Guarantees

"There are no guarantees in life, so take advantage of the opportunities you have to love the people around you."

This statement, or one like it, is something I see frequently in my news feed... and it has some merit. We should be loving toward those around us.  And we don't have a guarantee of how many days we (or our loved ones) are allotted on this earth...

But...

But...

As Christians, we do have guarantees:

Joshua 1:5 says: "I will be with you. I will not leave or forsake you." God will always be by our side. Always. Even when a friend or family member is terminally ill or the victim of a deadly accident. Even when we are faced with tragedy or turmoil.

1 John 1:9 states: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrightousness." Confession is one piece of the bedrock of a Christian life. None of us lives sin-free; and God promises that when we confess, we are forgiven... cleansed.

A Commissioned Piece

Matthew 6:30-31 assures: "If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"  God will provide for our needs.

John 14:27 reminds: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. And the peace I give isa gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." We know that when we turn to God, His peace fills our lives. Even in hard times. Even when peace seems highly unlikely. Even now, whatever now includes.

Phillipians 1:6 gives us confidence, "...that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." When we fail so miserably in living a Christian life that we are without hope, we are promised that God isn't finished with us yet! We will grow into the Christians God wants us to be; He will complete this work in us. Hallelujah!

And joyously, Romans 6:23 says: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Salvation is a gift! Eternal life awaits us!

So, on days when our lives seem broken beyond repair or reason, look to God's guarantees to see the beautiful picture he is creating in our lives. It is beyond any brokenness we see or know. It is eternal and perfect!

Our hope is in Him.

Broken

Life's circumstances are sometimes just too much. I know we're supposed to cling to Jesus, pray for patience, and all that. But sometimes it's beyond me, I'm so broken by the events of the day (or month or year).

I know I'm not the only one.

I have a dear friend who is desperate to find help for her young, mentally ill son. Today she is swimming upstream yet again, seeking available treatment for him.

I prayed last night with a young child whose prayer broke my heart. This little one was praying that her mommy and daddy would stop drinking so they could take care of her.

I know three young women who are fighting for their lives against cancer. All three have small children who need them desperately... and all three are suffering greatly from chemo and other cancer treatments.

And I'm there today, too. We've had much difficulty finding medical care in this area that our insurance company would consider "in network." We thought we had it all figured out, and began to pay off the $1000+ bills we had accrued. Well, today, we received almost double that in more bills that were rejected by the insurance company.

Ugh.

Money problems are minor compared to so many issues, but today I feel defeated by these medical bills and my inability to make progress on paying them off.

So what do we do when we're too broken to cling to Jesus? When the pieces of our lives feel so very unpeaceful? When we don't have the energy or ability to pray?

We trust the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:24 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."

I don't know about you, but that is a great comfort to me. Wordless groans are about all I've got today. It's good to know that the Holy Spirit, God Himself, intercedes for us when we don't have it in us.

When we're broken, God steps in. And we can trust that.

Amen.