"He Gets Us" - The Super Bowl Commercial Controversy

Well hello there. Long time no see.

I haven’t posted in awhile — or written at all, really. It’s like the Light Collective has been laying dormant for over a year, patiently waiting for something to spark and catch fire in the core of my being.

Who would have guessed that it would be over a Super Bowl commercial?

Or rather, the reaction to the Super Bowl commercial. You know the one — well, two actually. Two commercials put out by the same organization: “He Gets Us”. They are an organization with the goal of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and making His Gospel more accessible. Sounds like we have a lot in common.

I’ve visited their website before, and I did so again after seeing numerous videos across all social media platforms from Christians condemning the commercials, saying that “it made their discernment bells go off” and that they “just didn’t sit right” with them. I watched the commercials over and over, scouring their website in search of something that would make me feel the same way. Was there something wrong with me? Was my discernment broken? What was I missing?

“Jesus didn’t teach hate, He washed feet” were the words that flashed on the screen after showing images of people washing each other’s feet — an estranged father and son, a police officer and a black man, protestors from opposing sides, a pastor and a gay man, and so on. Many Christians are calling it a depiction of “lukewarm Christianity”, and some are going as far as saying that it is false teaching. They say that it is twisting the Gospel, because Jesus didn’t wash everyone’s feet, He only washed His disciples’.

To which I say: yes, that is how the story goes. Jesus did wash His disciples’ feet, and He did so as and act of love and a demonstration of humbleness. He did so as an example for them to follow, showing them that if their Master can do something as lowly as washing feet, they surely they can love one another in the same way.

Which brings about a question: are Christians only supposed to demonstrate God’s love to other Christians?

No. Duh. But you knew that.

Feet washing is symbolic of our role as members of the Body of Christ — we are to humble ourselves before the Lord and share His love with everyone. Matthew 22:37-39 say it best:

“Jesus said, ‘you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally as important: love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Love. That is the greatest commandment — not righteousness, not conviction, love.

I believe that the feet washing that was depicted was meant to be a metaphor for God’s love using Biblical imagery in a way that a secular audience would be able to understand. It is so common that non-believers refuse to attend church due to the stigma of judgment and pompousness that surround it. This commercial depicted Christians as we are meant to be: humble and loving. No matter the person, no matter their beliefs, we are called to meet them where they are and love them.

I can’t imagine how confusing it must be for someone who has never heard the Gospel to see that commercial and then log on to TikTok or Instagram and see Christians arguing about it, saying that it isn’t true or accurate. My heart breaks at the thought of someone who has zero Biblical knowledge trying to look into what they saw, and instead of seeing the love and lack of shame that they saw on the TV, seeing judgment and disagreement.

You will never empower someone to change by judging them. I as a Christian cannot hold non-Christians to my standards. I cannot shove my Bible in their face and say “you can’t do that, it’s a sin!” because my words would mean nothing to them. Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, which they do not yet have. I can scream and cry and try to shove the truth down their throats all I want, but truth spoken without love will never hit its mark.

Heart change does not happen before you meet Jesus, only after. Jesus meets you in your sin, and He doesn’t leave you there — He pulls out into his unconditional love, and that is what sparks the change. He tells the truth, but He does so with love always.

Christian “marketing” is the only marketing that has an intended audience outside of its niche. We are trying to reach those who are not Christians, those who have not yet heard the Good News. That commercial wasn’t meant to be a sermon for you and me — it was meant to send a message to those who do not know God. It was meant to tell unbelievers the truth of who Jesus is: the author of life, the creator of you and me, and the epitome of unconditional love. I mean we love because He first loved us, right?

Hate does not change hearts. Judgment does not create disciples. It is not our job to encourage or condone sin, but those conversations cannot be had without the receiver having a love for God and the speaker having a love for His people. A lack of judgment does not equal signing off on sin, but rather creates an environment in which sin can be safely addressed.

You can’t scare, shame, or argue someone into Heaven — you can only love them there. Our job as Christians is to show the love of Christ, to shine His light, and to share the truth of His Gospel. It is not “watered down Christianity” to demonstrate washing the feet of those who you don’t agree with. It is not “lukewarm Gospel” to share an anti-hate message, even with today’s socio-political standards and definitions of the word “hate.” Christianity is not meant to be an exclusive club whose VIP section is only open to you if you wear the perfect baggy t-shirt/ripped jeans combo — it is meant to be a group of people defined by love with the common goal of making heaven crowded.

If we can’t agree on the things I wrote that’s fine, but let’s agree on this: that we as Christians will work harder to further the Gospel by upholding the greatest commandment — love. That we will work to ensure that our church doors remain open and welcoming to those who do not have Jesus in their hearts. That we will meet people where they are and love them hard, knowing that only love can create change. Let go of your judgment, your self-righteousness, and your pride, and be brave enough to love those who are not like you. To be patient with them. To show them true, genuine, deep, unconditional love.

Let’s not be better — let’s be like Jesus. Can we at least agree on that?

The Hammer & the Dollar Bill

I don’t know about you guys, but I am absolutely terrible at resting.

Maybe it’s the way that we were raised. Maybe it’s social media. Maybe it stems from our generation’s need to be admired. Whatever it is, I think we can all agree on one thing - it’s not healthy.

I knew this year was going to be busy. I was working three jobs, running social media and designing apparel for the cheer squad I’m a part of, and juggling studying and homework for all of my classes. On top of all of that, I was dealing with some emotional baggage that had recently come into my life. 

Needless to say, I became overwhelmed very quickly. One night, I decided to write down everything that needed to be done in the upcoming month - and I began to bawl.

We’re not talking cute, Disney princess tears. I’m talking laying on my floor, being unable to catch my breath, absolutely panic-sobbing. Ya know, the kind that wakes up your neighbors. I hadn’t had a single night off in weeks, and I wasn’t about to get one any time soon. I was absolutely exhausted.

Through my puffy eyes I began to journal and pray about what to do. I clearly couldn’t continue on like this, I was a mess. I asked God what to do - should I quit one of my jobs? Stop cheering? Just drop out of school altogether?

The whole time I was writing, one annoying thought kept echoing in my head:

What if I miss out on something?

I’ve always had this fear that I’m going to make a mistake and mess up my entire life. I was taking every opportunity that was thrown my way in fear of “missing the mark.” What if I didn’t take a job, but that job ended up being the one I needed? What if I throw myself off track and completely ruin my life because I threw away an opportunity? Everyone talks about how God opens doors - but what if He opens one and I don’t walk through it?

The next day, I spoke to my therapist about this. She asked me one question:

“Bailey, you are a human what?”

“...being?” I replied, confused.

“Exactly. You are a human being, not a human doing.”

That clicked for me. As simple as it was, that was all I needed to hear. I was spending way too much time focused on completing tasks, and wasn’t taking any time to just be - and it wasn’t fair to my body. 

Rest is something that has been necessary from the beginning of time. It’s written in Genesis that on the seventh day of creation, God rested. 

Did you get that? GOD rested.

He didn’t rest because He was tired, but to demonstrate for us what He knew we were going to need. Rest reminds us how small we are compared to God, and that He cares about us so much that He never takes his eyes off of us. We can lay down and sleep at night knowing that we are taken care of, because our God never grows tired.

Humans need to rest - it’s literally part of our design.

Somewhere along the line though, we got that messed up. Somewhere along the line we started associating our worth with what we accomplish - the more tasks the complete, the more admiration we get, and that proves that we’re worthy.

Have you ever heard the hammer/dollar metaphor?

Let’s say you have a hammer, and it’s a really great hammer. It helps you with projects around the house, and you totally love it.

One day however, you notice that it’s starting to get a little rusty, so you decide to throw that hammer out and buy a new one. You like this one too, but when you’re working on a project, the handle breaks. So, you throw it out and get another new one.

Let’s also say that you have a dollar bill. You put it in your pocket, forget about it, and it goes through the wash. When you find it again, it’s all wrinkled and soggy. You shrug and put it in your wallet anyway.

The hammer lost value over time. If it got damaged or became outdated, you could replace it.

The dollar bill however, did not. No matter how many times you crumple that thing or put it through the wash, its value can’t depreciate.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

When God looks at you, He doesn’t see a hammer. Your value to God does not depend on your functionality, your condition, or your accomplishments. 

God looks at you like the dollar bill. There is absolutely nothing you can do that could make you lose worth in His sight. Because of the cross, He doesn’t see how dirty or crumpled up you are - He sees his perfect & precious son. He doesn’t say “come to me, all who are perfect and have accomplished much.” He says “come to me, all who are worn out and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Rest is a necessity, not an option. It’s okay to take a break from life in order to recharge. Your worth is not dependent on what you check off on your to-do list, and you’re not going to mess up God’s plan for you. He’s too big and powerful to allow that. 

Slow down and take care of yourself, you can’t miss what God has predestined to be yours.

_________________________

Songs to listen to while you take a break:

Gravity - Jenn Johnson & Brian Johnson

In Over My Head - Bethel Music

_________________________

Stand Up and Fight

My anxiety has been kicking my butt lately.

The thing is, nothing is really going on. Other than the normal amount of stress than accompanies school, I have absolutely nothing to be anxious about - yet I constantly have this overwhelming feeling of anxiety and dread that something bad is going to happen. It has become such a familiar feeling that I’ve grown completely numb to its presence in my life. I don’t even try to remove it anymore; it’s like a dark passenger that’s just along for the ride. Every step I take, it’s right there with me.

This has begun to impact my spiritual life. I keep calling out to God to remove this thorn in my side, but He doesn’t - and I get frustrated. I’m so unfocused that even doing the smallest of tasks like reading my Bible or journaling feel pointless. I find my mind drifting off to a dark place. A sinful place.

This has been going on for weeks. I was in desperate need of an attitude adjustment. I couldn’t hear God’s voice, and I was beginning to think that He wasn’t even listening to my prayers.

And then He came down and delivered the most powerful spiritual uppercut that I have ever received.

I was trying to do some Bible reading, and I could feel my mind beginning to drift and think about other things. I was determined to focus though - I was so tired of this anxiety - so I audibly yelled “NO” and pushed those thoughts out.

And all of a sudden it clicked.

I have the strength in me to say no.

A light in my brain turned on and illuminated all of the darkness that I had been sitting in for weeks. All of the crap that I had been holding onto, all of the sinful thoughts, all of the guilt and shame and anxiety that I was feeling was bathed in light, and it was in that moment that I realized that all of that bad stuff had absolutely no power over me.

And then God spoke.

“Stand up and fight,” He said.

Stand up and fight.

I had spent weeks playing victim to my anxious thoughts. I had let them completely consume the precious space in my head. I thought that there was nothing I could do about it, and that this darkness that I was feeling was something that I was stuck with. The enemy had convinced me that I had no power over my own thoughts - how ridiculous is that?

We are a sinful people. It’s in our nature to sin. It’s literally bred into us. The cool thing is however, that while it is our tendency to lean towards sin, through Christ we have the ability to say no. We have the power to crush every negative thought that passes through our minds. The same spirit that brought Jesus back from the grave is alive in us. The same spirit that triumphed over sin is alive in us.

We are no longer victims to our anxiety.

We are no longer victims to our sin.

Jesus dying on the cross ensured that we never have to be victims again.

After all of this, God lead me to 1 Timothy 6:11-12. It says this:

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life that you have been called to.”

It goes on to say this in verse 20:

“Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from the godless chatter and false knowledge of the world that has been professed, and in doing so has wandered from faith.”

God created your mind to be a dwelling place for Him. Your brain is a sacred place in which God communicates with you and reveals to you his purpose, as well as His love and grace. Your mind is not a place for anxiety. It is not a place for sin. By feeding into those feelings and thoughts, you’re desecrating the precious gift that God has given to you. The enemy is going to lie to you and tell you that you’re not strong enough to change your mind. You don’t deserve to be happy. This is just how things are. He will tell you anything he can to ensure that your mind stays dark -

Don’t believe him.

It’s a daily battle. You have to want to overcome it - and I have faith that you can. Dive into your Bible, even when you don’t feel like it. Arm yourself with the goodness of the word of God. Your strongest weapon against the enemy is the truth of the Gospel.

You don’t have to be a victim anymore.

You deserve a clear mind.

You have the power to say no.

Stand up and fight.

_________________________

Songs that are sure to pump you up for battle:

You Make Me Brave - Amanda Cook, Bethel Music

Singing in the Victory - Austin Stone Worship

Gravity - Jenn Johnson, Brian Johnson

I Love You - Sarah Reeves

Call Upon the Lord - Elevation Worship

_________________________

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xo

@thelightclctive

Attitude Adjustment

I catch myself complaining a lot...like a lot a lot. A ridiculous amount. It's like some kind of sick talent - I can turn any situation into something negative to be complained about. Just this morning, I woke up and noticed that I had developed a large red zit on my cheek over night. Even though the rest of my skin still looked good, I just couldn't look past that one zit. It drove me crazy, and I talked about it for ten minutes. Yeah, you heard me right - ten. Ten whole minutes of my life wasted on a small bump on my cheek. How ridiculous is that?

We all do it though. Everyone has something to complain about, which got me thinking - why do we complain?

I was thinking about this question all night, and when I woke up this morning it hit me: we complain because we think we deserve better - better skin, a better job with higher income, better friends, a better body, just better. 

This got me thinking about a second question: why do we think we deserve better?

Today, I want to talk to you about a silent killer - pride. 

Pride defined is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements. I say "silent killer" because most of the time we don't notice it. Pride is sneaky, making it a sin that's easy to commit. It's easy to correct a behavior when you notice yourself physically doing it, like disrespecting your parents or lying. It's much harder when that behavior is internal - and when literally everyone around you is doing the same thing.

Our world teaches us that if we want something, we should be able to get it. It teaches us that life should be fair, so it hands out participation trophies and stickers that say "A for effort!" This embeds in us the idea that no matter what we do, we deserve a reward, which in turn boosts our pride. 

Don't get me wrong, it's good in small doses. It's good to be proud of yourself for getting an A on a test that you studied really hard for, or when you achieve a personal goal. It becomes dangerous when you begin to feel entitled. It becomes dangerous when you start to feel like you deserve something that someone else has. It becomes dangerous when you begin to see yourself as better than someone else. It's dangerous when your attitude becomes "I am great, look and see what I have done."

I think we all need an attitude adjustment.

It starts with shifting our thinking. Instead of "I deserve that," think "God has given me what I have for a reason."

"They're not as good as me" to "they are my brother/sister in Christ."

"I am great, look and see what I have done" to "God is great, look and see what great things He has done."

You see, pride is self-glorification. When you allow yourself to be overcome with pride, you're taking the spotlight that should be on God and putting it on yourself. You're saying that you deserve more glory than - wait for it - the Creator of the universe.

When Jesus came to earth, he came in a manger. His mother and father didn't have much. He worked as a carpenter. He was fully God, yet He came has a humble servant. Philippians 2:5-8 says:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, and took the very nature of a servant, made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross!"

Jesus set the perfect example of what humility looks like and called us to follow. The passage in Philippians goes on to say that because of His obedience and willingness to put the entire world before Himself, God exalted Him and gave Him the highest of honors. God rewarded Jesus's humility -

He'll do the same for you. 

In a world that teaches us to be prideful, let us instead be humble.

It's way more fulfilling.

_________________________

Here's some songs about how awesome Jesus is (there's no one like Him!):

Lamb of God - Vertical Worship

Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace) - Hillsong Worship

Reckless Love - Cory Asbury

The Law of Demand

Last semester, I suffered through a macroeconomics class. I was absolutely terrible at it, and because I didn't understand majority of the content I didn't take a whole lot away from the class overall. One of the only things I remember is the law of demand, specifically that our demand for "more stuff" is never ending. No matter what, people are always going to want more. 

I think this unending want is innate, but is encouraged from a young age. We're taught that it's good to want more, and that the want for more is a sign of a good work ethic. As we grow up, we begin to equate "happiness" to "more stuff." It's not on purpose, it's just how we are (and how we're socialized). We think that if we can just get that one thing that we want, we will be happy and our desire for more will be met - but that isn't how the law of demand works.

The reason that the law of demand reigns supreme is because all of the things we're craving are temporary, as in the pleasure they provide for us is fleeting. In the end, we always end up craving more - more money, more sex, more authority at work, more attention - just more.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with Jesus.

Well, allow me to introduce you to the love bucket metaphor.

We are human buckets. In order to achieve happiness, we fill our buckets with things that we love. This can be things like the affection of a boyfriend, drinking, shopping - basically anything that brings us comfort. The problem however, is that we are all born with a God-sized hole in our bucket. Each time we fill it with things of this earth, they slowly trickle out the hole in our buckets, leaving us empty again and again. Until we learn to patch that hole, our buckets can never be filled and we will never feel satisfied. 

It makes sense that we would patch a God-sized hole with God, but that's easier said than done. There are so many tangible and pleasurable things that we have access to, which makes it difficult to focus on God. We are so focused on getting "the next best thing" that we sometimes forget that God even exists.

I am incredibly guilty of this. I am a serial bucket-filler, and I fill it the most with boys. It's nice to feel loved, but I rely so much on the other person to make me feel complete that I always end up feeling disappointed and uncared for. This has made my romantic life very frustrating. It doesn't make sense to ask a boy to fill a God-sized hole, yet I expect them to do it over and over. 

Maybe you're the same way. Maybe your problem isn't boys, maybe it's spending money on things you don't really need. Maybe it's food. Maybe it's drugs or drinking. Maybe it's sleep. Whatever it is that you're relying on to make you happy is what you're using to fill your bucket - and if it's not God, you're always going to end up with that same empty feeling.

The cool thing about God is that He's overflowing with love, and He's not going to withhold the love that you're craving. In fact, He's waiting for you to accept it! Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, love in hand, ready to pour into you and fill your bucket at any time you wish - all you gotta do is let Him in!

It goes both ways though - you can't expect Jesus to come and pour into you if you're not pouring into Him. He wants a relationship with you, and relationships - as you know - require lots and lots of effort from both sides. Jesus is more than willing to do His part and fill you up, but you have to be willing to spend time with Him. Talk to Him. Pray fervently. Open your Bible and read His word. Having a relationship with Jesus is the most rewarding and fulfilling thing you can do for yourself. Ephesians 3:18-19 says:

"may you have the strength to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ for you that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God."

God is ready to patch up your bucket.

Are you going to let Him?

(hint: you should.)

It will fill you up more than you thought possible, and will satisfy your every desire.

_________________________

Songs to praise Him to (because He's so good):

Satisfied - Jordan Feliz

O Come to the Altar - Elevation Worship

Spirit of the Living God - Vertical Worship

Standing Up

I've never been very good at standing up for myself. When I was little, I got bullied a lot. Kids can be mean, and I was a weird kid which made me an easy target. I would come home and tell my parents what the other kids said to me, and they would always help me come up with witty comebacks so I could defend myself. Every time I would write it down and bring it to school with me so I could tell it to my antagonizers, but when their taunting would start I would always lose my nerve and back down. I would always end up going home and feeling just as lousy as I did they day before. 

I remembered that feeling the other day when I was reading Esther. Esther is awesome, but as I was reading I realized that one of the most important characters in the story is actually Queen Vashti. She's only in the first chapter, but without her there's no way the Jews could have been rescued.

Esther 1:10-21 says:

"On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded his servants to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the servants. At this the king became enraged. 

Then the king said to his wise men 'according to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of the King Xerxes delivered by the servants?'

Then Memucan, a noble of the king, said 'the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt. If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws that Vashti is never again to come before King Xerxes. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she'. This advise pleased the king, and he sent letters to all the royal provinces."

We don't know much about Queen Vashti, but what we do know is that she had to have a really good reason that she didn't want to perform that day, since she probably knew that she would be punished - and my guess is that God left her reasoning unknown on purpose. Perhaps it was that she felt objectified being shown off for her looks rather than her intellect and grace. Maybe she was having marital issues. Maybe she was just too tired to do it that day. Whatever it was, something inside her snapped and made her bold enough to stand up to the king.

Maybe this situation sounds a little familiar to you. Maybe you've been dealing with things in your life that have left you feeling frustrated, hurt, or angry. Maybe you feel like you're being taken for granted. Maybe you're tired of people taking advantage of your kindness.

Maybe it's time for you to stand up for yourself too. 

You see, if Vashti hadn't stood up for herself things would have been way different. If she had just done as she was told, she wouldn't have had to step down from being queen, Esther would have never risen to power, and the all of the Jews in the land would have been killed. She was the catalyst in God's great plan.

Esther is one of the only books in the Bible that never mentions God's name. Instead, His presence is made known through the intricacy of the events that unfold. If you look closely, you can see that He was in control the entire time. God strategically placed things in Vashti's life that lead up to this moment. He allowed things to happen that caused her discomfort and pushed her to her limits so He could use her to fulfill His purpose. Vashti's disobedience to the king was part of God's plan. She didn't do anything big (I mean the book isn't called Vashti, it's called Esther), all she did was stand up for herself - and it sent a whirlwind of events into motion.

God doesn't want you to be a doormat. You're His precious creation! You are worth so much, and you deserve to be treated with respect by the people around you. He is allowing you to feel that discomfort that you feel in certain situations so that you learn to stand up for yourself. It doesn't have to be anything huge; something as little as saying no to hanging out with someone because you're too tired can have a positive impact on you. When you learn to stand up for what's good for you, God blesses you. He has opened up so many doors for me just because I learned how to stand up for myself. I've learned how to tell people no. I'm finally figuring out my worth. 

And let me tell you, it feels so good.

So my question to you is:

Are you standing up for yourself?

Maybe God's using trying to teach you a lesson.

Don't be scared, give it a try - you'll be surprised at the blessings you'll receive.

_________________________

Songs to help with your bravery as you learn to stand up for yourself:

You Make Me Brave - Amanda Cook & Bethel Music

HARD LOVE - NEEDTOBREATHE & Lauren Daigle

In Times of Trial

For the past few weeks, God has really been putting it on my heart to read Job. I've heard the story a million times, but He has opened my eyes to a couple new revelations that I want to share with you. For those of you unfamiliar with Job's story, let me fill you in:

Job was completely blameless and lived a life that was pleasing to the Lord. Because of this, God blessed him abundantly - he had a wonderful family, tons of livestock (which was a sign of extreme wealth), and good health. One day, Satan came to present himself before the Lord. The two talk and God agrees to let Satan test Job two times to prove that he truly is a man who fears the Lord. In the first test, God allows Satan to take away his sons, daughters, and his livestock. In the second test, God allows Satan to inflict great wounds upon Job. Job becomes miserable and curses the day he was born.

Pretty heavy stuff, huh?

In the end, God blesses Job with twice the amount of what he had before. More livestock, happy family, better health...but despite the blessings, it's hard to look back on all of the terrible things that happened and see God's goodness.

I'm sure you've heard over and over "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good." But when tragedy strikes, how can we be sure? Job suffered so greatly, and for what? To prove a point to Satan? If God is so good, why does He allow bad things to happen? How good is God really? 

In this life, terrible things are going to happen. This world is beyond imperfect, and unfortunately that's never going to change. There is however, something to keep in mind -

As much as you may hate to hear it, that cliché saying is 100% correct - God really is good. In fact, God is so good that he repurposes your pain and positions you to receive blessings in the future. He works through all of the hurt that you're feeling and builds up your faith. You may come out the other side scarred, but those scars will serve as a reminder of where you came from and what you can overcome with God on your side (and He is on your side, I promise!).

I see so often that when people experience a tragic event, they distance themselves from God. I'm guilty of this - when my mom had cancer, I refused to pray for months because I was so angry with Him, and I was scared that He was going to tell me that I was going to lose her. I no longer enjoyed going to church, and I stopped reading my Bible. I felt abandoned and depressed. It wasn't until I went to a summer church camp that I realized that the only person I was hurting in distancing myself from God was myself. God had not abandoned me, I had simply moved away from Him. I reopened my heart to Him and He filled me with such incredible peace. He completely restored the joy that had seemingly disappeared from my life.

When you allow God to use your pain to grow you faith in Him, it's kind of like leveling up in a video game. Sure, there's gonna be new twists and turns and monsters to fight, but you've got new weapons and armor. New doors will open for you. 

It may still be difficult to understand why Job had to suffer so much. I'm sure many of us can relate to him in that way - I have received so many prayer requests and we're only one month into 2018. But take comfort in the fact that while it may be dark now, blessings are coming. Psalms 30:5 is a great reminder of this:

"Weeping may take you over at night, but joy comes in the morning."

 Job serves as a reminder to Christians to persevere through trials. Suffering is unavoidable, but the good news is that we serve a God who takes our pain and turns it into something beautiful. He is a good father, and He is the ultimate comforter.

He hasn't left your side.

Rejoice in His goodness.

You're going to be okay, because you're not alone -

He's right there with you. 

_________________________

If any of you are struggling with anything and would like some prayer, please shoot me an email, DM, or comment on this post!

_________________________

Songs to comfort you in your trials:

Hills & Valleys - Tauren Wells

Oh My Soul - Casting Crowns

I Won't Let You Go - Switchfoot

Even If - MercyMe