In All
About a year ago, I started praying a certain prayer. "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours."
Well, I learned that you have to be careful what you pray for.
Because of this, I have ended up with quite a few heartbreaks over the course of this past year. God has opened my heart to feel some of the suffering of His people and of His world. One such occasion happened just this week as a friend of mine was pouring out her heart to me about significant hurt in her life.
As she cried out and shared her story, my heart broke. And for some reason - I didn't know why - I suddenly felt like I was back in Africa. It wasn't because her story reminded me of Africa; it was because of the way my heart felt. It was the same heaviness of heart that I sensed when I cradled sick babies and when I held the hand of a dying patient. It felt like a breaking heart.
In Africa, this sadness of heart brought me to my knees before God. In those moments, I would have to get away for a while to pray, question, and cry out for comfort and answers. And it was in those times of desperation that God taught me perhaps the greatest lesson I learned during my time in Africa.
He is in everything.
At the end of those hard days - days full of death and burns and suffering - I would try to weigh the pros and cons in order to make me feel better. As I attempted to process and make sense of it all, I coped by trying to count the hurts on my left hand and the blessings on my right. As long as there were more "goods" than "bads", it was supposed to be a good day, and I was so supposed to be thankful, right?
That is when the Lord interrupted me. That's not how it works, He said. If I focus only on the joy and not the pain, I miss half the picture. I miss half of Him. For He is in it all.
So yesterday, as I walked with my friend and listened to her story and my heart felt like Africa all over again, I began to understand why. When my heart broke in Africa, God taught me something powerful, and He now wants me to share that something with every heart that is now breaking.
He is in it all.
Now Ephesians 4:6 make so much more sense when it says, "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
This is now my mission and my message: that God is in all. He is in life, laughter, and joy. And He is in pain, suffering, and hurt. He does not cause it, just like He does not cause young men to die of AIDS or infants to die of dehydration or babies to die in the womb. He does not cause it, but He is in it. He is here - present, purposeful, working, redeeming.
I shared that with my friend, and now I share it with all who are hurting. Open your eyes and your heart, for God is near you. Hear Him speaking over your breaking heart. I am with you. I am in you. I am in all.
Well, I learned that you have to be careful what you pray for.
Because of this, I have ended up with quite a few heartbreaks over the course of this past year. God has opened my heart to feel some of the suffering of His people and of His world. One such occasion happened just this week as a friend of mine was pouring out her heart to me about significant hurt in her life.
As she cried out and shared her story, my heart broke. And for some reason - I didn't know why - I suddenly felt like I was back in Africa. It wasn't because her story reminded me of Africa; it was because of the way my heart felt. It was the same heaviness of heart that I sensed when I cradled sick babies and when I held the hand of a dying patient. It felt like a breaking heart.
In Africa, this sadness of heart brought me to my knees before God. In those moments, I would have to get away for a while to pray, question, and cry out for comfort and answers. And it was in those times of desperation that God taught me perhaps the greatest lesson I learned during my time in Africa.
He is in everything.
At the end of those hard days - days full of death and burns and suffering - I would try to weigh the pros and cons in order to make me feel better. As I attempted to process and make sense of it all, I coped by trying to count the hurts on my left hand and the blessings on my right. As long as there were more "goods" than "bads", it was supposed to be a good day, and I was so supposed to be thankful, right?
That is when the Lord interrupted me. That's not how it works, He said. If I focus only on the joy and not the pain, I miss half the picture. I miss half of Him. For He is in it all.
So yesterday, as I walked with my friend and listened to her story and my heart felt like Africa all over again, I began to understand why. When my heart broke in Africa, God taught me something powerful, and He now wants me to share that something with every heart that is now breaking.
He is in it all.
Now Ephesians 4:6 make so much more sense when it says, "One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
This is now my mission and my message: that God is in all. He is in life, laughter, and joy. And He is in pain, suffering, and hurt. He does not cause it, just like He does not cause young men to die of AIDS or infants to die of dehydration or babies to die in the womb. He does not cause it, but He is in it. He is here - present, purposeful, working, redeeming.
I shared that with my friend, and now I share it with all who are hurting. Open your eyes and your heart, for God is near you. Hear Him speaking over your breaking heart. I am with you. I am in you. I am in all.
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