One day I got a message from my Pelican Sister. Let me explain. She had been a stranger at the hotel where I was staying and responded to my compliment about her outfit by going to the store and buying me a gift of a matching little bag and pants with pink pelicans on them. Now a month or so later she emailed me to tell me she was sorry for my tragic and unexpected loss of my beloved and precious paralyzed ministry dog Mr. Simeon. She had been led to give me this well-known Bible verse:
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10
But why this verse? Made no sense in the context of my struggle and loss, did it? What did it have to do with my situation? At first I couldn’t see. Then the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and illuminated in my heart two powerful instructions for me in my struggle I am compelled to share with you to consider when you face your own struggles.
* SPEND TIME BEING STILL IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD ALMIGHTY. When we’re struggling, hurting, heartbroken, facing trials, feel like giving up, feel hopeless, feel weak, feel forgotten, are lonely, are grieving, or anything else whereby we’re in great need of love, help, hope, comfort, encouragement, friendship, company, support, wisdom, care, direction, healing of our hearts, cleansing, strength, mercy, etc., we should fight any compulsion we may have to run away and hide by our lonesome and give up and drown in our sorrows and struggles. Instead, we should enter into the secret place, the hiding place, the refuge, the fortress, the shelter of the Lord and be still before Him. We should open and pour out our hearts to Him, cry out and pray to Him, seek Him, read the Bible, listen for the voice of His Holy Spirit who lives inside His followers speak to our hearts, commune with Him, praise and worship and sing to Him, experience and enjoy His almighty blessed presence, and receive all He gives to us of His love, care, comfort, wisdom, strength, instructions, etc. We should come away from the craziness and busyness of this ever-darkening world and be still in the light and mercy and grace of His most amazing most wonderful healing glorious loving merciful presence.
* TRUST IN THE LORD AND IN HIS WILL, WAYS, PLANS, PURPOSE, AND TIMING WHICH ARE ALWAYS BEST AND PERFECT. Without going into detail, I was extraordinarily upset about the circumstances, timing, details, etc. of the loss of my sweet dog and was a combination of heartbroken, crushed, angry, bitter at one point, hurt, down, and pridefully questioning God. In Psalm 46:10, the Lord makes abundantly clear He is sovereign, all-powerful, and bigger and greater than anything or anyone in the universe. Instead of fighting the Lord and His will and what had transpired, I needed to humble myself before Him, repent for any and all ways in which I had questioned and doubted Him, been angry at Him, been bitter toward Him, and lashed out at Him, and place my trust in Him going forward. I needed to trust He would reveal His reasons for His will and timing if He desired or not reveal them to me if He in His wisdom chose not to do so. My trust needed to be in the Lord, and I needed in the midst of it all to be thankful to the Lord for who He is, for His love, grace, and mercy, for His countless blessings, and on and on. Trust. Repentance. Thanksgiving. For the Lord will be exalted and magnified above all the earth. He will be glorified forevermore! Oh, despite the pain, despite the sorrow, despite my struggle, hallelujah to the Lord! Oh, yes, hallelujah to God almighty!
The Lord had used my Pelican Sister to bring to light the exact message I needed in my great struggle and trial.
BE STILL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND TRUST IN HIM.
Hoping and trusting the Lord will use this message to encourage you when you face your own life’s trials.
With love in Him, Lara
p.s. I didn’t even notice until I finished writing this that this is the 46th message in the book I am currently writing. How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the Lord! Amen!