DON’T YOU BELIEVE IT’S GOING TO BE GOOD?

This was the question I felt like the Lord was asking me a couple of months ago.

I was on the phone with one of my best friends and you could say we were both feeling like the season we found ourselves in was a season we did not want to be in. Two completely different circumstances, but nonetheless, we were exhausted and confused. Do you relate? Because that’s a lonely spot to be in. I’ll never forget we would call each other every day (or send a super long voice memo, arguably my favorite feature ever) and just take turns letting our latest thoughts and feelings out. No filter, just letting it out and getting it out of our brains. Have you ever found yourself in a similar place? Are you currently in that place right now? Wondering if there is a light at the end of your tunnel, wondering if you’re going to be stuck here for a while, asking things like “Why God? Why this?”

If you currently find yourself here, if you’re coming out of a difficult circumstance, or if you’re worried you’re approaching one soon, I’m glad you’re here friend. It is no coincidence you’re reading this now, it is actually the complete opposite of coincidence. I am praying this can offer you hope, the hope that I have found in Jesus alone. There is no person that could EVER offer you the kind of comfort, love, and kindness that Jesus can, and that’s exactly how it is supposed to be. You were not made to find your validation or answers in anything this world has to offer. But the good news is, we’ve all tried too. And yet He still pursues us right where we’re at. Leave shame or pride or whatever it is for you at the door, and be open to what the Lord is wanting to say to you today.

I mentioned earlier that I was on the phone with my friend, and that phone call I can see now looking back, was a glimpse for what was to come. And let me just tell you, what is to come is so GOOD y’all. If you want to find God in everything, you will find him in everything. He is truly in it all, every little intricate detail of your life. As I was listening to her about the circumstance she found herself in that day, and also thinking about the current one I found myself in, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit offer me this thought that challenges me to this day.

“Maddee…. Don’t you believe that it’s going to be good? Don’t you believe that the plan I have for you, is unlike anything you could imagine for your life? Trust me enough to let it go and surrender it FULLY to Me.”

And I believe He is asking you the exact same thing. Don’t you remember the things He has delivered you from? Don’t you trust that if He’s done it before, surely He will do it AGAIN? I want you to know I understand that these are hard questions to ask yourself when you’re in the middle of it. It’s going to require strength, and a whole lot of it if you find yourself in a season of trial right now. Sometimes strength looks like putting one foot in front of the other and saying, “Lord, I need you to pick me up and carry me through this, because I have nothing else to give.” And believe me, He will. When we give up trying to do it in our own strength and in our own power and begin to surrender it FULLY to Jesus, is when true healing takes place. Don’t you want to live in that freedom? Good news, you can.

But my challenge for the one doubting there is still good ahead is this… If Jesus had to endure the most excruciating pain and death on a cross and there was STILL purpose in all of it, don’t you think there is purpose here for you too?

The idea of purpose being in the middle of pain actually frustrated me when I was in the thick of it. The LAST thing I wanted to believe was that there was a reason the Lord had me here, and the thought of that actually hurt me. I asked things like, “Why would you pick me for this? Out of all the girls in my season of life right now, why would you pick me to have to endure this?” And I wrestled and wrestled with God. I asked so many questions, and I actually encourage you to do the same. Because He WANTS to hear them. He wants you to bring the questions, confusion, frustrations, sadness, and mourning to Him. It was in my doubt and denial that I was actually getting closer and closer to the Vine. I was pressing in without even knowing it. And I understand now why they say we get to know Jesus more intimately in the valley, than we do on the mountaintop. There’s a different type of intimacy and closeness that you experience with Jesus in the middle of a situation you never wanted to be in. You long to hear Jesus. To hear just one word from Him. Imagine if we sat in that posture every single day friend.

My last thought for you is to ask yourself this, “What am I exalting more than Christ?” I will be the first to admit I have placed a person (multiple times in my life) in the place only the Lord should occupy. But our souls long for the One it was created for. In Psalms 84:2 “I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.”

Nothing and no one could ever satisfy you the way Jesus can. So dare to believe what He has for you is going to be good, friend. My prayer for you is that you will feel His closeness like never before in the middle of whatever it is that you find yourself in, believing that His plan for you is going to be one that overwhelms you by the magnitude of His goodness.