How God Has Been Encouraging Me Lately

Hi friends! Sorry for the missed post last week. I'm already planning a short story for next week, so you'll get two posts in a row! Today, though, I want to talk about finding peace.

There’s a sense of coming home every time I pull out my Bible. There’s a feeling of peace and rest that starts to burn a little brighter inside my heart when I open the pages. Sometimes, guilt will try to cloud my mind, but as I go deeper into the scriptures and study, I find the rest that I so desperately seek.

Every time I choose to seek, with a willing heart and ears open, I find. I find the answer is always HIM. He isn’t standing, arms crossed, staring down at me. He’s not wagging His finger at me. Rather, his arms are open wide and He’s ready to welcome me back into time spent with Him. He will correct when necessary, but even then, only because He loves me and will shape me to one day look more like Christ than when I first chose to believe in Him.

He is patient.

He is gentle.

He is faithful.

It’s been very discouraging lately when I haven’t chosen to put God first and have let other things take His place at the center of my heart or when so many things in life are overwhelming all at once. But this verse was an encouragement to me last night and helped me to remember where my true strength lies, and I hope it encourages you in some way too.

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

For a second I thought of Paul and all the hardships he went through. Then my mind quickly turned to Christ who endured ultimate suffering. He became a man so save those He created, yet was scorned, mocked, beaten, and killed by those very same people. As He bore every single one of our sins, His own Father turned His face away.

Thinking about all that He endured, helped bring perspective. He went through all of that, for me. And now, when I go through difficult things, He walks beside me, and He understands. He understands being tempted by the Devil (yet He did not give into to those temptations) He understands people disliking Him. He understands hardships, pain and difficult circumstances.

  But He doesn’t just walk beside me, He doesn’t just understand what I go through, He has the power to bring about change in my life. He has the power to strengthen me for whatever I must walk through. He has the power over death and shame and guilt and when I repent of any sin I commit, I can feel peace and know that I am forgiven.

What truth from scripture or character trait of God has been an encouragement or strength to you lately? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Thank you for reading this week’s post!  Have a blessed rest of your day and enjoy your weekend!