From Broken to Blessed to ...

To my sweet, patient bloggers:

I am sorry it has been so long since my last post.  Believe it or not, sometimes I struggle with what to write about. My thoughts are so jumbled I can't think straight; or there are several things I want to write about and I can't decide which one to choose, so I don't write at all.

I read a devotion last week from "Journey" magazine entitled, From Broken to Blessed.  Sometimes we will go through seasons of brokenness.  Even though we may not be able to see God's hand at work in the situation, much less see the light at the end of the tunnel, as believers in Christ, we have to dig down and hold on to our faith and trust that God knows what He is doing and He sees the light at the end of the tunnel. As my redneck, Southern uncle used to say, "I'm hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit!"   God wants to bless us.  And sometimes, believe it or not, those blessings come through brokenness. 

Isaiah 61: 1-3 says, "He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;"  He goes on to say in verse 3, "To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." 

Wow! I love this passage!  Here is what I want us to focus on:

• our hearts are broken. God is the Healer.
• we are held captive by sin, fear, guilt, anxiety, depression (you name it). God gives us liberty.
• We are bound by what holds us captive.  God can break open the prison doors.
• through are brokenness, God can turn it into ashes and make it beautiful.
• we mourn through our brokenness.  God can provide us joy.
• our spirits are heavy.  God can give us a garment of praise.
• when we arrive at the end of the tunnel, having trusted God, HE will bless us and HE will be glorified.  Their is a PURPOSE to our brokenness, our captivity, our imprisonment, our mourning, our heavy spirits.

Girlfriends, I hope my posts never give you the impression that I have it all together or I have all the answers.  I am in a season of brokenness.  I am bound and held captive by some of my emotions and circumstances.  My spirit is heavy.  I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  But even in my most broken state, somewhere deep in my spirit is a peace.  A peace that only God can give.  Does it fix everything?  Does it stop me from having anxiety attacks?  Does it make the circumstances causing my brokenness and heaviness to go away?  NO!   But I do trust that God is somehow going to give me beauty for my ashes, joy for my mourning and praise for my heaviness.

So, from broken to blessed to ...Creative?  Tune in to my next blog to hear about the "creative" aspect.  Until next time, hang in there and hold on to Jesus.