Kaitlyn and Darren at the beach a few years back. Today, I attended service in Austin at my brother's church, Austin Stone. There is something about their church and the worship service that always makes me emotional and makes me look at things differently. Last time we were here, Kaitlyn became overwhelmed by emotions and after many discussions and prayers, after that weekend, it led us down the road of homeschooling. This morning was no different. We began to sing “How Great Thou Art” and I truly struggled to sing this beautiful hymn that I normally enjoy. I started to really question if my God is truly great. How could a great God allow my husband and Kaitlyn's dad to die? How could He allow me to become a widow at 36? How could Kaitlyn be left to live a life without a dad at 12? I felt my heart being overwhelmed by those questions. My mind flashed back to that awful night and I truly questioned if my God is great. Then their pastor got up to speak. He talked out of I Peter 1:8. He spoke about how we can know we have genuine faith. He spoke specifically about belief and having faith and trust in God in the middle of life's storms. Though I believe I've been dependent on Him, have I truly held onto Him in this storm? Have I trusted Him to lead me? Do I believe He is great? I honestly can say that I don’t always have faith and trust that He will help me and Kaitlyn through this. I many times question whether he will help us to get through all the storms that will come along the way, however I want to live my life believing that God is great and faithful. I want to be an example of His great love and wisdom, even in the midst of life's storms. If I can truly live that way, I believe He will allow me to be an example to Kaitlyn. He will also allow me to be an example to my family, friends and those I surround myself with. I do not want to do this because I am simply strong and people admire me or because I know how to weather the storm, but because He is truly great in my life and He is leading me through the storms of my life. If you look up the history behind “How Great Thou Art,” you will learn that the writer of that poem and hymn, wrote it after watching a storm quickly blow through and afterwards leave a beautiful, serene setting. What about the storms we face? What if we believed that when those pass (quickly or not), if we stay connecting to God, we will find beauty and peace? What if we lived our lives knowing that we will have perfect peace, if we just can trust God through the strongest storms that we may face? I want to say that I weathered this storm and that I grew through it. That I became stronger, not by my own determination or drive, but because of a God that is working in and through me. Let's weather the storm together friends. Let's live a life of genuine faith. Let's lift each other up in our storms and let's come out on the other side truly saying, How Great Thou Art! Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8 NIV
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Amy C.A young widow searching and sharing God's goodness. Archives
June 2018
Categories |