Choose Love (14 page)

I remember one time in church when we were asked by the pastor to form a circle of three to five people around us and introduce ourselves and pray for one another. When I introduced myself to the circle of four others, the only other woman in the group said loudly and insensitively, “What kind of parent would name their child a horrible name like that?”

I had only known the Lord a short time and had not yet had much emotional healing. As a result, her seemingly angry outburst hurt and embarrassed me, and I didn’t know how to respond. I stood silent, hoping I would not cry and that someone else would speak.

My name always brought unwanted attention to me, and I didn’t think it was a positive thing. But when I asked Mary Anne if I should change it, she immediately said, “
No, your name will be a testimony to how God calms the storms in our life.
”

And it has been. Little did I ever dream how many storms God would calm. Actually, He calmed them all.

The truth is that His love can do great things in each of us. We have no idea. It’s beyond what we can even imagine. I never dreamed of all that God has done in me. I am still amazed every day. So many people end their lives because they cannot picture a future for themselves worth living. They cannot see a way out of their pain and trouble. They are unable to imagine love so great that God would reach down and touch them with transformation.

I know from experience that people don’t really want to die; they just can’t see any other way out of their misery. I know that pain. And I believe that part of the enemy’s plan for our destruction is to blind us to the truth of how much God loves us and all that He has for us in our future.

The Bible says of those who are in a storm in their lives that “their soul melts because of trouble… they cry out to the L
ORD
in
their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm
,
so that its waves are still
. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:26, 28-30).

God not only calms the storm but also gets us where we need to go.

Jesus calmed the storm for His disciples when they were out in a boat in the middle of the raging sea. They feared capsizing, but He walked on water toward them, and when He saw they were afraid He calmed the storm. He didn’t silence the storm because He, too, was afraid, but because He loved them.

God loves you so much that He will not only save you from destruction but also not leave you the way you are. He begins the process of transformation in you immediately when you invite Him to do so.

Whatever storm is raging in your life, ask God to calm it for you.

He will.

He loves you that much.

God Will Bring Good Out of Bad Situations

We can all find ourselves in troubled times because of a wrong decision we have made, or a lack of judgment on the part of others, or something bad that happens to us through no fault of our own and yet we are left to pay the consequences. I have learned over the many years I have walked with God that no matter how impossible a situation seems to me, even if I don’t see how it can ever be overcome, it’s not impossible for Him. I know to trust Him no matter what is happening.

Never forget that
with God, nothing is impossible.
That’s because He is the God of the impossible to those who believe in Him. Jesus Himself said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

It can’t get any clearer than that.

God can turn the wilderness of our lives into a fruitful existence
when we live His way. The Bible says of God, “
He turns a wilderness into pools of water
, and dry land into watersprings” (Psalm 107:35)

One of the greatest assurances of God’s love is that He will work everything out for good when we love Him and live in the plans and purposes He has for us (Romans 8:28). The earlier verses before that are talking about praying. It seems to me that we can’t expect to see everything in our life work out for good if we do not love God enough to pray and seek His help and His will.

God Will Always Be with You When You Are with Him

God knows you better than you know yourself. He always knows where you are and sees what you are doing and all that is happening to you, but He responds to your prayers. He will stay out of your life if you don’t invite Him into it. It’s the old “free will” thing again. If it’s your will to exclude Him from your life, then you forfeit the blessings and benefits He has for you.

David said, “O L
ORD
,
You have searched me and known me
. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You
comprehend my path
and my lying down, and
are acquainted with all my ways…
You have hedged me behind and before, and
laid Your hand upon me
” (Psalm 139:1-5).

God watches over you.

His hand is always on you, whether it feels like it at the moment or not. If you will acknowledge Him every day, He will lovingly lead you in the way you should go. Even when it seems your prayers are not answered, don’t doubt that God hears you and sees your circumstances. Keep praying and looking to Him.

In the beginning of my walk with God—before I found freedom from depression, anxiety, and emotional pain—I valued being in church and sensing His presence in the worship and Bible teaching. I especially looked forward to the prayer time when the congregation broke into those small circles and prayed for one another. Even though it frightened me to pray out loud for others, I needed
prayer so desperately I was willing to do whatever it took—even if it meant I might appear to look stupid—because it was the only time anyone ever prayed for me.

One Sunday morning when I was in church, the people around me all turned and separated into prayer groups, but I was left standing alone. I started crying because I was in such emotional pain that day I could not even speak to ask anyone to let me in their circle. But God sent a man who reached in from the aisle to pray with me. I don’t know who he was and I never saw him again. I don’t even know how he saw me because I was surrounded by people and none of
them
saw me. I felt invisible. I
was
invisible. But not to God.
He
saw me and sent someone to pray with me.

When you feel you will break down if you even try to talk to someone about your problems, don’t allow yourself to be isolated. Ask God for help. I know He will do the same for you as He did for me if you cry out to Him.

David said, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or
where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there Your hand shall lead me,
and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:7-10). God never leaves us once we receive Him. We have to believe that every day.

Even when you are deserted by others, God will never forsake you. David said, “
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the L
ORD
will take care of me
” (Psalm 27:10). If you have been rejected or deserted by your family, God is your family now and He will never leave you. He is always there for you unless you exclude Him from your life. Even then it is not that He leaves you, but His power in your life manifests only when you trust Him.

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the prophet, and he said to King Asa, “
The L
ORD
is with you while you are with Him
. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He
will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). That is a serious truth. God is always with us, but He does not intervene in our lives unless He is invited to do so.

The problem is,
we
are not always with
Him
.

We too often allow diversions, temptations, secret idols, preoccupations, and interests into our life. Some people who neglect to be
with Him
are the first to fault Him for not doing what they want. They blame Him for things that happen when they should have brought it to Him in prayer. They should have trusted His love for them and His work in their life.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Tell God you are with Him every day, and thank Him that He is always with you
.

God Will Be Your Hiding Place from Trouble

Jesus didn’t say we would never have problems. He said He would be with us in them. The Bible assures us that “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but
the L
ORD
delivers him out of them all
” (Psalm 34:19).

When we do good and not evil, God delivers us from trouble. When our hearts are broken, God is especially near to us. When we are humble, God saves us. “The righteous cry out, and the L
ORD
hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The L
ORD
is near to those who have a broken heart,
and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:17-18).

God’s love for you gives you security. David said, “[God] heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit
, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps… Blessed is that man who makes the L
ORD
his trust” (Psalm 40:1-2,4).

When you make God your hiding place, He will surround you and you will be hidden in Him. “
You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble
” (Psalm 32:7). No matter what comes upon your life like a flood, God will protect you by lifting you out of it or
taking you through it. “Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him” (Psalm 32:6). That’s why it is important to listen for the quiet voice of God’s Spirit speaking to your heart and telling you what to do.

When you are overwhelmed by troubles, cry out to the Lord and say, “Hear my prayer, O L
ORD
, and let my cry come to You… incline Your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily… My days are like a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like grass” (Psalm 102:1-2,11). God always hears the prayers of anyone whose heart is humble, honest, and right in His sight.

You will never regret putting your trust in God. David said of the Lord that “
none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned
” (Psalm 34:22). Putting your trust in God does not mean demanding that He do what you ask. It’s telling Him the desire of your heart and waiting on Him for the answer. I have found that the more time you spend with God in prayer, the more certain He will respond to a quick prayer when something sudden happens and there is little time for anything more.

God Will Not Forsake You in Old Age

God will never put you out to pasture. Isn’t that good to know? Only the world does that. Only the world dares to say,
You don’t have value after a certain age or a certain strength of body
. In God’s eyes you are never over the hill. You are always valuable to Him. He never stops having a purpose for your life, and He will see to it that you bear fruit until He calls you home to be with Him.

The psalmist prayed, “
Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails
” (Psalm 71:9). He also prayed, “Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” (Psalm 71:18).

If you are still breathing, God has a purpose for your life. And there are people He will put in your life who need to hear the truth
and good news He has for them. And you will be the one He has chosen to deliver His message and His love.

God Will Empower You to Live the Life He Has for You

Another wonderful thing about God is that He doesn’t just leave us down here on earth to fend for ourselves. He doesn’t say, “Don’t call Me, I’ll call you.” He doesn’t tell us, “Good luck. Call Me if you absolutely can’t find any other solution.”

Quite the opposite, actually.

A sign of God’s great love for us is that He empowers us to do what we cannot do on our own. Knowing that truth gives us confidence to face seemingly impossible situations in our life.

Don’t let the world, the government, the press, or godless people tell you what your future is or is not.
God
has given you a future and a hope.
God
says He will bless those who look to Him. Despite the troubles we see around us, this can be the best time of our lives if we correctly see what God is doing. He gave Joseph and Egypt seven years of plenty
before
the seven years of famine. He provided for His people in both seasons.

God will provide for you in every season of your life too. In the rough times as well as the good times. You don’t have to fear the future because in the presence of God’s love all fear is evaporated. His perfect love for you will cast out all fear in your life (1 John 4:18).

God says, “I am the L
ORD
, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). That means He doesn’t change His mind about you. The apostle Paul said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Nothing in Scripture says that what Jesus did was only for the time He was here. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also
; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).