Life has been crazy lately. There have been SO many days when all I have wanted to do was sit and write. So many things I’ve wanted and needed to say and get off my heart. I have never been big on writing. In fact, when I was younger I hated it. Only in the past few months have I really gotten into it.
There is so much going on in my life right now. I’m starting a new chapter in my life. Now that I’m out of high school, it’s time to start grown up life! It’s a bit intimidating, but exciting to be in charge of my own life now. With this new chapter starting, I have had to leave a few people from the last chapter behind. Or rather, they chose to leave. It hasn’t been easy to say goodbye and let go. AT ALL. But I know that God has a plan for all of us. While it is extremely sad, I know that God has me in the palm of His hand. He will never let me down.
I’ve been reluctant on what I want to share with the world, or how much I should share. There’s actually several posts sitting in my drafts unfinished because I didn’t know if I wanted to share what I had started to write.
But today, I want to share a verse. A verse that is extremely hard for me to comprehend, let alone put into action!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you man be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” ~ James 1:2-4
I don’t want to say that I hate this verse….but it’s one of those passages that sometimes make me say “Really, God? As if I don’t have enough to get through in my life, you want me to be happy that I feel like roadkill?!”. It has never been easy for me to see the good in a bad situation, or the blessings that I’ve received through a rough season of life. But slowly… It’s something that God is starting to grow in me. I fully believe that I would not be growing in this area of my faith if it were not for the women of my youth group. God has given me WONDERFUL small group leaders that teach, challenge, and encourage me daily through their prayers and texts to me.
This verse was brought to my attention in a different light by my one of my small group leaders. She suggested that we memorize this passage to remind ourselves that even though we feel like roadkill, we can rejoice knowing that we will be great, strong women of God after our trials.
In just the few short days that I have put in the effort of memorizing these verses, I can already see the work that God has done in my heart. A few days ago after a long hard day of feeling beaten up, I began to cry out to God about my circumstances. The more I thought about what was going on around me and my feelings toward my situation, the more upset I became and the more I started to cry. Suddenly, I remembered the verse that was written on the back of my hand. Through the tears I whispered the verse over and over… Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters… After a few minutes, my heart calmed down and the tears stopped. I felt God’s calming peace over my heart. Even though I was still upset about my circumstances, in that moment I didn’t feel so hopeless.
I’m a daughter of The King, and He doesn’t forget about His Princesses. He was given me this trial to develop my faith and make me stronger. Every tear I cry is part of my story, and He is the one who has written it into my life.
There will be days when I feel like I can’t go on, but my Father in heaven is always there to carry me through to the next day.
“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’. So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” ~ Hebrews 13: 5b-6
Writing the first letter of every word of a verse is a GREAT way to memorize. Thanks Stephanie for the great tip!
The Camille Chronicles 