Fear and Fatigue

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20

This has been one of my favorite verses for a very long time. In a world where sin and sickness do their greatest damage in harming us, it’s no wonder we live in fear and fatigue. There is no shortage in living wounded…people harm us…circumstances devastate us…carnage from it imprisons us. It’s tough seeing beautiful on the horizon after war has waged in our lives. Sometimes we just need a little helping spotting something that will lift our hearts…that will spark a flicker of hope…that will encourage us to put one foot in front of the other.

In Seeing Beautiful Again, Lysa TerKeurst describes a time when her counselor gave her the Purple Heart given to his family after his brother-in-law was killed in the line of duty to save others. He told her to on tight to this Purple Heart as long as she needed it. He said, ‘Hold on to this, Lysa…When the battle gets so fierce you wonder if you will survive, remember this moment of me telling you that you will get through this. If God gave out Purple Hearts, you would absolutely receive this high honor. What you are going through won’t be for nothing. Your hurt will not be wasted. It will be for the saving of many lives’ p. 56.

I don’t have a Purple Heart to give you this morning, but I do have the heart of Jesus to share with you, who gave up His life for the saving of all our lives. Your pain matters to God and He is using your circumstances this very moment to draw others to Him through your story…the saving of many lives. If you got out of bed this morning when you didn't want to, it is God who is helping you face the day. If you feel there is no joy left in your life, God will help you see beautiful again until you can see it for yourself. Life hurts but faith heals when we place our situation in God's hands who fully understands the sacrifice we had to make for the sake of another.

‘God can still bring good from what feels impossible. You will see beautiful even from what feels too far gone…your story, surrendered into the hands of God, will not be waste...I’m declaring over you that the Lord will restore you, redeem you, and write His glorious story onto the pages of your life’ p. 58.