Have you ever had one of those days where everything just seems to be going wrong?
You know the kind of days I mean? It’s not necessarily anything major, just day-to-day frustrations mounting up: traffic delays, work overload, uncooperative people, failed plans, underlying worries- the kind of day when despite your best efforts nothing seems to work and you wonder why everything has to be so hard.
Of course, sometimes it is the major things. As we look at the world, at those around us, or even at our own lives, there is plenty of brokenness to see:
war, cancer, divorce, abuse, racism, poverty… the list goes on.
No matter what we do to try and make life work, it just feels like something is broken.
Surely this is not how it is meant to be.
Often the only way we can make any sense of our individual stories is by seeing them in the context of God’s big story, and as we look at the opening chapters of the Bible, we can see that our instinct is right.
This is not how it is meant to be…
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I’m pleased to have been accepted as a regular contributor to Gracefully Truthful, and I’d love it if you’d join me there as we look at what the Bible has to say about this.
This post is part of a three-week series called “Woven” looking at how the Bible connects as one big story, and how the threads of God’s love for us are woven through both the Old and New Testaments, so it’s an ideal place to start if you’re looking for a new resource to help you spend time in God’s Word each day!
Click here to read more!
Thanks so much for this beautiful truth-filled post, Lesley. I was so drawn to the word HOPE in your reflections because only just yesterday I had sat with these verses from Romans 4:
18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness[b] of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Oh how easy it is to fix our eyes on our broken selves- to pridefully believe there is no hope. But thank YOU LORD for fixing our eyes on YOU, our only true Home. What hope fills us then for the world that was meant to be and God is bringing to fulfilment through His restorative grace. Praise Him!!!
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Thanks, Anna! Yes, there is so much hope when we can take our eyes away from our circumstances and brokenness and fix them on God. Abraham is a great example of that faith and hope.
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Lesley, that’s so great that you will be a regular contributor. Congratulations!
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Thanks, Debby!
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I tried leaving a comment on the blog where you post appears but three times it said I was a bot 😦 Sorry, but yes to your words, Jesus is greater!
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Sorry about that, Debby! Thanks for coming back here to comment. It looks like you’re not the only one having trouble so I’ll contact them in case it’s an issue with the website.
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Lesley,
I tried to leave a comment over at the other blog, but it kept kicking me out as a robot lol. Here is my comment:
Lesley,
Praise that we know how the story ends. I’ve been trying to adopt a more “eternal” perspective. It helps me when I read the headlines and deal with the brokenness in my own life. Wonderful uplifting and truth-filled post!
Blessings,
Bev xx
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Sorry, Bev! I’ll contact them as Debby was having trouble too!
I’m glad you found it uplifting. An eternal perspective definitely helps!
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Lesley, I had the same problem leaving a comment on the other site.
Not just a bad day, but a bad decade. The truths you shared here gave me hope so that I could even persevere, sometimes even joyfully!
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It is hard to carry brokenness for so long, knowing that there’d no real resolution here on earth, but I’m glad you’ve found hope, and even joy in these truths.
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Lesley, so wonderful that you will be a regular contributor as your words are sure to bring encouragement. We need to remind ourselves that God is still on His throne, sovereign over all things and works all things out according to His plan and purposes. And on those days when things seem to be going wrong??? Well, we remind ourselves continually so our hope in Him stays firm. Blessings!
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Thanks, Joanne! It is so important to remember God’s sovereignty and put our hope in him. Blessings to you too!
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Thanks to everyone who let me know about the commenting problem on the other site. It should be fixed now!
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Heading over to read your words and become acquainted with a new community. Blessings to you!
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Thanks for visiting me there, Michele! Blessings!
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Lesley,
Congrats on being a contributor — I’m heading over now to finish reading the post! xo
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Hi Valerie! Thanks for clicking over and visiting!
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Lesley, what a beautiful post! So much gentle truth in your words. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the hard of our own stories, and to forget to look at it through the filter of God’s big story. I love what you said here:
“Often the only way we can make any sense of our individual stories is by seeing them in the context of God’s big story”
We need a different perspective to see our stories accurately. Thank goodness God does restore. Does make things right. Does love us, even when we succumb to the lies of the enemy.
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Thanks, Jeanne! Yes, keeping our eyes on God’s big story and remembering his unfailing love and his power to restore all help a lot when our own stories are difficult.
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