There Will be a Day

"You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,  that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!" -Psalms 30:11-12
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The journey of life can take us to so many different places. Some of those places we choose and some we are given. I have had some of the most wonderful experiences and I have seen my dark days. One thing that has been consistent is God. He has been my light in the darkness and my reason for rejoicing. God was there in when I graduated from High School with honors and he wiped away my sorrow when my admissions to University of California, Santa Barbara was rescinded due to two bad grades I received my last semester of High School.  During this process He used my former high school counselor, who was a Loyola Marymount University alum and encouraged me to apply to that school. He rejoiced with me when I received my degree from college.

A few years later, He was also there when I got the call from my supervisor letting me know I was laid off from my very first job after college. Sometimes the most painful things in life can seem unending.  He picked me up again when He opened my eyes to a passion that led to 8 years with a great organization. He was there when my grandmother passed away over two years ago. A week before she passed, he provided a space for her to say her final goodbyes. It felt like I fell in this abyss and could not get out of it. Nothing would satisfy the pain I felt but the touch of God and the passage of time. The pain was made way easier because of the things she said in that moment that are now imprinted on my heart.

 I am sure you can recount back to some setbacks and disappointments in your life. In the moment if felt like the hurt would never end, but there was a day when you looked up and somehow/someway everything was okay. I call that someday the grace of God. I found that there is a time when I looked around and realized that I survived. Not only did God bring me through but each time there was a lesson of His love and provision that I took away from it. When I did not believe in myself God always did. His thoughts and plans for my life have never changed. What about you? 

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed."
- Psalms 34:18

​I encourage you today to hold on. You may feel alone in your sorrow or your grief but be steadfast in your faith. There will be a day where you look around and God has brought you through with flying colors. For each closed door, there is a blessing on the other side of it. My grandmother use to always tell me that there is a ram in the bush - in reference to God providing provision to Abraham as he faithfully walked up the mountain to sacrifice his son Isaac. God has a ram for you too. He has plans to restore everything that you have lost and to comfort you in the midst of your strife. 

Whatever you are sitting with today, God can provide a sanctuary of love and peace for you. No pain is to great or problem to big. All it takes from you is having a little bit of faith. The Bible talks about faith as big as a mustard seed having the power to move mountains. All God needs is your belief in Him. If you dare to trust God, I guarantee that you will find peace. It may not be in your timing and how you want it to be done but it will be what you need. God has always taken situations in my life and made them one thousand times better than I could have done. With Him you got this. You will make it to the other side. 

May God bless you to Live for God, Live with Purpose, and Live your Life Out Loud.  
​- Christine Houston