Friday Devotional - Comforting Others

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

It's so hard to know what to say to someone who is suffering a loss. "I'm sorry for your loss," seems safe enough. But, does it really offer any comfort? I knew a woman who lost her little boy to leukemia. Days later, a very insensitive man at our church said, "well sister, you just have to trust God."

Of course she needed to trust God, but that statement was of no comfort at all.

I have another friend who lost her husband this past year. She very bravely gave her testimony in church a few weeks ago. Another insensitive man (a different one) came up after and asked, "so, you're still grieving?"

The Bible says that we will be equipped to give comfort to those who need it by the comfort we have received. Maybe the more pain we endure, the more comfort we receive. And the more comfort we receive, the more we have to give.

I don't know the answer really, but I believe this passage. I worry about saying insensitive things to those who are grieving. Certainly I have experienced loss, but it is hard to know what to say to someone whose wounds are fresh. But I trust that God will provide a way for me to give comfort. Maybe it is just holding a hand, or lending an ear. Maybe it's bringing over a meal, or offering to watch the children for an afternoon. Or, maybe it is just by not saying something insensitive.

So, this week, let's take the comfort we have received during the storms in our lives and extend it to others who are hurting.

Friday Devotional - God's Plans

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

I have been really struggling with life lately. I know that the Bible says that God has plans for me, but I am struggling with the way things have turned out. Was it really God's plan for me to be divorced, trying to raise and educate four children completely on my own? Was it God's plan for me to receive no child support and no physical help at all from their father? Was it God's plan for me to live 10 minutes from my parents and brothers, yet hardly ever see them?

I have been feeling burned out and weary lately. I have been keeping up a busy pace for a long time. But, I am finding it harder and harder to maintain. And, my income is still not what I need to make ends meet, which means I need to do even more.

Jesus says that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." The Bible also says that "God gently leads those that have young." These things just aren't adding up for me right now.

But, here's the truth: I can't even begin to understand God's perspective. Where my life is right now makes no sense to me, but my understanding is so limited. I can look back with a clear conscience and say that throughout all of this I have been really trying to discern God's will and to follow it. But, the treadmill just keeps going faster and faster.

I'm sure God is trying to teach me something. I think about people in the Bible and all that some of them had to go through for God to teach them. The Israelites spent generations in Egypt and then 40 years wandering in the desert. Moses tended sheep for decades before he was ready to fulfill God's purposes for his life. Jonah had what I imagine was quite a rough weekend inside a fish.

I wish I had some grand answer or insight to share to conclude this devotional, but I don't. All I know is that I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I will continue to pray for God's wisdom and guidance. Maybe God is showing me that I need to make some changes. In the meantime I will just keep doing the best that I can, and trying to keep a teachable heart while trusting that he will show me what he wants me to see.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9

Friday Devotional - Gently Led

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Isaiah 40:11

I went to a homeschool conference today. I have always loved homeschool conferences and have probably been to about 10 of them over the years. There are classes to inspire and to instruct. There is an exhibit hall crammed from end to end with every type of curriculum that you can imagine. And there are hundreds of homeschoolers.

I was struck by how many babies and pregnant women I saw at this event. Between the pregnant and nursing moms, the whole place must have been awash with unseen hormones. I couldn't help but think about how different my life is from where it was when I attended my first homeschool conference.

I fit right in then. I'm pretty sure I had a baby in a carrier. I was a stay-at-home devoted wife. Homeschooling seemed exciting and all-encompassing. But, now when I go to a homeschool conference I feel a bit like a freak. No more babies. No more husband. And homeschooling has become a very small, albeit important, part of my life. I have so many other things that need my attention now. As a single mom, I am in a very small minority of homeschoolers.

The Bible says that God gently leads those who have young. All those mommies are being gently led by God. But, so am I. I'll be honest. The direction that my life has taken hasn't felt very gentle really, but I believe this scripture. I suspect that my definition of gentle may be a bit different from God's.

The last few years have been hard. But, God has never let my children go hungry. We have always had a roof over our heads and people who love us. And for today, we have all we need and more.