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Dale Rockwell

Category Archives: Despair

When God Takes It Away

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by dalerockwell in Despair, Faith, Future, Grief

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Despair, Faith, Future, Grief

piano with pearls and daisies

So God took the thing you most loved and you’re never going to get it back.

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died; and she was left with her two sons.  Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.  Ruth 1:3-5

Bereft goes beyond grief-stricken. Bereft includes a deep sense of deprivation and irreparable loss.  (Paraphrased from vocabulary.com)

I started playing the piano in third grade and fell in love with it. It was soul-satisfying.  It became part of me.  As opportunities came my way, playing the piano became my God-given ministry. It was a way I loved God and gave of myself to encourage others to love God.  I felt God’s pleasure as I played.

But then God took it away.  I was bereft.

Seven years later, I still don’t understand why God allowed this to happen. It has been a long difficult journey for me as I have grieved this loss and come to accept it as from the hand of God. But God has been with me every step of the journey.  And because of the journey, I am more in love with God today than I ever have been. I enjoy Him more deeply. Perhaps this alone is reason enough.

If you are grieving, seek refuge under the wings of God Almighty. He will love you through your grief.  Ruth 2:12  Do not lose hope. God is with you. God is for you. Nothing can separate you from His love.  Romans 8:31-39

We cannot see the end of our journey but we can see the end of Naomi’s journey. God gave Naomi a son.  Ruth 4:17  He may give me another opportunity to play the piano for His glory and only He knows what He has planned for you!

 

 

 

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Jesus is Better than Target

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by dalerockwell in Choice, Despair, Encouragement, Love

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Choice, Encouragement, Love

target photo 001I felt alone. The house felt dreary and bleak. The holidays were over.  The kids and grandkids had gone home.  And Dan wasn’t much company because he wasn’t feeling well.

So I decided to go to Target.  I had a return and maybe it would help to get out of the house for awhile.   And besides, even if it didn’t help,  I would still get some things crossed off my ‘to do’ list.  And that always makes me feel better.

Desolation is defined in the dictionary as a state of bleak and dismal emptiness; depressingly empty, joyless; disconsolate and sorrowful as if through separation from a loved one.

Desolation is not God’s plan for us.  We are never alone, even though we may feel alone.  We are never separated from God and His love.  Romans 8:31-39

The Pharisees were desolate.  Jesus wanted to gather them to Himself the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but they were unwilling.  Matthew 23:37-39

I find that when I’m having a blah kind of day, the best thing I can do for myself is run to Jesus. He always gathers me to Himself.  I just have to be willing.  He is much more satisfying than a Target trip.

 

 

 

O My Soul!

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by dalerockwell in Despair, Encouragement, Faith, Hope

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Despair, Disturbed, Faith, Hope

“Why? Why?”, asks David.

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me?”  Psalm 42:5

Have you ever started out a day feeling great but ended it feeling miserable?  What causes your soul to become disturbed?  What causes you to despair?

If you can determine the source of your despair, you can find a great and magnificent promise in the Word of God that will help restore your hope in God. If you can determine why you are disturbed, you can find grace and peace.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by HIs own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.” 2 Peter 1:2-4

When we are in despair and our soul is disturbed, we thirst for God.  When tears are present day and night, our soul pants for the living God with more intensity than it does when everything is going smoothly.  Psalm 42:1-3

The awesome truth is that God wants us even more than we want Him. He wants us to share our burdens with Him.  He wants us to come to Him for help.  He wants us to realize how vital He is to our everyday life.   He wants to be the very God of our life.  Psalm 42:8

Do you see the beauty in this?  Can you look beyond your despair to see the One who wants to walk with you and hold your hand through all of life’s difficulties?

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Reach out to Him!  Hope in God once again!  Praise Him for the help of his presence!  Psalm 42:5

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  • Being Still is Hard Work
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  • He Can’t Read Your Mind!
  • Get in the Chase!

Recent Comments

gmdoore@myfairpoint.… on Being Still is Hard Work
dalerockwell on He Can’t Read Your …
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