1 Peter 5:10 “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 

It is so easy to look ahead at our future and see the word pain written over it. This may be because it’s all you’ve ever known or because you know it will be a reality for you. Isn’t it funny how long life seems to us but remembering that God describes it as “a little while.” In the span of eternity our suffering will be only a small fraction of our entire life. 

Recently I have been trying to live in the present, not constantly looking to the future. Each day is a wonderful gift from God and I must spend my time living in the light of Jesus, not allowing the devil to steal my hope and joy. I want my joy to be so hidden in Jesus that it will never be taken. Life with Jesus is so beautiful and I am so thankful this life is the only time I will experience pain. Jesus is the only one who can take a broken mess and create an amazing masterpiece. 

“Let go” is something I’ve been hearing from God recently and while it is hard to let go of what I wanted, once I did everything changed. Experiencing God in a whole new way as my expectations begin to disappear. 

Thank you Jesus for my beautiful life<3

-𝓜𝓪𝓬𝔂

Something that I feel isn’t talked about enough relating to chronic health issues is how we see ourselves. Us as humans have all at one point struggled with body image and how we see ourselves. But when you are sick, your mind places that feeling onto how you are seen. I know we all have had moments where we stand in the mirror and pick apart the reflection we see. Having fibromyalgia makes working out more difficult as time goes on so the once fit and muscular body is something that I no longer can maintain. I don’t always have the strength to curl my hair in the morning or do my makeup which can make me feel less than others. But God revealed something tonight that I want to share to anyone who has struggled with this feeling. He reminded me that no matter how I am feeling or how I look, He sees me as beautiful and worthy. While we look at ourselves with judgment He looks at us ,in awe of his beautiful creation. A condition or illness you were born with is in no way apart of your definition. God does not look at me with the label of Fibromyalgia, He looks at me as says, “That is my daughter.” He doesn’t say, “If only she could do more to make herself look better.” He instead says “She is exactly who I created her to be.” He doesn’t say, “My love has lessened for her because she keeps going back to her sinful ways.” No he says, “Daughter come back to me and find peace with me.” While we pick apart ourselves for earthly labels, God sees us only as his sons and daughters. And now I pray restoration over the way you view yourself  and that you would start to view yourself the way God views you, his beautiful and loved child.

-𝓜𝓪𝓬𝔂

After I had fallen asleep last night I woke up suddenly at three in the morning and I would love to share something God has revealed to my heart at this time. As I sat up I felt a wave of overwhelming emotion and I began thinking about what this night was many years ago. Picturing Jesus’ family and friends weeping over the death of not only their closest friend, but the one that had guided them through life and was providing hope. For us we know the end of the story but for them they did not. Everything they believed was shattered as they watched their beloved guider, miracle worker, and friend be killed before their eyes. I am confident that in their hearts they truly believed satan had won at that point. And it made me think of all the times in my heart I have believed satan was winning the battle of my life. Times when everything I believed was shaken where I did not know what was true. So today as many did years before, I have experienced the overwhelming joy and emotion of my savior raising again to not only defeat death but to win the battle of my life against satan. I so often forget the immensity of the price that was paid. In order to understand how much we have been saved from is to think about what life for us would look like if it was not paid. We would have zero hope and our lives would be meaningless. We would be only living to await our eternal punishment and separation from God. We also need to get to a point where we believe we deserve forever in hell on our own without Jesus, which is a very hard thing to accept. Something that has taken me years to truly accept because my sin nature wants me to believe I am excluded from the people who deserve it. But once you truly understand these things you will look at this victory as so much more than someone dying for us to go to heaven. You will get on your hands and knees praising Jesus for doing something he did not deserve to go through or need to do. 

So if you are reading this I encourage you to get on your knees or in your heart express praise to the perfect one who died a non perfect death in your place. 

-𝓜𝓪𝓬𝔂

Why do we as humans struggle to accept suffering?

I truly believe that we know deep down how this world was meant to be. This earth was not created for suffering but our sin broke and cursed it. If the story ended there we would find no hope in suffering. By God’s overwhelming love he has broken the curse of sin and death on the cross. While we still live in the remains of a broken world we can look to a place free of suffering and free of brokenness, and that place is heaven. I once could not accept my suffering and pain because I believe I deserved better. I could not understand why a loving God could allow me to suffer with pain every day. But I was so wrong! God is so loving that he promises not only to walk with us through trials on earth but he promises us an eternity with him, free of pain to those who believe. Now I look at my pain differently, I see it as a beautiful reminder of the broken world God has freed me from.

Dear broken world, you are not my home.

Dear suffering, you will not remain.

-𝓜𝓪𝓬𝔂

Hi I have not posted in a bit and wanted to share what my relationship with God looks like In my every day life. I have something called the 5 minute rule which means even if my time with Jesus is 5 minutes it is better than none. But recently I have had time to sit down and just study the word of God. I used to struggle with keeping the passion in my heart to read his word. But I am not at a point where I sit back sometimes and just marvel at his words and even the world around me. I usually start with a prayer over the time and that God would reveal himself through his word. Then I read a chapter from selection either based on what I need or want to study more. Then I close with worship and prayer and reflection. On days I do not feel like opening my Bible I listen to a sermon or podcast. We are living in a time where scripture and worship songs are so conveniently accessible. I believe if I want to be truly used for the Lord I must equip myself along with wanting to be more like Jesus which requires studying who he is. 

If you haven’t picked up a Bible for a while or never I can confidently say it will change your life. 

-𝓜a𝓬𝔂