Originally published Tuesday, 20 March 2012.
We celebrated twelve years of God’s grace in our marriage yesterday. Yet my tears led me to sleep last night…
I often hesitate to write my story on a 3-minute blog post, in a very public place, because perhaps it makes this story feel a little to commercialized. But today, I release my fears and allow God to move through this post today … in hope of encouraging just one other person.
I am thirty-one years old; if you do the math it’s not hard to figure out I was only a mere nineteen when we married.
On a very chilly January morning I stood alone in a bathroom holding a pregnancy test that read “Positive.” My life was never the same after that moment.
Unwed, alone and far from God is the place that defined me.
Six weeks later I stood face-to-face at the altar with a man I barely knew. We said our “I do”s and began this thing called “life” together. We’ve had every odd against us since day one and I’m not sure there’s been an “easy” season yet.
As two very flawed human beings try to merge together, it’s been a painful process.
We’ve tried to give up on each other but something won’t let us … something that could only be: Jesus.
If it’s true that every miracle begins with a difficult situation, then the greatest miracle of our lives are these past twelve years. There is still so much I don’t understand about God but I rest my soul in this place of His unknown working wonder.
The tears that fell on my pillow last night came from this thought:
Could it be the one thing I never wanted to define my Jesus story does? This is a … miracle.
Maybe while you are reading this these words sift through your soul. Your heart races and shouts “No!” as you consider the greatest place of pain you’ve walked through. It may seem hopeless but I promise you … there’s a Jesus story in it.
Everything about Jesus was a miracle, and so as we allow Him to work through these difficult life situations, our stories become His. Jesus stories, miracles.
What is the miracle He longs to do in your life?
While the journey to this place I am today has been filled with layers of hard-knock lessons, today I want to share 4 ways to prepare for this movement of a miracle in your life.
1. Let your heart hurt.
Be honest. Expose your hurt. Denial has never turned out well for anyone.
2. Forgive often.
Others … and yourself. Chances are you’ve been deeply wounded by the errors of others in the place where this miracle is about to happen.
3. Believe the best of every circumstance.
It’s not crazy or wild thinking to believe that God has good things for our life. Even the bad can be used for His good if we will believe.
4. Release the desire for a different story.
What you’ve allowed [or will allow] God to do through your pain is the best story you will ever tell. Don’t minimize the power of God working through your circumstances, no matter how small they may seem to you.
This is the day that God begins to turn your problem into a miracle. Hang onto God, watch with awe and wonder … He will do it.
Undeniably this will be God’s story, but you my friend get to tell it. Leave a comment today and share your journey with this community … I and many others would love to hear it.
“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” -1 Peter 5:10-11
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