2020: Are You In The Valley?

Friends,

I think we all need a little more hope in 2020, am I right? Well, I opened God's word and what I am about to share absolutely flew off the pages of my Bible. I mean, I have read this scripture a hundred times, and never once did I see how God specifically walks with us and comforts us when we suffering! We have all read about God being our Shepherd and the way he gently guides us through life as our protector and sustainer.  But, today... I want to talk to my friends who are deep in IN THE VALLEY of suffering.  What does it mean to be in the "valley of the shadow of death"? Well if you look at other translations of the Bible it's also called "the darkest valley".  Simply put, we are all near that valley, and we will all walk it one day.  We are fragile, life is short, and that valley is an inevitable part of humanity. So, when unexpected suffering walks through our doors, we move from the greener pastures into the dry valleys.  Have you been there before? Are you there now? Well, read on my friend because God is more near you today than he was in those greener pastures and he is full of comfort.  First, let us all read it together (emphasis added):

The LORD Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I want you to stop right now and let me paint you the most beautiful visual you ever needed to see:

• At the beginning of the verse, He is in front of us: "He leads me beside still waters"
• At the end of the verse He is behind us: "Goodness and mercy will follow me"
• But in the middle, IN THE DARKEST AND HARDEST OF TIMES OF SUFFERING, HE IS WITH US!!! "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, ...you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me"

Think about that my friends... of all the times you needed God to be with you the most, He shows up in the valley, just in time. He walks alongside your weary soul and what does He do, He comforts you! He does this despite the diagnosis! He is stronger than the addiction, more joy filled than the depression, more faithful than the infidelity, more compassionate in the loss, more able in the financial burden, more sovereign in the infertility.....what is it? What can HE not overcome? Even death cannot separate us from God's comfort, He conquered that too! 

As I watch numerous friends sojourn through the darkest of valleys in 2020, I am inspired by their faith.  I can see them walking side-by-side with their Father and it is beautiful to witness. Keep walking my friends, keep moving forward as God fills you with comfort, and gets all the glory. 

In Christ,

Annie

Inspired by my friends Philip (and Amber), Jen (and Rich), Eric (and Lindsay), & Mary who all walk different paths in this valley, yet suffer so very well... to God be all the glory.

 

Poem: "Hindsight is 2020"

Hindsight is 2020
Poem by Annie Earls

If hindsight is the year 2020,
It sure has been painful but we're learning plenty

We did not know what was to come,
We had to hope when there was none

It was hard, and it was long,
Some days we were weak and some we were strong

But strength, we found is not a feeling,
It must be learned through lots of kneeling

Asking God to heal our land,
from sickness and death while taking a stand

Leaning on Him to teach us to love,
And watching Him work to heal from above

Praying to God that he changes our fate,
to extinguish the thread of injustice and hate

So if hindsight is the year 2020,
Let's learn from this time to always be ready!

Let's make this year count, and always remember,
that humans need love and are better together.

*********************************************************************************
Just a little food for thought...
"Hindsight is 20/20" is defined as "The full knowledge and complete understanding that one has about an event only after it has happened"

....lets never forget what we learned in 2020

Love to you all,

Annie

The Virus of Fear: The Remedy of Faith

18 

Dear Reader,

You may not know this but you and I are intricately connected at this moment, probably more than we ever have been or will be again. We sit at home, surrounded by those we love wondering what the next day, month, or even year may hold for us all. An unwelcome guest entered our homes like a thief in the night and seems to have stolen everything we cherish and enjoy. COVID 19, I can confidently say we all wish you never existed. We close our eyes at night and hope this was all a terrible dream. We wake up and realize it simply wasn't, and we are forced to muster up the strength to get out of bed. We turn on the news and see schools closing, parks closing, and whole states locking down. We talk to friends who are forced to cancel their weddings, graduations, vacations, and other precious events. As the days roll on and the news becomes more ominous, we slowly let fear creep in and paralyze us. The crazy thing about fear is, that it acts like a virus within our hearts.  We often don't know it exists until it starts to affect everything about us...we get weak, we lose our faith, our trust, and mostly our joy. The difference between the virus that plagues our world today and the virus of fear that plagues our hearts is that... 

...Fear has a proven remedy, and it's Faith.

We have to fight against fear today my friends. We cannot effectively live life while also being paralyzed by the unknown. We have to wake up as if we are at war, and instead of mustering up our own strength to fight, we have to put on the armor God gives us. We must hold firm to the shield of faith to protect us from the weight of this world and the worry that is flying towards us relentlessly. We must pick up the sword of the spirit, the Bible, and start swinging like your life depends on it because it does.  We must be like warriors today. We have got to fight fear with faith.

Fear is a conversation with yourself about things you cannot control.Faith is a conversation with God about things He can control.

Faith tells us that no matter what lies ahead of us, God is already there and in full control of the outcome.  Faith reminds us that we will never suffer beyond God's ability to save us or make us more like him. Faith proclaims Jesus conquered sickness and death on the cross for all time! Tim Keller says it well, 

“Jesus lost all his glory so that we could be clothed in it. He was shut out so we could get access. He was bound, nailed, so that we could be free. He was cast out so we could approach. And Jesus took away the only kind of suffering that can really destroy you: that is being cast away from God. He took that so that now all suffering that comes into your life will only make you great. A lump of coal under pressure becomes a diamond. And the suffering of a person in Christ only turns you into somebody gorgeous.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end."

The truth is, COVID 19 will end.  When it does, though the pain and loss will be devastating, HE will do the unthinkable and somehow make it all right.  He will have stripped us of all the good and beautiful things we tend to worship in place of Him (work, school, music, money, recreation, parks, restaurants, travel, weddings, births....the list is endless) and allow us to be singularly focused on Him.  HE WILL MAKE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS PERFECT TIMING. He will re-plant eternity in our hearts and draw us to Himself again.  He is more near to us today than he was before COVID 19 was in existence, and for that (though I shed tears of sorrow for losing all of the beautiful things in life for a time) I am thankful.

Lastly, remember Christ never turns from suffering, He moves toward it.  On the darkest day in Jesus' life, he didn't give up on us and was hung on that cross for our sins, so don't think for one second he will leave us in our darkest days now:)

Much love and lots of stir crazy,

Annie