Day 1 – Grab His hand and get up

We all have to walk through some sort of storm in our lives. We are going to be challenged, we are going to suffer, we are going to feel sad. But this is how we grow. This week at church we looked at hope in the healing. Pastor Bryan (lead pastor at Summit Christian Church) talked about that even though we are Christians “we are not exempt from sufferings”. We know that there are trials in life but that is how we are shaped into the person we become. We can’t help people in the future or teach others unless we have experienced that suffering. Our world is broken and we have an enemy who gets pure pleasure out of your hurting and suffering. And, if you are a follower of Christ, the enemy has a specific target on you and wants nothing more than to attack and break you down. He wants you to think God doesn’t care, but brothers and sisters, He does! God cares. Because despite our decisions we make, especially those we make in the midst of our suffering, God is right there next to you. He is holding his hand to guide you into the light and out of the mess, we just have to grab His hand and follow.

Scripture: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” – Psalm 34:19

Our suffering produces perseverance, our perseverance produces character, our character produces hope.

Reflection: What struggle or mess are you currently experiencing? Where in your life do you need to grab God by the hand and let him guide you? What are some action steps you can take today in order to allow God to take control?

Prayer points for today:

• Forgiveness for trying to handle the situation by yourself
• Help through the storm
• Direction

Day 2 – Let Jesus guide the way

I know when we go through hard times, it is easy to immediately go to the mindset that you are going to or currently failing. That this situation might actually be the end, but after it is over, you learn something from it and realize that it wasn’t the end but just a challenge. 2 Corinthians displays a beautiful picture of this, one in which I know I can definitely relate to. It is so reassuring to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that I carry around the life of Jesus inside of me. I pray for His Spirit to overtake my heart and guide my way. Brothers and sisters, Jesus is in you too.

Scripture: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Our suffering produces perseverance, our perseverance produces character, our character produces hope.

Reflection: What is God calling you to that you feel like you need to work at in order to fulfill? What would look differently if you didn’t have to do all the different steps to get to that calling?

Prayer points for today:

• Forgiveness for thinking that you needed to do a bunch of steps before fulfilling what God is calling you to
• Take the wheel and guide your way
• Trust in God when you feel like things are out of control or there are too many obstacles to be successful
  • God will give you all the tools and resources you need if it is something He is calling you to
• His light shines brighter than any other distraction

Day 3 – Forgive and Learn

When we are in a traumatic situation, that situation, person, feeling and everything around it often times sticks in our long-term memory, thanks to neurotransmitters. One small trigger and you immediately remember that feeling, or the situation, even can come back and haunt us in our dreams. This is the same response we have with grief. We encounter one small detail, and we can easily go back to that grief, which then could spiral and lead us back to anger, depression, bargaining or denial (stages of grief). This is why prayer for healing is so important.

I am sure you have heard the saying, ” forgive and forget”, but it’s not that easy, right?! It’s amazing that our minds can easily reflect, reconnect, remember, and fixate on the things that hurt us, but when we forgive, we cannot easily forget. But we have to be able to move on, so how do we move on when we cannot forget that grief or trial or trauma? Well, what if instead of forgetting, we used those situations to learn something from them. Change that bad feeling into a learning opportunity. Figure out what lessons God was teaching us in that moment, what good came from it (even if it wasn’t directly related to the incident), what to avoid in the future to prevent us from being in that situation again, and how can we take that situation and turn it into motivation towards something good?

I know that every situation is different, some harder than others. You might read that and think, “how can I turn being abused or neglected, or abandoned into something good?” I agree, those situations might be harder to find the positives, but if you think about how those situations led to meeting someone new, or finding Christ, or finding a new hobby, whatever it is, those are the good things. If you can’t find any, ask God to show you. Maybe the trauma or grief is new, or the good just hasn’t been known yet, folks that is what we need to keep in our minds, the good is coming, maybe we just haven’t seen it yet. If you don’t think you are strong enough to move forward, just remember that Philippians 4:13 tells us “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” With God, all things are possible, and He will give you strength if you ask for it.

Scripture: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” – Philippians 3:13

Our suffering produces perseverance, our perseverance produces character, our character produces hope.

Reflection: Who do you need to forgive? What lesson can you learn from it? How can you avoid that hurt again?

Prayer points:

• Help me to forgive
• What lesson did You want to teach me Lord?
• How does this fit into my story?
• How can this lesson impact others?

Day 4 – Stay Strong and Motivate Others

Okay, we are up, and we are reflecting on how that hurt taught us a lesson of how to move on and protect ourselves, but now what? Now, it is time to use your story to impact others. Do you ever get a feeling of motivation when you near closer to the light of escaping the storm? The hurt is there yes, but you feel the need to go out there and make sure that others don’t get hurt like you did. This is even more prevalent when you become a parent. This is part of our story, in using the hurt for the good!

Galatians tells us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (6:9) There is an actual reward for not giving up, this is why the Holy Spirit fills us with that motivation. God wants us to be rewarded. He wants us to go and impact lives so they can reap the same rewards. Brothers and sisters, we need to remain strong and let that motivation fill us each and every day, reminding us of our heart and the lessons that it taught us. This is why I have created this page, so we can do life together and we can use our stories to impact lives. This page is a reminder of the hurt I have battled and overcome, the lessons that I have learned and the way I came to a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. Stay strong y’all, you got this!

Scripture: So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” – Hebrews 10:35-36

Our suffering produces perseverance, our perseverance produces character, our character produces hope.

Reflection: How can the lessons you have learned from your hurt impact others? Who around you could you walk with and guide using the wisdom you have gained from the challenges you have overcome?

Prayer Points:

• Show me who in my path needs me
• Where can I grow?
• Keep my motivation moving me forward