Christian encouragement and devotionals for your walk with Christ
So often we’re walking wounded, we’ve been through battle after battle, and we’ve faced so many storms. Everyone said we fail, that we’d fall but here we are walking wounded. Carrying the word that cut us deep, the actions of others that pierced our hearts. But we’re still walking, we tell ourselves that day after day, pushing away the pain because we don’t have time to deal with that.
The Lord is in this place, so often we forget this, the pain of our circumstances blind us. Our regrets, our disappointments steal our focus. We beg for validation, for hope, for someone to see our hurt and care enough to do something, to fix it- but we are looking for the answer in all the wrong places.
Deserts of pain, of regret, and loss, often this is where we find ourselves in a wrestling match with God, desperate to understand, afraid to keep walking. This is the place we must decide whether or not to continue living behind a wall or to step out into our calling.
There is no shame in returning empty, but don’t stay there. So often we allow the pain of “empty” to drive a wedge between God and us. We let it drive us behind a self-imposed wall in a useless attempt to hide from the pain, the questions, the shattered places to keep you from your savior’s arms. We allow it to become an excuse for staying locked behind solid walls. Plug back into Him, and fill back up. Let God pour over your bruised soul like a soothing balm.
Empty is a journey, a walk, a season that proves everything that we’ve learned in the storm. Empty is a lonely, broken place. You’ve walked through a dry season for so long… you followed eager to be a part of what God was doing- but now you find your self used up, poured out, tired of fighting.
Have you ever left full, only to return empty? Maybe you followed God’s call, you journey out with Him excited and ready to do what He has put in your heart. Maybe God called you into ministry or missions, or maybe He called you into the unknown in your very own home. Perhaps God called you away from something, some people, some situations, a job. And now, now you find yourself exhausted, spent, used up, empty.
Where are you living? Are you living in the truth? Or are we living from behind a wall? Afraid to allow people to really see us, afraid to let anyone past the barrier.
Names, we all have them. Some we are born to, other’s we create, others are given to us, and still others we claim. Some of them identify us, some of them signify our relationship to others, and some have the power to bring us to our knees and crumble everything we’ve worked so hard to build.
We see a period. The end, no alternatives. No second chances, no do-over. No stops, no restarts, no going back. The little girl in Mark 5 is dead. No question mark, it was final. The last breath had been exhaled. Those that knew her were in mourning. To all, her story had ended- they didn’t know she’d forever live in the pages of our bibles, or that her story would impact people centuries later. All they knew is that this young girl was gone. Nothing they did could bring her back.
Have you ever noticed in the Bible God’s priorities aren’t always what we think is most important?A good example would be Mark 5:21-34, Jesus is on His way to Jairus’s house to heal his daughter. He was a synagog leader, he was an important member of society, he came to Jesus begging for Him to come to his house and heal his little girl.