Change that Changes Us

When you feel knocked down, remember God is the lifter of the lowly.

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In the middle of a pandemic and a span of 6 months, our family experienced loss in a way we never have before: Church problems came up, and we made the tough decision to leave the church family we had grown to love. Unexpected relationship issues arose outside the family that hurt us deeply and caused a divide. We had a business deal go wrong that forced us to get an attorney involved to help us.  My husband also lost his job.  From that experience, I learned that God gives and takes away what seems good to Him as He carries out His purpose in our life. The loss we endured throughout those six months paved the way for us to experience personal, spiritual growth and maturity we would not have otherwise obtained had we not gone through the trials of losing what we did. As time unraveled and our hearts began to heal from the pain, we began to see all the situations as opportunities for a clean slate, a new beginning, and hard lessons learned. We began to look forward to the good God had in store for us next and the good He would bring out of the hardship.

Ezekiel 17:24 ESV says, “And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord, I have spoken, and I will do it.”

Sometimes God has to change things in our lives so that He can change us, even if it means working against our expectations. When you experience regression in an area of your life that used to thrive or distress where there once was vibrant life, remember God can take a dry tree and make it flourish. When you feel knocked down, remember God is the lifter of the lowly. You are valuable to Him. He wants an ideal future for you, so He will do whatever He has to do to get you there.  He wants to advance you and make you flourish because you are His Church. Remember He is in the business of recovering, rebuilding, refurbishing, rehabilitating, and reviving your soul when you lose your liveliness.

My prayer for you when you find yourself in the middle of a season full of unexpected grief and loss is this: May God put inside you the belief and expectation that there is something good waiting for you a little further down the road. May He help you realize these trials you feel will last forever, will eventually come to an end. May He give you His perspective of what happened to understand better how to perceive, react and respond to the situation. May He fill you to the brim with His joy and perfect peace as you put your trust in Him and wait for Him to move. May the power of His Spirit continually surround your life in abundance so you can receive the strength to heal and move forward.

Romans 15:13 NIV “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you recently experienced any hardship or loss? Have you considered that God sometimes has to let certain areas of our life dry up so He can bring new vitality and growth to our lives?

Prayer: Jesus, I invite you today into any grief that is lingering in my heart. I confess to you that sometimes when I experience loss, I feel abandoned and unloved by You.  Please help me realize there are certain things in my life You may need to take away for a little while so you can change me and carry out Your purpose in my life. Amen.

 

Featured Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Brandie Muncaster is a wife and mother who possesses a passion for God’s Word, praying for people, and seeing God transform people’s lives through inner healing. As someone who has known the powerful transforming work of God in her own life, it is her passion to see others experience the same! Brandie and her husband have been married for over a decade, and they have three young children. Their most favorite past times are playing sports, and spending time outdoors either at the beach or in the mountains. The Muncaster family happily resides in the Charlotte, NC area.