3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
Let me tell you a story of a broken heart - I hope this encourages someone out here.
This is the story of a girl, we would call her Beloved. Beloved grew up in a wonderful family and knew Christ at an early age. She just LOVED God. Her life was all about Him. She was such a �John the beloved�. It was a love dependency on the father, so palpable � she has many experiences of His presence and His voice. She was nothing without Christ. He was her very best friend and they communed like real physical friends. She also was blessed! Never had to study to make the grades and boy, did she make the grades! She was always favored in her ways. She dreamt answers to exams ahead! She just knew things!
Her parents strictness coupled with her love for Christ kept her from teen vices. She (and in fact her 3 other married siblings) all married as virgins! Her family was close knit and successful. Everyone was born-again.
Beloved never had a boyfriend. She waited patiently on God to lead her to the one God had for her � which He did. God led her to a man of much less substance than she. He claimed he was led of God as well. Despite the social status and financial differences, she gladly embraced him as a gift from God and poured all her love on him. She gave him her all. She literally took him from the miry clay and set him on high places. After all, this was her 1st experiment at love and she had to please God 100% in it!
Well, God�s plans never changes but sometimes God changes players! Saul once was chosen by God and rejected by God.
Beloved�s husband strayed. He was emotionally absent, abusive, and out of connection with Christ. There were hints of a gay relationship and then full blown adultery. He left the home. Beloved�s life was shattered completely. Her heart was broken, seemingly beyond repairs. Who on earth would imagine that Beloved, who had lived such a perfect, error free, pain free life, would now become a single mom completely shattered!
Beloved almost lost her mind. She was on the verge of being suicidal but for her love for her little girl.
She was at odds with God blaming him for the wrong choice in marriage. After all, if she had chosen herself, she would have made a better choice than God did for her and saved herself so much heart ache.
Then � God led Beloved to a Bill Johnson meeting � www.bjm.org where she was thoroughly healed and set free! Yeah, she found out that all the while, the devil had her at odds with God and in unbelief so as to cheat her of a bright future. Bill preached from Matthew 11 � �Blessed is he who is not offended in me�. If you were John the Baptist, would you not be offended? After all, Christ began his ministry saying he came to set ALL captives free. So why is John in Jail and Christ wouldn�t even visit him. The same Christ that said we should visit the imprisoned? What a mystery.
She still did not understand the circumstances but her eyes were opened. God is a good God. he is so good he does not have evil to give. His very nature is GOOD! So how does a good God allow such evil? We are in a fallen world and He has special ways to take our points of loss and make it our biggest breakthroughs in life! We do see in part and understand in part. It is ok to live in mystery for once God can trust you with mystery, you are ready for his greatest depths of revelation.
So Beloved got healed. Healed of her anger with God. so healed she was able to forgive her husband, who by the way, shortly after filed for divorce! By this time, she was so healed that despite the disappointment of receiving a divorce letter seemingly in answer to her relentless prayers for reconciliation, she was not disappointed with God. She knew this was all part of His plan as he can take whatever we are dealt, and create shining diamonds thereof!
I know so much because I am Beloved and this is my story the last 5 years.
�But! My heart is healed and free! I am eager to love again. Like I said, God�s plans and promises never changes but sometimes God changes players! Sometimes we have to give him back the dreams he gave us � as Abraham did � only to find it again in greater measures.
So if your heart is broken, please receive God�s love. I know what it�s like, I have been there. It�s the darkest depth but you can come out with your head held high!
I have left behind, a man who said he was of God, only to find he was NOT and be in a place I was never meant to be. I dont want to date, or waste ME or my HEART or the pieces that God has for me, to share with my husband. I want God to lead me, and show me where Im supposed to go. Reading this reminds me, that deep hurt, though shared by us all, is still not as deep as the hurt suffered by Christ to save us because of His even GREATER LOVE!
Love to everyone, for everyone, and Gods plans at the helm of our lives, will result in completion of His will.
Shine for Him on the way to your next phase, as will I.
whew what a story! I don't know how I missed this one before now. Glory to God for your faith and his love for you and all of us eh?
Take it from someone who chose women to marry twice who really claimed to be christians but turned out to very ungodly over time. It really is scary to try to see into the future whatnot, or just KNOW you are in God's will. I really thought I was, but over time, like you said, death replaced life in thier lives and I ended up with a woman who was a complete stranger to me and christ.
You know, you can feel real certain about your own walk with God, and that he has called you and began a good work in you that he will bring to completion, but another person, it's anyones guess whats really in thier heart you know? I mean I have had it happen with freinds too, seeing them turn from the lord over time and your watching it and going NO NO NO!!!!! This was especially a bummer as a christian husband, knowing it was my role to nurture, guide and protect my wife and her walk in christ, trying to do so consistently and lovingly and seeing nothing come of it in thier lives.
Well, thankfully we have alot of promises and instructions in the word about finding and remaining in Gods will, AND for encouraging others to do the same.
Beloved, I loved your story. I am sorry it didn't work out for you. When God restores you and gives you a true love, believe me, it will be worth it. I had my true love till death and even knowing all the pain and heartache of losing him, I would do it again. It was worth it.
Ok, I must just be really emotional today... I dont think so. But your encouragement made me tear up!
I know God will restore ALL and MORE. I guess reading you say it comforted my heart in an unusual way - just like God does when He speaks to me! And you said 'when' not 'if'. I have sometimes struggled with the "if" vs. "when" despite knowing I have a sure promise from God. I have also sometimes struggled with wondering if true love really existed. Thank you for being my "Jesus with Skin on" today! You are a testimony!
