The Best News About Jesus When Everything Goes Wrong
And Yet…
Alright sister, we might be tired and sad. Disappointment might weigh on our hearts and resentment might restrict our joy. Life might have taken some hard right turns and people we trusted might have stomped on our efforts. And yet …
And yet.
These powerful words exist adjacent to all our sorrows. “And yet” only exists because of our redeeming, restorative Heavenly Father. As Betsy ten Boom said from the horrors of a concentration camp, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” No matter what has happened, more awaits us in our lives with Jesus.
Photo by brut carniollus on Unsplash
Our enemy whispers that our mistakes disqualify us. He taunts us that our delayed dreams have waited too long and no longer are an option. He parades our failures through our memories, confirming our lingering feeling of unworthiness. And then he marches our loved ones’ shortcomings across our minds, to accuse them of causing our defeats. He kills. He steals. He destroys.
All this means we have hard decisions and challenges in this season of life. Will resentment cloud our joy? Will sorrow replace our happiness? Will bitterness poison our purpose?
Or will we live in the miraculous truth of: and yet.
And yet, when our heart feels broken and spirit crushed, the Lord saves and delivers. (Psalm 34:18-19)
And yet, what the world or people meant for evil, the Lord uses for good. (Genesis 50:20)
And yet, what the pest destroyed and devoured, the Lord restores. (Joel 2:25)
And yet, what the enemy tore down, the Lord rebuilds. (Jeremiah 33:7)
And yet, our dirty hearts can be cleaned and our spirits renewed. (Psalm 51:2)
The list goes on. Jesus, whose death brings life, works in our lives continually to transform our crushing defeats to the glory and building of His Kingdom.
Everything can seem wrong, AND YET we can take a step of faith, spit in the enemy’s eye, and say, “Satan, even if every item you taunt me with is a fact, it isn’t true. Because you haven’t factored in Jesus. He uses Every Single Thing to His glory. So shut up! (We never need to be polite to the enemy.) Jesus and I have work to do.”
Podcast
If you’d like to listen to the podcast version of this, please check out Episode 307 of the We’re Not Done Yet Podcast.
AND YET In The Empty Nest
In our empty nest years, important callings stretch before us. Some of them continue from our previous years. But some will be new ones.
To be ready for those, we must throw off bitterness.
To answer those, we must lay down burdens.
To walk these new paths, we must trust the Lord for new energy, joy, and commitment.
We might be old. Tired. Disappointed. Worried. And yet … And yet our obedience is just as important now as ever. Our ministry is needed. Our service is useful.
You might have the plans of what the empty nest is supposed to look like
AND YET God might very well call us to do something really hard.
His calling in our lives may or may not be in our area of passion. He might give us a job for which we are not naturally gifted. He may very well want to show Himself strong in our weaknesses.
Look at Moses. 80. He was a man with a speech impediment who was called to speak to the mightiest ruler of the world. He lead people who were obstinate and who frustrated the tar out of him and it almost wore him out. He faced hunger, complaining, uncertainty, monotony, and danger with a people who questioned his authority. (Sounds like the life of every parent!) Leading the Isrealites for 40 years through a desert while trying to keep their focus on God was hard.
AND YET he was living what God called him to do.
Look at Mary. She was a girl who was looking for the kind of life everyone else around her had- one with a husband and a family. But she had to face the unthinkable- a pregnancy out of wedlock which almost caused her to loose her betrothed. Then she had to raise a Son, who was the Son of God, which she must have felt totally unqualified to do. And then she was horrifically present at the moment He suffered and died. While being the mother of Christ must have contained unspeakable joys, every moment must have also been hard.
AND YET she was living the life God had designed her for.
Look at Jeremiah. He was a man who, in order to follow the call of God, had to speak such unpopular words that he was beaten, put in stocks and imprisoned, thrown into a cistern, and was rejected by his own family. He lived constantly with the tug-of-war of on the one side dreading giving the words the Lord had for him to say and on the other side the impossibility of not saying the words that were like a fire within him. (Jer. 20:8-9) To speak meant he would be reviled, but to not speak was inconceivable. His life was very, very hard.
AND YET he was living the calling of God on his life.
And the point is? Just that if life is hard, and if you are not working in your sweet spot, and if your passion is on the back burner, AND YET if being faithful means denying your desire.....that does not mean that you are in the wrong place.
When Life Is Hard … AND YET
Sometimes life is hard. Relationships are hard. Denying yourself is hard. Picking up your cross daily is hard. So lean into the hard. Don't assume that because something is hard, you are in the wrong place.
Find freedom in the midst of the hard by seeing Jesus beside you, IN THE YOKE WITH YOU in every crazy or mundane circumstance, showing Himself strong.
Life can be hard, but it may just be the exact life God has called you to and created you for.
What do you find hard? Is it what God called you to do? Lean. Into. It.
Podcast
If you’d like to listen to the podcast version of this, please check out Episode 307 of the We’re Not Done Yet Podcast.
This podcast is part of a series that deals with specific empty nest challenges. Check it out and find hope and healing! You are Not Alone!
Podcast Series:
For links to this whole podcast series, check out the following links: