There is hope. If there is one thing I’d like to shout from the rooftop it is, “THERE IS HOPE!” I know this may sound cheesy right off the bat, but no matter what your situation, no matter what’s going on inside of you, no matter what’s going on in your marriage, at work or in the world at large- there is hope. There is hope for a failing marriage to have renewed love, there is hope to be freed from addiction, there is hope to be unshackled from depression or anxiety, there is hope to attain those desires within your heart that God just won’t let you forget.
How can I be so confident of this? I don’t know your situation; I don’t know what you’ve been through. That’s true. That is definitely true. And I appreciate skepticism. I am a doubting Thomas myself- one who is often skeptical of things that sound too good to be true, and I need proof to believe. Maybe that’s the reason that God allowed me to be in the profession I am. I have been given the privilege of joining people in their darkest, most helpless times. I have seen countless people break down in tears from the strain they are experiencing in the situation they have found themselves. I have seen people overwhelmed with rage at the hurt they’ve experienced. I’ve seen people stifled by confusion, shame, and regret. And I have seen these lives changed.
If there’s one thing that being a counselor has taught me it is that truly, nothing is impossible for God. For those who will humble themselves before him and follow his lead, incredible things happen. Jesus is not just the one who redeems us so that we can spend eternity with him; he is the one who redeems our current situation. He can change the way we experience life and he can change what happens in our life. In other words “being saved” is not a one-time event. It starts with a prayer to ask for forgiveness, accept Jesus’s cleansing sacrifice and give him reign of your life, but it doesn’t stop there. This is the foundational prayer for the rest of your life.
So, tangibly, how do you experience God’s saving power in the situation you are in?
1) Start with you and God- one on one. Pray the prayer above asking for forgiveness (ask for him to point out where you have missed the mark), accept Jesus’s cleansing sacrifice (the past is now the past, move forward), and give him reign of your life (get to know him through the Bible, slow yourself down and listen to him, then do what he says). See Romans 10:13.
2) Reverse-engineer your life- start with the end in mind and build backwards. What is the desire of your heart, what are you longing for? …Not “what are you trying to leave behind?” but “what are you running towards??” Check out what it says in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Let him define those desires and then join him in making them a reality. Write these out, post it on the wall and persistently pursue them with him.
3) Include your spouse. Pray with them. And if your relationship is the thing you wish to be different remember that your spouse is not the enemy. Satan and our sinful nature, they are the enemy. Read Ephesians 6:12 if you don’t believe me.
4) Get a support team. In some circumstances God will provide healing directly through prayer to an individual but the large majority of the time he provides healing through a supportive community. He wants us to bring things out into the open, to be honest and vulnerable; and then to pray for one another. Check out 1 John 1:7 and James 5:13-17. Also, supportive, godly friends can give you help with understanding your situation more clearly and developing a plan to reach your goals. Who makes up your support team? In our day and age of easy internet connection we can often find ourselves in a counterfeit community, where you may “know a lot of people” but you never really know them and you yourself are never fully known. If you have good friends who will lift you up then count yourself blessed and ask for their support. If you find yourself feeling alone then get involved in a small group at church. Reach out to them for support, and then return the favor to them or someone else. And remember, we at Cornerstone would also love to be part of your support team. We are here for you.
We love you so much and hope that these blogs are of some use to you. Contact us if you need someone to talk with, give you support, or help you to get where you truly want to be. And may God lead you to the “life to the full” that he died to give you! -John 10:10
