By: Sandy Morgenthal
Sandy writes these messages to her friends and family daily to encourage them and share how very much loved they truly are. Periodically, we will share a few of these with you, our church community because we find them inspiring, encouraging, and spiritually helpful for growth!
Finding Comfort in Loss Through Faith
“Good morning. There are so many little things and big things to upset us and ruin our moment, our day, or our life.
Something small but precious gets lost or broken; a favorite charm or an earring, a watch fob or a specific photo. Sometimes it’s something special someone much loved gave us. These things really hurt and leave us upset, unwilling to move forward, striving to understand.
The bigger things are worse. The loss of a loved one, a home, or a career, take away what made us who we were. It can be disorienting and bring unimaginable pain that feels as if it will never go away.
Working for so many years with people grieving the loss of something big or small has taught me one thing. Those who draw close to God will find comfort. Those who don’t, will feel hopeless until they surrender to Him in their pain. Some just never do and that’s the saddest of all.
Your ‘You are very much loved!’ message is from John 16:22 NIV: “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
Not About Me
“Good morning. I’ve reached a point in doing this daily ‘blog’ that the Lord has made something clear to me.
This is not about me, or my personality, or my knowledge of books, or my ability to put thoughts together. Oswald Chambers said, “It cannot get through because the attraction is to the messenger and not the message.”
I’ll be honest, it was just that in the beginning. It was a way to connect with those I love on a regular basis.
It has grown, and so have I, spiritually speaking. I just told a friend the other day, I often don’t know what I’m going to write. I turn to the Lord and He gives me something. It always amazes me, how He can be bothered with my daily routine.
I find that as time has gone by in doing this, I feel things more deeply for others. I carry their pains and sorrows and worries with me where I go.
A line from A Captive Prayer says, “The most deeply taught Christians are generally those who have been brought into the searching fires of deep soul anguish.”
I actually want to continue on this path of going deeper into other people and their need for real compassion. I’m thankful the Lord is changing me in this way. I sure hope it doesn’t make me hard to be with, but if it does; Oh well.
Your ‘You are very much loved! message is from 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 NIV: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
