Today’s thought is a portion of my testimony. I want to share with you my heart, my pain, and my struggles not only to help and encourage someone but to give someone hope that God can and will use all things to work for our good so on today “Look What God Has Done”.

     I recently came across some old journals and sermon notes that I wanted to look at them before discarding them. As I was flipping through them, I came across a journal entry from August 3, 2014, that paints a picture of how the choices of our sins have dire consequences. There was also another one I found from September 4, 2016, at 6:20 p.m. If I’m honest, what I read broke my heart and I want to be transparent and open with you in hopes that one day it will help someone else.  I wrote, “Dear Lord, what happened to me? The woman I am today is a stranger to me. When I look in the mirror, I see a woman who is broken. I see a woman who is lonely. I see a woman who has failed you. I see a woman who is disappointed in herself because she made choices that lead to the fall of her ministry. I see a woman who tries every time to give a man, a certain man, a chance over and over again and all he does is disappoint her and hurt her again. I see a woman who is worn out from church. I see a woman who is not strong but weak. I see a woman who wants to run away but has no where to go. I see a woman who is in so much pain she doesn’t believe that she can be used again. I see a woman who hasn’t forgiven herself for choosing her desires over God. I see a woman who is reaping what she has sown. I see a woman who has no joy. I see a woman who has no more strength to fight. I see a woman who I don’t recognize anymore. I see a woman who has no fight left in her. I see a woman who is the walking dead. I see a woman who is waiting on death to call her. I see a woman who holds in every hurt, disappointment, and tear. I see a woman who has no hope. I see a woman who is consumed by her pain and her mistakes. I see a woman who has never been the same since she left _____ (church). I see a woman who has been destroyed by a promise that never was!

     Let’s take a breath! That was a lot. But what you have heard was the old me. A woman who did not have a sound mind, who was heartbroken, discouraged, and depressed. You name it and I was it. I covered a lot of my sadness from people because I knew that no one was able to help me but Jesus; no one would understand my pain. So, what do we do with our past and how do we handle our issues, hangups, hurts, and habits?

     Here is hope statement #1: God will preserve and keep you. Since our God shows no favoritism as Romans 2:11 says, we can trust the fact that He will get us to the other side. Yes, there is another side to your pain, and the other side to your disappointments and confusion. Just look at me to see what God is able to do.

     Hope statement #2: God will draw you to himself with His loving kindness. The scripture in Jeremiah was specifically talking about Israel, but it says in chapter 31 verse 33, “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’” I felt that God did that for me in the darkness, in those years when I couldn’t see—HE DREW ME TO HIMSELF. I didn’t know how. I couldn’t tell you when God did it, but I am here today because God drew me with His love. We can also glean from Romans 5:8 that reminds us, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

     The next hope statement is #3: Jesus is your hope. I love how the ESV describes Ephesians 1:18 by saying, “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” If the truth is told our hope cannot be found in other men or relationships, our jobs, money, family, or superficial possessions. I didn’t understand it at the time, but God had invested in me that rich and glorious inheritance. God invested in me by giving me Jesus! Even though my healing process took years, I had to discover the riches of God’s love and the riches of His hope and wisdom. I learned from the riches of suffering. God’s light had to flood in my heart like the mighty Mississippi River so that I could gain a greater understanding of His will and have a profound confident hope in the God that can do anything but fail. I am overwhelmed and thankful today to give you this encouragement just “Look What God Has Done”!

     The last hope statement is #4: God will complete it. I could remember during those dark seasons that I just wanted out. I wanted to be with Jesus in glory, no more tears, and no more pain. One of the many scriptures that I grabbed a hold to was what Paul said in Philippians 1:6. It says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Let this be your encouragement on today, the work, yes, the hard work will be finished when God says it is done. Again, just look at me to see what God is able to do.

     Remember that we can have the confidence that God will not waste anything-no pain, no tears, no disappointments, and no suffering! Just “Look What God Has Done”!