Cherished

You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle-not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance.

The very moment I call to you for a father’s help the tide of battle turns and my enemies flee.

This one thing I know: God is on my side! Psalm 56:8-9 (TPT)

Weren’t you told plenty of times to be joyful even in sorrow? In Sunday school,I remember singing, “I’ve got joy and peace like a river, down in my heart.”  Growing up, I dance and sing to the tune of  “trading our sorrows into joy,” among other songs I learned to love. 

But as I grew older and experienced life’s pains and trauma, the songs that I sing about joy and peace aren’t as comforting and joyful as they sound.

Where is God in all these - death, betrayal, break-up, failure, unpaid debt? Where is he when everything around me is caving in? Sitting right at the foot of my bed and thinking, there is nowhere else to go. It's the end of the road. I have nothing left to do. If I am to describe the pain when everything crumbles on me, I cry and entertain my pain. “What is the point of all these tears?” I ask.

What is it for? I go back to my preaching notes just to make sure I heard it right. The same hand written words in my notepad came back empty and lifeless. The words on my journal is conflicting with the situation that I face. My experience is not in synch with what I've been taught.

If you knew what God has for you at the end of the line, you wouldn’t ask Him too many questions; none at all, not a single why. You will be at ease and comfortable, because you know there will be an end to all these and what awaits you is far better than what you have before the pain hits you.

But life doesn’t work that way, right? There is too much uncertainty. Life has a thousand what ifs. And that’s the case for me. 

What happens to the tears you shed? You may not understand why you have to go through the pain right now. But can I reassure you my sweet friend? God himself, stores your many tears in His bottle- not one is lost. They are recorded in His book of remembrance. The very moment you call on him, calling for a father’s help, the tide of battle turns and your enemies flee.

I’m not saying this from what I wrote on my last preaching notes. Life happened to me and it still does. But they weren’t lying when they said, be joyful ALWAYS - not only during good times; even during times of difficulty.

God is concerned with you. When you are going through the fire, diced and pulverized, God will give you beauty in exchange of your ashes.