wake up call

Long story short... Last night I was dumb and fell right into Satan's trap. It was one of those things where I put myself in the wrong situation and set myself up for failure.

The crazy part about it is that right in the middle of me messing up, like literally DURING it, God showed up in the craziest way ever, seemingly out of nowhere. I don't want to go into all of the details, but I do want to tell you this -- God LOVES you personally and deeply. He really, really does. In the middle of my weakest moment, he was there. He hit me right in the face with the biggest wake up call I could ask for, other than Him personally descending from heaven in human form and talking straight to my face.

It doesn't make any sense to me why or how God loves me so much. I definitely don't deserve it. I deserve the opposite. But that's what really just blows me away about God... it doesn't matter that we don't deserve it. He loves us despite us. No matter how "bad" we are, we can never do anything to make him stop loving us. It's so crazy.

I mean really, how cool is it that God cares enough about me to come meet me in the middle of my mess, in order to get my attention?! He cares for all of us like that. So so so crazy. It's even crazier that God used my disobedience and sin last night for HIS glory. Satan THOUGHT that he won because he got me to give in. But NO. God turned it right around and used it to show me just HOW MUCH he loves me and how he's never going to give up on me. It was the greatest reminder of his love and grace for me and I'm so thankful for it. His love is truly relentless.

Wow.

Thank you, Jesus.

keep fighting

Do you ever feel like you're in over your head? There's all this crap going on, and right when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Something else happens, adding to your already lengthy list of stressors. When will something let up? You're trying to catch a break, but instead, you're only breaking down. All the while, you're crying out...

"God, where are you in the midst of this mess?

Do you even care?

Do you hear me?

Can't you see that I'm hurting?

Jesus, please.

I'm begging You.

Help me out.

I can't do this anymore.

It's all too much.

DO SOMETHING!"

It's easy to trust God when things are going good, but what about in times like these? Times when you don't feel God at all. Times when he isn't intervening right away like you think he should. Times when if you get gut-level honest, you don't even know why you're trying anymore.

Are you the type to push through and continue to trust and believe that God will come through for you?

Or are you the type to give up when things get tough?

Maybe, just maybe, God allows us to go through hard times. Maybe he allows us to be broken. When we are broken, it gives us an opportunity to grow in our faith. It gives us an opportunity to build perseverance. An opportunity to trust when we can't see what lies ahead, and when we feel like we can't make it.

We HAVE to push through, as hard as it is.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've felt like giving up since I decided to turn my life around. My natural response to adversity is to shut down and quit fighting. But I now know that quitting is not an option. I have to keep going, no matter how hard it gets.

YOU have to keep going.

This broken world needs YOU and the hope you've found in Jesus.

You have so much to offer.

Don't give up now!

Whether you feel like it or not, God is THERE. He HEARS you. He CARES for you. He's coming to YOUR rescue. Keep leaning on Him. Keep pushing through. It's WORTH the fight.

You're going to make it.

"So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Galatians 6:9