Quiet Time and hard days

Source: google.com via Katie on Pinterest

The past few weeks have been tough ones and my heart is heavy. 

Three weeks ago a couple very close to us suffered a miscarriage. 






 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:23-26




  Last week a friend of mine lost her 8 month old baby boy. I'm devastated for her and her husband and their three year old daughter. 





Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze




The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18



I've been holding my sweet boys tighter this week. 

Every time Isaac gets up to nurse at night I spend the time praying and more often than not crying for my friend and her family. Although they have hard days ahead, I know that the Lord holds them in His hand and that is such a comforting thought!




When something bad happens, the sovereignty of God is a very hard truth to accept, because if he is in control of everything, we wonder why he has allowed this universe to be ordered in a way that causes us pain. But when we begin to think that "the God I know would never allow this," we have taken our first step toward discovering that God is not who we think he is. That is when we can begin to explore the wonder of his sovereignty. Though God's sovereignty can be hard to accept, it is also a soft place to land. It is a rock underfoot when the winds blow in our lives. It confronts what seems absurd in our existence. God's sovereignty is our greatest hope as we face an uncertain and unknown future.

Some days we praise God not with exuberance, but through tears. Some days we praise him not with complete clarity, but with many questions. Some days we praise him not with gratitude for what he's given to us, but with gratitude in spite of what we've lost. Our difficult circumstances do not call his character into question. We know that he is wise and powerful and good, and we praise him for it—continually. In fact, in the darkness of our lives he shines brighter.
-Nancy Guthrie