Season of Tears

These past couple of months, I have been relatively quiet on our blog. When you are walking through a season of struggle, it is often difficult to share words of encouragement. And, when you are digging for words to give out, sometimes you do not have any left to speak over yourself.

This has not been a season or time that I have doubted whether God is good or if He exists; it has been more like one of struggle because I know in my core that He is ever-present and beyond what I can even begin to describe as good. His attributes are without description. I do not say that because scripture states it, but, in my core, I know it. I have experienced His love, His compassion, His goodness.

My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

Psalm 42:3

But we all walk through difficult seasons, don’t we? And I have discovered that struggling through seasons in which your words somehow fall short is even more of a struggle when you spend your days offering words to other people. The seasons where you step out in faith and it seems like the other side is somehow winning are not often discussed. But, honestly, that is how the past year or more has been for me. I have had to hold tight to a blueprint that the Lord handed me a long time ago. It has seemed like the gates of hell have tried to prevail against every promise that I hold onto. It has appeared as if everything is being tested on every side. And, that has not necessarily been by the Lord, but by the enemy who wants to destroy whatever good there might be.

I know that I have shared about this a few times in membership videos and through the blog. I hope that, more than anything, my words today might encourage you not to quit or relinquish your standing to the darkness of discouragement. I pray that you find some sort of encouragement knowing that even when all things are being tested, as if the enemy walks around your house testing every door and window to see if it is open, God has not left you. When you are in the midst of an attack, you don’t have to think that you have done everything wrong. These are the times that we have to allow the tears to flow and crawl into the Father’s lap for reassurance.

Hear me. If you have tears, that does not mean that you are somehow less of a Christian. It means that you are living in a broken world with a very real spiritual war. Our tears can, at times, be our love offering of worship to the Lord. Our Lord is acquainted with our sorrows. He hears our cries, both words and groans, and He collects every single drop and feels your pain.

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Psalm 56:8

When you feel that you are alone, know that you are not. I hope that you are blessed knowing that you are loved, and He is near.