Relief for A Troubled Heart – guest post by Janice Garrison

j-l-278x300I’m very excited today.

This blog is about rediscovering the Church – rediscovering what wonderous variety there is in God’s family.

Today we have a guest post by a member of that family, Janice Garrison of Gathering Rubies fame.

It is a great priviledge and honor to be able to give this blog over to Janice for the day and let you discover another member of our wonderful family:

My name is Janice Garrison. I am honored to be guest blogging for Peter. We have never met beyond the waves of the Internet, yet we are family members through Jesus Christ.

I have only been blogging since March of this year. It’s been good for me in many ways and I’ve made many new friends.

Relief for a Troubled Heart

I have had some incredible “mountain top” experiences and hoped they wouldn’t end. They do. Dry spells come and I can’t wait for them to end.

I can remember many sleepless nights, tossing, turning, and not knowing for sure what was bothering me. I have expressed my complaints to God and questioned him, inviting an answer and pleaded for one. Finally exhausted, I cried out in prayer. I looked, I listened, and I waited. I would think back to times when I was covered in God’s compassion and wondered if I would ever see it again.

I don’t think I’m alone. Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us there is nothing new under the sun, still when hard times come; we tend to think situations have never been so bad. They have! And they will be again, generation after generation until Christ comes again. We tend to wonder if God will reject us forever, if he is through loving us and if he has forgotten to be merciful.

We may look within; search ourselves (as we should). Is their unrepented sin in our life? Is there only one set of footprints in the sand? We get our priorities mixed up; we get greedy or caught up in the world. We start thinking we have to be involved in everything that comes along until at last… God is pushed aside. We feel abandoned. Ironic isn’t it? We push God out of our lives and we are the ones who feel abandoned.

What is the answer? Spiritual reflection, remembrance and repentance. Collect your faith and read again the deeds of the Lord, his accomplishments and promises. Remember his miracles of ancient times. It’s time to quit trusting ourselves and trust God. He has said he will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5

If we rely on ourselves we feel helpless and hopeless. Our situations may not change but we do, if we quit doubting and place our confidence in God.

Ps 77:1-13 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.

I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?

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Thank you, Janice for sharing with us today. If you’d like to get to know Janice better or read more of the wonderful insights that spring from her heart, visit her at GatheringRubies.com

If you would like to be a guest blogger here, please visit this post and drop me a line! We’d love to have you write a guest post.