Deep Breaths: Isaiah 40:29- The God of the Weary

Deep Breaths: Isaiah 40:29- The God of the Weary: Welcome to Day #29 in the Isaiah 40 Series! Danielle is my sweet friend from Arizona.  We did not have nearly enough time to go ...

 REAL LIFE , REAL GOD

A few years back I remember leaving work early and going home. Home all alone I prayed about something that was so heavy it was almost unbearable. " God where are you ? " Was my question as I got down on the wood floor , really at my end. I couldn't see how God could be in this. I couldn't see God period. But isn't God so good, that when we seek, we find?  God meets us in those hard moments of life. He shows up !

I love that no matter what we go through in our parenting, our marriage, our friendships, our jobs that God is right there to meet us.  In the Bible we find Jesus in real life. We find him in the pains, the joys, the trials, and the struggles of life. He is there. He didn't shy away from the hard , or messy, The dirty, or the troublesome. Actually verse after verse we find him in the midst of it.

“Where are you?” Is what seemed to be my question. God was so gracious to give me His answer, in His word. He was here, right next to me on the living room floor. He was where He always is and has been, right next to people, available, ready, willing. If only I would come.I opened the Bible that day and read  Mathew 8. The whole chapter seemed to jump out at me as I found my answer to my question, Where are you God ? He was in Real life, He was even in my life and in these very real circumstances that real life had brought to our very door .

Some very important words popped out at me that day that gave me a confidence in my Lord. The beginning of verse 8 says , “Jesus came down form the mountainside.” My weary heart took a leap at those words, a leap it needed. The heaviness began to lift as I read on.

HE COMES........... Jesus COMES into bad situations, on purpose ! He knew what waited him down below, people in need, people in trouble, sick , hurting, poor , needy, messy. But he still CAME. My heart settled a bit as I felt like the Lord was comforting me too. He comes into our problems all the time. He deals with the messy, the hard, He purposefully meets us there if we let Him. There is confidence in knowing that He comes. The Lord was reminding me He willingly steps into our problems.

HE IS WILLING........ I read on as a leper said, " Lord if you are willing make me clean." Jesus said, he was willing. I knew at that moment as I was reading that God was willing in my situation too. If we ask, and come to Him, He answers and provides all we need. There is confidence in knowing that God is willing. Willing to listen, to help , to answer, to provide.

HE SEES............. When Jesus CAME into Peters house he SAW Peters mother in law lying in bed with a fever. I love that He saw her. He came into Peters home and the thing that he saw was a sick woman. I knew then on my living room floor that Jesus sees me too. When we go through trials or pain, He knows that. There is great confidence in knowing that God Sees. His eyes are not blind to pain, or trouble, rather He sees what we are going through.

HE TOUCHES.......... He touched Peters mother in law and healed her.  I knew that God could touch our family too and make this right. I knew just like Peters mother in law, we could get up from this hard time and wait on and serve the Lord . There is great confidence in knowing that He touches. He doesn't leave us in the pain. We may suffer for awhile, we may hurt temporarily, but a great hope in the Lord is that He will touch our hearts in the pain, one way or another. Wasn't that indeed what He was doing in this moment while reading, touching my heart ?

The chapter ends as Jesus gets in to a boat. A great storm swells and the disciples yell . “ Lord, save us we are going to drown.” Right there on the living room floor I felt the same way. “ Lord, I'm going to drown in this problem. This hard time. Help !”  I read on,Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and it was calm. My anxious heart calmed too. Yes this was a terrible storm, but I was reminded that He could calm it. . Jesus calmed my storm that day with His Word. Just like he did for his disciples in Mathew 8.

The whole chapter is full of Jesus entering, arriving and coming in to bad situations. On purpose ! He is in real life. He is in the grime of it all. My question was answered that day. As I wiped my tears and brushed off my jeans and stood up off our wood floor, I had a new confidence. Where was God ? He was right here with us, right here in this situation. On purpose.

I love the Lord. Why ? I love reading His Word and finding out where He has been. He has been in real life, from beginning to end. He has always throughout scripture showed up in the hard, the scary , the trial, the mess of real life. There, there in those moments we can find Jesus coming down and meeting us right in the midst of it.

Here are a few words I love from chapter 8...... He came, He entered, Jesus heard, He saw, He touched, He got into, He spoke.

He can calm the storms that real life brings. In my opinion only a very Real God can do that ! God is in real life. He seems to show up in the bad situations. Where will you find him ? Where is He ? Right here, right in the throes of life. Yes, even in the pain, the trials, the heartache, sickness, depression, you name it. God is there. If you don't believe me I ask you to go look  for yourself. Isn't that where we find Him in the absolute truth of His Word. Isn't that where we are reminded we are not alone, hopeless, or forgotten? We are reminded over and over again in scripture that He is in people’s lives from the very start of creation to the very end.

Go to Mathew chapter eight. Look through the words and try to find what pops out at you. You may be so encouraged at such an amazing God that you can get up yourself and move on in Real Life with a very Real God !