still has this whole world and every single heart in His hands.

So does He condemn us when we do worry? Never! There is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Others may tell us worry is a sin and we should “just have faith,” making our burdens even greater. But God knows how weak and frail we humans can be. He understands us more than anyone. His patience with us is bottomless. His love for us never lessens when we slip into worry or distrust of His plans.

Isn’t His love amazing?! No matter what we do or don’t do, He just keeps on drawing us into His love and inviting us to surrender our anxiety and burdens into His Almighty Hands and His all-sufficient grace.

“Come to Me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28

We cannot know what will happen this year, and it’s a good thing we don’t. But God always knows. He has plans for each and every one of us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us a hope and a future.

Does this mean there won’t be struggles, losses, or pain in our lives? Definitely not. Here we will have trouble. But the wonder is that even when it “feels” like God’s designs are against us, the absolute truth is that He is still working out everything towards our good.

The hope and future He plans to give us may seem a long time coming. But it will come, because He is a faithful Promise-Keeper. Someday our journeys here will end in a most glorious conclusion.

Meanwhile, may we take His hand and follow Him wherever He may lead us in this year, remembering that He has promised to be our refuge through all the storms in life and our Almighty strength in all our weakness. We are safe in His hands. He has proved that in the past, and He will continue to be our help today and in the future.

“God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],
A very present and well-proved help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1 AMP

“You Raise Me Up”
by Josh Groban

“When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until You come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on Your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be…”


Your Pain Has a Purpose

Trudy Den Hoed29 Comments

Jeremiah-29-11

“God has a plan for purpose and beauty in your life –
not despite your past, but because of it.”
Tracie Miles in Your Life Still Counts

Many times in my life I have wondered… What purpose can come out of the pain of the past? How can that pain bring God glory?

Everyone has some kind of pain, whether physical or emotional, visible or invisible. And sometimes the hurts can drag us down to despair. Sometimes we can’t understand why it had to happen. Sometimes we can’t see how any good can come out of it.

But God created each of us with a unique purpose in life that no one else can fill. And no matter what has happened to us, God has a plan to turn it into good in our lives. Our pain has a purpose. Even for beauty. Not negating our past but funneling it through His grace towards His glory.

In this past year God is leading me to blogs where women share their pain. They don’t negate their past but believe we need to be real, to be the women God has created us and molded us to be. And these women’s vulnerabilities have led me to believe more and more that pain has purpose. I know these broken stories have had purpose for me. Sometimes their deep thoughts ignite deep places in my own heart and I feel less alone. And their raw stories lead me to the priceless story of redemption in Jesus.

The deeper the pain and the darker the valleys, the more redemption shines in the lives of these broken people, because they have chosen to allow God to use their pain for a purpose.

Yes, our pain can bring God glory when we allow it to fuel our faith to spread the news of how Jesus can rescue, heal, and free us. God can bring beauty out of the ashes of brokenness.

How is it possible? Because of the unfathomable depths to which Jesus sunk into brokenness. No one has ever suffered as much as He has. His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane even squeezed great drops of bloody sweat from His body. His agony over our sins and what He would suffer because of them. He chose to dive into the depths of pain for a purpose – to glorify His Father and to save and redeem us from our own sins and from the shame others’ sins have forced upon us.

We can’t even humanly imagine the depths of the humiliation and pain He went through on that cross of crucifixion for us. He loves us so deeply that He carried it all for us. He satisfied the price that must be paid to redeem us. And we can now have hope of healing, freedom, and a better future. And through His sacrifice of love, it is possible for us to live with a purpose to glorify God.

So if you are disheartened and can’t see how God can use your pain for His purpose, ask yourself: If ______ had never happened to me, how would I be different today? Would I have the empathy and compassion for others in the same situations? Would God have taught me as deep of lessons to mold me more into His likeness? Would I care as much about hurting souls if I had never been hurt myself? Cannot the same God who came down to suffer and die in my place use my pain for His purposes?

Yes, your pain can be funneled through the grace and love of Jesus to produce powerful purpose and beauty in your life. Yes, beauty can arise out of the ashes of your brokenness. Not despite your past, but because of it.

The following is a Mercy Ministries Video.
I love how it shows several examples of how women healed,
and their miseries turned into ministries.
This can happen for any of us.

“I’m not meant to just stay quiet
I’m meant to be a lion
I’ll roar beyond a song
With every moment that I’ve got.”

May the Lord give us power
to use past pain to glorify Him
and to help others in need!

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Linking up with: 

Holley – Coffee For Your Heart 

Jennifer – Tell His Story 

Kelly – Cheerleaders of Faith

Bonnie – Faith Barista’s Beloved Brews