NOTHING is too difficult....

I've been up this a.m. since 5:30.
And it's Sunday.
It's been like this ever since I've returned from Acadia....maybe it's because I am no longer sleeping 200 yards from the ocean....and fresh balsam scent of the pines....or....
most likely, it is because I have had a lot of "stuff" on my mind. It has been quite the week, back here in NY.

It's been a week of listening to the pain of betrayal.
A dear friend has shared some heavy stuff with me......and I love her and therefore, it is on my heart, and in my mind, and seeping into my soul.
I have a burden for her....... and of course it reminds me of my own struggles with past betrayals.....especially one that left me with a very wounded heart. I have had much victory in this area but there are still pieces of betrayal that God wants me to be healed from. Although I am not at liberty to share our personal struggle with the bondage of betrayal here in this forum, I do want to share some things that the Lord showed me through my morning time with Him today.

I have begun reading through Jeremiah.
I don't typically choose the major prophets but my goal for this year was to get through them so......
This morning, though, the Lord quickened me to skip ahead and go to chapter 32. Here is the verse that really stood out to me: Jeremiah 32: 17

"Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You."

And it made me pause and think.
Almighty God made this earth! He made our world!
If he can make those majestic mountains I love so much, and the vast oceans, and the glorious fields and beautiful flowers and each unique snowflake......how much more can He do for us, His children??!

WHY do we fret and stumble over past baggage?
WHY is the hurt of betrayal so very difficult, even after years of counseling and "knowing" that God the Father loves us??

Well, just from psychology courses and training in peer counseling, not to mention my own experience with betrayal, I have learned that it is a bondage. The bondage of betrayal is very strong. I believe it ties our souls into knots. And it takes time.....it is a process, to untie those knots and it takes so many little steps of faith and trust.

And trust is soooo very difficult for people who have been betrayed.

For me, personally, I know in my heart I can trust certain people that God has placed in my life. He even showed me this during this last week. But...I STILL struggle with it, even though I know God has told me just exactly whom I can trust. It is hard for people with the bondage of betrayal to trust. So....if we have trouble trusting our very best friend, whom we can see and touch and speak with, of course it is going to be hard to trust SomeOne whom we can't see face to face and touch.

BUT......we CAN learn to trust Him and His Word to us. Again, I really believe this is a process. For some people it might not take as long. I do think it depends on the level of betrayal and what the circumstances were. We are all different and we approach God differently.

However, there is Hope!

Jeremiah 33: 3 says "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

This is a promise straight from the Lord!! He will answer us.
We need to call out to Him.
We need to cry out to Him.
He will show us things we cannot imagine.....He has promised to turn our pain into beauty.

In Jeremiah 34: 8-11, God tells the prophet Jeremiah to tell His people to free the Hebrew slaves. They were in physical bondage. Now, most of us have not had to deal with physical bondage. Our "bondages" are more like emotional. Maybe it is bondage to alchohol or drugs. Maybe it is bondage from abuse and betrayal. Maybe it is bondage from any number of sins.
The bondage I am speaking of today is emotional bondage. And just like God told His people to free those slaves, I believe God is telling us to help our friends gain freedom from whatever bondage is holding them back from complete freedom in Christ.

Friends can help each other. This doesn't mean you can just start sharing your secrets with any friend. But I truly believe God puts people in our path, (special friends, best friends, close friends, whatever phrase you want to use), to help each other. I know this has been true in my own life.
This past month, the Lord put someone on my heart to reach out to. And I had no idea, at the time, just how God would use us. He is knitting my heart with hers in a way that I have never experienced before, and I have had some close, spiritual friends! But....this time I know it is to free our selves from the pain of betrayal....
and we are reaching out for God's Hand and we are determined to be free from pain that keeps us feeling disconnected at times from our Father!
She and I are "climbing the mountains" together.....God is good....He is our provider and knows just what, and whom, we need and when. And not only can we "be there" for each other as God helps us deal with our "stuff" but it is the kind of friendship that is fun. The kind that makes me want to take her hand and tell her I am never letting go.....I will be there. And I know she would probably say the same thing to me.

I believe that when God allows us to get spiritually intimate with someone, that it is a friendship that is going to last. And as friendships grow, the trust levels raise. It is a beautiful thing.

Jeremiah 33: 6b says "I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth."
Yet another promise from our God.
As we allow Him to do a work in us....as we learn to trust Him and to trust the people He has put in our path to help guide us, He WILL give us the gifts of Peace and Truth.

He is Mighty.

Hand in hand....and heart to heart......

NOTHING is too difficult for Him.