September 6
Godly Sorrow Has Drawing Power
"For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter."
There are many ways in which God prepares His child to do His work; many schools He uses to tutor and instruct them in His ways and in His will. But out of all the teachers God could use in the life of His child, there is none He calls for more than the trying teacher whose name is grief. Sorrow is the stern and painful teacher that demands more from its pupil than any other. The course it chooses to take into the depths of our being, is not the path of least resistance, but often times the most difficult. All other comforts must be lost, every way of escape cut off leaving but one avenue; the avenue that leads to the Master Himself. The teacher of pain and mourning has much wisdom and strength to impart that cannot be given any other way but through the shedding of tears. This lonely classroom of solitude draws one into an acquaintance with the Father as never before bidding the soul into an intimacy of divine fellowship. God will bring His child into the deserted wastelands to give drink to the soul; into the foothills to lay out a plain and through the valleys to stand upon the mountain top.
Godly sorrow is the road less traveled. This is the course God uses to show us the depth and enduring strength of His love for us. It saddens God to allow His child to suffer but He knows this is going to be a great gift in the end. My heart has pondered the heartbreak of God and the measures He has taken and does take to reveal just how much He loves us. We can miss understanding anything else in life but He absolutely does not want us to miss this enduring truth. When we lean into this hope, this absolute that God really does love us, our soul just might hear the tender whispers of the Holy Spirit saying: "A oneness is birthed when two hearts beating upon the cord of life discover their desperate need for one another." Gentle words yet altogether mighty. What a captivating reality for the soul to experience! This is the gift given to us through godly sorrow.
I won’t pretend to understand even an inkling of the depth of God’s love for me, for you, for all. But I will confess my yearning to understand it, to indulge myself in the vastness of its existence in my life.
To experience the love of God in its fullness is the longing of God’s heart for us.
Pearls of Grace is a book of devotions for the entire year, including a read through the Bible in a year calendar, broken down for every day. Beautifully written with encouraging words of hope and empowering words of joy and strength for every woman. Pam draws from the truth and richness of God's Word and gives real life examples in her down to earth style. A must have in your library, click here for more information.
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