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thislovelymess

Have you ever felt like pain would swallow you who

Have you ever felt like pain would swallow you whole? Life recently has given me opportunity to sit beside others going through deep hurt and loss. The reality of brokenness in this world is so hard. I don’t always have answers for all the tough questions that hardship surfaces. I struggle to understand the purpose of pain at times. The Lord knows that in my own griefs, I have wrestled hard questions. Too often I have doubted the goodness of God. I believe God is good and works on behalf of others, but pain often causes me to doubt this truth in my life. My devotions this week reminded me of God’s truths. Truths that point me to the source of endless joy—even in the midst of suffering and hard, unchanged realities. I praise God we don’t have to walk hard roads alone. God’s presence is with us. God upholds, God strengthens, God delivers. We may not be delivered from the hard, but we can rest assured God will deliver us through it. God is not done working. You can read more by following the link in our bio. #hopeforhardtimes #faith #suffering #scripture

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Being “mom” doesn’t always look or feel like we imagined it would. Some days and seasons are just hard. Some days we feel like we have failed. Motherhood is both beautiful and hard. Yet the hardship we face, even as mothers, are opportunities to experience God at work in our lives. When we feel as though we are falling apart, God is the one who is holding us together. God truly is our strength when we are weak. Moms, your desperate prayers matter. Keep praying them! Follow the link in our bio to read more. #faith #faithinhardship #motherhood

Have you been running on fumes lately? It's not ea

Have you been running on fumes lately? It's not easy to quiet one's self and sit in silence before the Lord, especially in seasons of extreme busy. My prayers feel rushed, noisy. Silence feels frustrating, especially when it battles against time I don't have.

Yet, as I have quieted myself before Him, I have discovered a vast richness found only in the presence of God. The heartache and pain of circumstances may persist, but God is present with me. In the waiting, in the silence, God is near. It's a beautiful thing to allow ourselves space to be awed to rest in the hands of God who holds us together. God saves, He keeps, but He also restores. Silence isn't a natural response, but it reflects faith and trust in the power of God at work within us. We can keeping running 100 mph into all kinds of distraction, but those distractions won't mend you. Only God can do that.

Our love often looks more like a toddler in the th

Our love often looks more like a toddler in the throes of a tantrum, fighting against every effort meant to comfort and help. It is the picture of a DIY project gone horribly wrong.

Isaiah 57 paints a portrait of wickedness, of sin—and it’s not pretty. We are liars, deceivers, murderers of our own flesh and blood. We are idol makers bent on the worship of worthless things. We would rather turn to all that is unable to save than to the one who created us and has the power to save. We easily desert God (Isa. 57:8) and yet are willing to go great lengths in our own sin, even when it wearies us (Isa. 57:10). How backwards and foolish is this kind of living?

My friend, God sees the ugly, yet God loves us deeply. God tells us that, “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him…” (Isa. 57:18a).

God loves us in our broken state, pulls us out of the pit of our own making, and redeems us in His limitless grace and mercy. This gift came at great cost to God. Sin has a price that demands payment. Sin separates us from God and we are powerless to save ourselves. Only through Christ’s shed blood on the cross can we know lasting peace.

This is love. Not that we love, are good, or do good—because we don’t and we are not. God IS love—love I don’t deserve and you don’t deserve but love we are given freely anyhow.

While we go great lengths to live in sin, praise God we have a father willing to go such great lengths to break our ugly chains of sin and revive our weary souls.

God sees the worst in us and loves us anyway.

Why do seasons I want to put behind me linger long

Why do seasons I want to put behind me linger longest? Everywhere I look trees are budding, flowers growing, grass greening. Spring is arriving brim with life. Hard seasons often co-exist in the beautiful ones. Pain, grief—somehow they linger longer than the blooms around us. While spring is filled with hope and the promise of new, pain in the midst of this beauty looks more like survival. Feelings are deceptive. God’s Word is not.
Isaiah 54 reminds me of timeless truths for seasons that linger longer than I would like.

In past seasons when rejection stung and I felt worthless and abandoned—God says He is my Maker, my husband—the Lord of hosts is his name (Isa. 54:5).

When I have felt shame and guilt—crushed by the weight of my own sin, God says that he is my Redeemer (Isa. 54:5).

When I have been overlooked, forgotten—God says that the LORD has called me (Isa. 54:6).

In seasons that are painfully endless—God says affliction is momentary (Isa. 54:8).

Momentary to what? Momentary compared to the steadfast, EVERLASTING love of God. God is forever. He is making all things new. Beautiful things. Unbroken and unbreakable things. Righteous things. Eternal things. That day—that beautiful day, it is coming. #faithinspired #godswordistruth #hopeinchrist

Don’t let all of the overwhelming things in life

Don’t let all of the overwhelming things in life leave you feeling underwhelmed with God. Hard times tempt us to doubt God’s goodness and presence in our lives, but God reminds us that He will never leave or forsake us—He is with us. His love is deep, it is profound, and it is lavished upon us. God is big, God is strong, and He is all those things for us.
#hardtimes, #faith #scripturestudy

I try to carry far too much on my own. This week I

I try to carry far too much on my own. This week I was gently reminded that what I carry around will not strengthen me, can not save me. What I really need is to be carried, and God has said He has done that, is doing that, and will do it. #faith #trustingodsplan #trustinghim

I love to study God’s Word. That doesn’t mean

I love to study God’s Word. That doesn’t mean that doing so is always easy. Sometimes it is a joy. Often study is a struggle. We have self-help books and resources in abundance—all with the aim to help us understand the self better. We think that by looking in we can make better sense of the world, better understand pain in order to process it and heal. What we really need is to look up, not in. We need to better understand God. #biblestudy #faith #thewordofgod #faithstruggles

Instagram post 18305238175124117

Instagram post 18305238175124117

Have you had one of those days? The kind of day th

Have you had one of those days? The kind of day that leaves you weary? I certainly have. I wrote this post as a reminder to myself, but it’s for anyone in need of encouragement. I am not enough, but God is.
#faith #godisgood #faithoverfear
Note: Click the link in our bio for full post

Instagram post 17876027458043176

Instagram post 17876027458043176

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Instagram post 17853649690141733

Saw this and loved it. So true.

Saw this and loved it. So true.

Laughter is such great medicine and THIS sure brou

Laughter is such great medicine and THIS sure brought on a bit of it.

Instagram post 17850629509191937

Instagram post 17850629509191937

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Friday everyone!

New post up! Follow along at http://www.thislovel

New post up! Follow along at http://www.thislovelymess.com

Sitting on this verse/thought today. To abound in

Sitting on this verse/thought today. To abound in hope I first must believe in the source of hope. Source? Always Christ.

Kind of loved this

Kind of loved this

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Instagram post 17861829775123891

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© Kristy R. Brungardt, thislovelymess.com