“How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
It’s the answer we all give. Often what we really mean is, “I’m a little tired. A bit overwhelmed. Longing for something more.” In this world, our hearts grow weary. We want hope, joy, peace, and purpose. Surely all of this is around the next corner, we tell ourselves. If we hurry, if we try hard enough, then we’ll find it.
One morning I curled up under a cream-colored blanket that felt like the edge of a cloud. I turned on the lamp by my bed and sipped tea from a red cup with a little chip in the rim. I didn’t want this day to be like so many before. I wanted to know the answer to the restlessness in my heart. I needed a real solution.
I did an internet search. I texted a friend. But on this occasion, neither of those would do. I reached for my Bible then and flipped through the pages. I began to notice verses about who God is and how He loves us. And suddenly I came to a turning point: I realized what my heart needed wasn’t a simple answer to a problem. No, I was looking for, longing for, a Person.
We all are.
Someone bigger than us. Stronger. Able to handle everything. Someone who will care for us, fight on our behalf, and extend grace to us always. Someone limitless and loving, beyond our imagination, and right there in the intimate details of our lives—always the same and yet forever doing a new thing in and through us….
The God who scattered stars like diamonds across the velvet of the universe, the keeper of every sparrow, the maker of us all is inviting us to draw closer to Him. He is the place where our hearts can go on the hard days and the happy ones, in the highs and lows, when we are sad or frustrated or downright giddy. He is what we have been searching for all along.
No amount of words could ever even begin to contain all of who God is. But understanding more of God’s character and how He loves us changed my life in beautiful, powerful ways. We don’t have to settle for “I’m fine.” Someone is whispering to us, inviting us, showing us in every moment, “I am God. I love you. You are mine.”
XOXO
Holley Gerth
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Exciting News: This post is an excerpt from Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You (releasing this week!). God used the truths in this book to bring new hope and strength to my weary, discouraged heart and now I’m sharing them with you.
Get your copies now or read another free excerpt.
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