Hey you, hey me, the thirsty, the desperate, the depleted, the exhausted…those barriers, wounds and struggles in our lives are not present by accident.   They are there by assignment.   Things that challenge us to our core either create or crush us.   They are available for our gain and God’s glory.   The difference in destroying us or defining us is our resolve to find the meaning and mission in our messes.

Trials do not always come from God‘s hands, but they come through them.   We can rest in that. He has touched every tragedy and challenge before we endured it.

Our tears are sifted by God before they are shed by us.    He has held them, and He will heal them in His time and according to His purpose.

The new year is sometimes more of the old, the hard and the worn out.   You are not alone.   Let your perspective be colored by God’s purpose, not your pain.   He is working on our behalf.   Believe it, look for it, expect it and never lose hope!   We can give rest to our resolving, riddled souls, because one thing is for sure, relief will come through God’s strength, not our striving.   It will be in His timing not our tweaking. Father, give us all the grace to REST in your sovereign authority today and all days. When we forget, gently turn us away from our struggles and back to your safe shelter.   Amen.