Conquering Grief one day at a time

Running into hardships in life and grief when it comes is extremely hard. The pain is so hard to describe that sometimes it is beyond words.

    You wonder why God would allow this to happen. Why would he allow the pain that comes with the loss of a loved one. Why would he take you so far out of your comfort zone to the point of feeling like your going to break.

     So I must ask myself," is the pain He is allowing in my life right now stretching and growing me in a way that He can use me to His Glory tomorrow?" 

      Its up to me to decide if I am going to allow my grief to crush me or will I choose to have faith and hope. Will I allow God to stretch me to my limits without losing the faith that I have had and has grown over the years?  Will I choose to acknowledge the fact that faith and hope go hand in hand and in order to have one, I must also have the other.

      When my hope is low and I feel like I can take no more, it is faith that steps in and builds me back up. Just as when my faith is low, it is that hope that I have in my savior that allows me to hope that things will change for me.

     I can rest with the deep assurance that God is my source of hope and that through Him I will have the hope and faith to make it through my grief.  I must trust that if I just allow God, he will continue to build my hope and faith in my life at this time of grief. I pray that in turn, God will find that I have a greater capacity to be used for His glory while I minister to others during their time of grief.
     I must always remember that during this time of stretching, pulling, pain and re-shaping, God will have a greater ability to show His divine power through the people He places in my life. It's in this way that others are used to bring His Glory into full view. People can then see His work in and through others and eventually myself.

       I just need to be willing to allow this stretching to take place. Allow God to take me and show me things that I might otherwise never see. To learn from it so that later He can use this to first of all, bring Glory to Him and secondly, to allow myself to be used to help others as God leads me in my ministry.

    So I leave this post with this verse in mind, 2 COR. 1:3-4. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
Father, its hard to say thank You at this time in my life, but I do. Its hard to see that you are working through this grief and pain. That you are working to heal my heart and strengthen me for future ministry. I didn't ask for this, I didn't want it. I want to scream and turn from it, but I am learning that You did not allow this to happen to punish or hurt me. You allow it to grow me. Help me to be a better person for it. Help me to, at the end of this, be a stronger and more compassionate person towards those who are struggling, no matter what their situation. I love You Lord. AMEN!!!