IT’S BEEN TAKEN CARE OF

Have you experienced great despair in your life? The very thing that I have been praying for as long as I can remember isn't coming to pass. Waiting for prayers to be answered in this season has been the hardest. And to top it all, don’t see the silver lining in this cloud, which means I don’t see any signs or symptoms of my prayers even being close to answered. Have you felt that way?

Past two weeks have been one of the toughest phase of my life. I have been experiencing pain both physically and emotionally. Physically due to my failing health, bad doctor’s report, surgeries, tests, injections, allergies, medication may be. Emotionally coz of stress, anxiety, work pressure, uncertainties, worries, mood swings, irritated, frustrated, break downs, sleepless nights, best friend at work being laid off and what not. Plus a sick husband whose is diagnosed with typhoid. Not to forget the financial pressure of house renovation bills and huge medical bills piling up.

With all this going on I know I can only find comfort in one place - His word. Today’s meditation was from Psalm 142 where King David is in despair too and I felt this passage was a bit apt to my situation. I learnt 3 things that David did in his despair which encouraged me.

3 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU ARE IN DESPAIR:

1. CRY OUT TO HIM

Psalm 142:1- 3 (MSG) 
I cry out loudly to God, loudly I plead with God for mercy. I spill out all my complaints before him, and spell out my troubles in detail. As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away, you know how I’m feeling.

It’s okay to cry to God and pour out your heart. I can cry out to Him and tell Him I need Him. I can tell him all my troubles in detail. I can tell him how I feel. Coz He listens.

2. CONFESS YOUR HOPE

Psalm 142:5 
I cry to you, LORD; I say, “You are my refuge,   my portion in the land of the living”. (NIV)
I cry out, GOD, call out:  ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’ Oh listen, please listen; I’ve never been this low.” (MSG)

Confess to Him that He is your only hope. He is my strength in times of weakness. He is your refugee. He is your comforter. Without Him you can do nothing.

3. CLAIM YOUR BLESSING

Psalm 142:7
Get me out of this dungeon so I can thank you in public. Your people will form a circle around me and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!” (MSG)
Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me. (NIV)

Acknowledge the goodness of God no matter what circumstance you face. Praise Him even before the breakthrough. Ultimately He will bring glory to His name through the pain.

While meditating on these lines my heart came to peace. A small still voice within myself prompted, "Whatever you are battling right now - It’s been taken care of” - God

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WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG

If you have been following my blog closely, I have mentioned about my ill health. Yes, I have been down for a while now. I was diagnosed with ovarian cyst and along with some other complications for which I underwent a very painful surgery. I almost died out of pain while they did few other tests. I knew this was going to be painful since I had read so many reviews before. I didn't want to go through any of these tests or surgery. Several times I cried to God to take this away from me. But God just gave me a verse through my dad on the day of my surgery. He said, “God’s grace is sufficient for Gracema (dad calls me Gracema)”. While being broken, I held on to this verse.

I read again from 2 Corinthians 12 where Apostle Paul says, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Even now as I'm recovering from the pain, I am mediating that when I am weak, then I am strong. Whatever you may be undergoing today, God’s grace is sufficient for you.

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FATHER & ME

Verse:

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! - Matthew 7:11

Devotion:

I was lying on my bed last night and weeping and weeping and weeping because my prayer weren’t getting answered. God reminded me how a little child when the father doesn’t give him that sharp knife when he asks, the child weeps and weeps and weeps. The father knows that the knife will hurt the child. The father knows what is good for the child. The Father knows how to look after his child. He knows the child's body. The father knows that the child needs to grow up. The father knows that it's not the time for him to have it yet. God reminded me that I'm a child and He is a Father. How much more God, the Father would know about this suborn child - me. He doesn’t give me what I ask Him coz clearly He knows that it's not the right time for me to have it. He knows what is best for me. He knows my future. He knows what to give and what not to give. The Father also knows the time to give. God doesn’t give me what I ask for coz He clearly knows what He is doing. After all HE is GOD!

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WHEN I CRY

Makin' a list of all of the good things You've done for me.

Lord, I've never been one to complain.

But, right now I'm lost, and I can't find my way.

My world's come apart, and it's breakin' my heart.

But it helps to know; that Your heart is breaking too.

When I cry, You cry. When I hurt, You hurt.

When I've lost someone, it takes a piece of You too.

And when I fall on my face, You fill me with grace.

Cause nothing breaks Your heart, or tears You apart

Like when I cry.

Alone in the dark, face in my hands cryin' out to You.

Lord, there's never been a time in my life,

There's so much at stake, there's so much to lose.

But I trust it to You. You'll bring me through.

And it helps me to know that I'm not alone.

When I cry, You cry. When I hurt, You hurt.

When I've lost someone, it takes a piece of You too.

And when I fall on my face, You fill me with grace.

Cause nothing breaks Your heart, or tears You apart

Like when I cry.

You're the one who calmed the raging sea.

You're the one who made the blind to see.

You looked through all of heaven and eternity,

And through it all you saw me.

When I cry, You cry. When I hurt, You hurt.

When I've lost someone, it takes a piece of You too.

And when I fall on my face, You fill me with grace.

Nothing breaks Your heart, or tears You apart

Like when I cry.

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