{all images are gifts for you to use and share however you’d like}
Dear You,
The phone rings, the email comes, the conversation happens, and suddenly your world is sent spinning. How could this happen? It’s a surprise to you, but not to the One who holds all of time in his hands. In the moments that feel uncertain, you can cling to the only One who is unchanging.
He is with you. Can you picture him with his hand on your shoulder as the phone rings? Can you see him leaning over you to look at your inbox too? Can you imagine him holding you close even as the words change your world forever? He’s there. And he loves you.
Do I understand why things like this happen? No, sweet friend, I don’t. And does the presence of One who loves you take away the hurt? No, dear one, it doesn’t. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). It’s okay for you to grieve, to feel anger, to be confused, to not understand. The one thing he asks is for you to trust anyway.
We live in a broken, fallen world. A world in which Jesus wept by the tomb of a friend who died, even though he knew there would be a better ending. And he can weep with you too, even though he is already making things right in your life. He doesn’t ask you not to feel, not to be human, not to be vulnerable.
Instead he enters that place with you. He says, “You will not ache alone.”
His shoulders are strong enough to carry your questions.
His hands are big enough to catch your tears.
His arms are everlasting enough to never let you go.
Especially now.
XOXO
(inspired by Deut. 33:26–29; John 11:1–43; Rev. 21:4 and adapted from If We Could Have Coffee…{ebook})
{to-go coffee for your heart}
*****
p.s. I recently talked with Jacque Watkins about Infertility, Redemption and How to Hold On to Hope on her wonderful new podcast, Mud Stories. It has parts of my personal story I’ve never shared before. I hope it encourages you!
*****
Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up!
You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words every Wednesday {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here with us. If you don’t have a blog, you can still come by holleygerth.com to read the posts and join in too.
If you’d like a writing prompt to get you going, here’s a list I created just for you: 30 Writing Prompts.
Pretty please use this new button in your post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}…
And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!
I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth
{click to tweet}
