What If God’s Blessings Come Through Rain Drops? What If His Healing comes Through Tears?

While driving my kids to school this morning my son Brayden, who is ten years old, starting talking about the sermon he heard this weekend and how he knew we were going through these trials because God is preparing him to be a pastor. He said that many great pastors, leaders, and professional people have suffered a lot before getting to where they are today. He told a story that Joel Osteen shared last week and how it gave him hope.

We began talking about what things in this life are most important and the kids decided that houses, cars, money, and other material things are not important but what is important is how many people you take to heaven with you. It has been a long seven months of trial to get to this place where the kids understand the deeper things of God in the midst of our sufferings but I wouldn’t change it for anything. They were talking about how people can’t take stuff with them to heaven but how they can take people with them and they decided that would be their focus while they are on this earth.

Can you even imagine how my heart skipped a beat when I heard these words coming from an eight and ten year old? For months they have seen people living in houses, driving nice cars, eating at nice restaurants, buying everything they want at the mall, and they have been envious. They have complained about how unfair it is and how bad they want a house, a nice car, lots of money, and other things. As a mom I have wanted these things for them too but even more greater than wanting them to have these things has been my desire that they would come to understand that all these things will one day pass away but a life hidden in Christ is eternal.

Day after day I would encourage them and try to explain things to them only to be met with more complaints and grumbling, until today when they finally got it! As I listened to their words I thanked God for ministering to their hearts. What a joy it was to hear them say they didn’t want a house unless we were going to invite people over so we could show them Christ’s love and introduce them to a relationship with Him. They don’t want a nice car unless we are going to use it to take people to church and use it to help people. They don’t want a lot of money unless we are going to use it for God’s purposes.

Sometimes God’s greatest blessings come through our hardest trials and sometimes God’s favor comes through our most difficult circumstances. We cry out for justice in the midst of them thinking that God is ignoring us but what I have learned during these last seven months is that sometimes His stillness in the midst of the storm is His quiet reassurance that we do not need to fear. He is not shaken by the thunder and He is not caught off guard by the torrential downpour of rain that floods our lives through trials! On the contrary He is at peace and He wants us to be at peace too knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that He is protecting us and making a way for us to make it through safely!

As I sat there and listened to my children I realized that my life extends far past the number of years I am on this earth and the way I respond to this life will have an impact on how my children respond for years after I am gone. I also realized that the greater lesson of my own personal perseverance is in teaching my children through an example of a peaceful countenance that God is faithful to His Word at all times! They are looking to me to show them that God is real unlike Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, or the Tooth Fairy! And when I react to the trials and difficult circumstances with a peaceful countenance, the quiet reassurance of the Lord floods their hearts and they begin to understand the deeper things of God! Isn’t that really what parenting is all about?

So now when trials come I will say, “We know that pain reminds this heart that this is not our home. What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy? What if trials of this life; the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are your mercies in disguise?” And I will not complain when the next storm hits me by surprise and I won’t question if God is here in the midst of it. I won’t focus on my own life! I will view it as God giving me an opportunity to show His Word in action to my children and my focus will be on teaching them to trust in Him with their whole hearts and to acknowledge His presence so they will be comforted in knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is making a way there seems to be no way.

“‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near ? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?”

I Am Not Who I Was! I Am Being Remade! I Am New!

If you knew me in my years of rebellion against God and man you would have shaken your head in disbelief for the choices I made in my life! I smoked, drank, used drugs, and slept around. I cussed like a sailor. I lied to, cheated, and deceived people. I was a fighter and I was a very angry person who jumped at the opportunity to fight with words or actions. My life was in shambles and I was spiraling out of control at a high rate of speed! I could never deny the worst people could say about me back then because most of it was true.

But when the voice of God spoke to me in my early twenties and asked me to give my life over to Him I accepted His invitation because I knew if I didn’t it was only a matter of time before I died from my choices or ended my life out of desperation.

In the years following that encounter with God voices of shame, doubt, fear, and worry bombarded my mind telling me there was no way God would fulfill His promise from Romans 8:28 where Paul says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” But day after day I peered into the Word and I spent time in the presence of God through prayer, meditation, and song, and I battled against those voices; telling them to be silenced in the name of Jesus.

As I was obedient to take my thoughts captive God was faithful to remind that I am not defined by the mistakes I have made. He would remind me that I am a new creation, forgiven, holy and dearly loved, righteous and made in His image! He says I am chosen and He says I am being remade each day into the woman He created me to be.

But during that time something interesting happened. I turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction from my poor choices lifestyle. I became an ultra conservative, “holier than thou” religious fanatic because it was me trying to be right and do right for God because I thought it was what He wanted from me. I tried to do everything right! I tithed and gave offerings. I didn’t cuss. I didn’t drink, smoke, or use drugs. I didn’t sleep around. I only listened to Christian music. I attended as many church services and classes as I could.

My life was squeaky clean in terms of my words and actions but what is interesting is that I found myself to be just as miserable on the inside as I was when I was living in complete rebellion. I didn’t understand it because I thought I was doing right for God and I thought that the more I did right the better I would feel about myself and my relationship with Him.

And then one day the voice of God spoke to me again and told me that I am not defined by the choices I make and that includes the good choices. He said “Holly you are chosen and holy not because of what you do or do not do but because of what I did when I sent my Son to die for you on the Cross! You are dearly loved not because you love me but because I first loved you! You are dead to the old man not because you crucify your flesh each day but because I crucified my own flesh for you! You are hidden in Me not because you signed your name on a salvation card in ink but because I signed your salvation card in My own blood on the Cross!”

His words shook the foundations of my beliefs and shocked me into the truth of the reality of what being a new creation in Christ really is. I finally came to realize that all that I am in Christ has nothing to do with me but it has everything to do with what He did for me on the Cross! I am forgiven because of what He did for me on the Cross! I am righteous in the eyes of God because of what He did for me on the Cross! I am made new because of what He did for me on the Cross! I am holy because of what He did for me on the Cross! My life is not my own no matter what I do or do not do! It is not my own because my life now belongs to Him and He defines my life by the choices He made for me when He shed his blood for me on the Cross!

There is nothing I can do or not do to make Him love me more or make Him love me less. There is nothing I can do or not do to make Him accept me more or make Him reject me. It is not about me any longer! It is all about Him and what He did for me! I no longer have to live in the shadows of shame and I no longer have to live in the spotlight of “perfect Christianity”. It is in Him that I live and move and have my being! (Acts 17:28) And who I am is not defined any longer by what I do or do not do. It is ONLY defined by what He has done! This is the truth I want you to know for yourself today whether you are living in rebellion and making poor choices or whether you are living for God and making right choices.


To Him neither one matters! The only thing that matters to Him is the impact it will have on your life if you fully accept what He did for you on the Cross! You are new! You are New! You are chosen and holy and you are dearly loved! You are forgiven, beloved, and hidden in Christ! You are made in the image of the giver of life! You are accepted and worthy! You have been given a new name! Believe it! Accept it! And as you do you will begin to live in it!

The burdens of shame or perfection will be lifted and you will feel comfortable being yoked to the One whose burden is light! You will be filled with His peace and joy and you will begin to feel comfortable in your own skin. Believe me it is the most amazing feeling you will ever experience in this life! There truly is nothing like knowing who you are in Him and accepting your rightful position as a part of the royal priesthood of the Most High King!

Who Will Love Me For Me, Not For What I Have Done Or What I Will Become?

Years ago I worked with abused children at a residential treatment center. When a new child came into the home the pain of their trauma showed on their faces, in their words, and through their actions. They didn’t trust anyone and they were constantly on guard. All they had ever known was pain, torture, and everything that goes with the life of an abused and neglected child. They had no idea what love was. They didn’t know how to receive it or how to give it but it was evident that they craved both very much!

I was employed to teach these children life skills and classroom etiquette but within a few days of working with them I realized there was something greater I was called to teach them and that was how to receive and how to give love. As you can imagine this was a huge calling because these children had it engrained in their brains that they didn’t deserve love and that they would never be loved by anyone! But each morning as I got ready for work I asked God to teach me how to show them His love and to teach me how to unconditionally love them for who He had created them to be and not to react to the people they had become due to their abuse and neglect.

It began with completely accepting them for who they were with their pain and trauma and not expecting them to be anything different. Then I spoke to them in a loving tone and when they reacted with anger, fear, or anxiousness, I didn’t change the way I spoke to them. I treated them the way I would treat my very own children. I did not accentuate the negative words or actions they displayed, but instead I downplayed them as if they didn’t really matter. These actions caught each child off guard. They were used to being yelled at and shamed. They expected to be punished severely and beat for their actions. What is interesting is that at first the more I treated them with Christ’s love and acceptance, the harder they fought it off: even though it was what they needed and wanted more than anything.

But within a short amount of time as I displayed Christ’s love and acceptance day after day they began to soften and they began to accept it as authentic and real as they discovered it was okay to trust me. Pretty soon their eyes lit up each morning when I came on shift! All six of them raced to greet me at the door and they hugged me tightly and they didn’t want to let go. They would talk over one another trying to get me to pay attention to them first! Over time these children not only learned how to accept love but they began to display it to others in their words and actions. They even began to display it in their artwork at school. They began to believe they were worthy to be loved and they learned it was safe to be loved and to show love.

That year for Christmas I brought them to my parent’s house and watched them enjoy Christmas for the first time in their lives. It wasn’t the presents that made the day great for them though. It was experiencing Christ’s authentic love for the first time and being able to receive it and express it. I sat on the couch with tears in my eyes because it was in that moment I realized just how many other people have been robbed of knowing and experiencing the true love and acceptance of Jesus Christ. I really think that it was during that time in my life where I became passionate about reaching people with the message of Christ’s love and acceptance.

So many people long to be loved for who they are and not for what they have done or for what they will become in life. Whether it is an abused child, an abandoned spouse, a hardened criminal, or anyone else for that matter, people want to know they are loved and able to love! They want to know what love really means! They crave it more than anything in life but they don’t know how or where to find it. They try all kinds of things to try and fill the void only to be left feeling empty and insecure.

But it is only God who knows what love is for the Bible says that God is love! Love is not an emotion! It is the personification of Jesus Christ Himself and He is the only One who knows how to love us and only He can teach us how to accept His love and how to give it to others! 1 John 4:9 says, “We love because he first loved us.” As believers we are called to receive Christ’s love and acceptance for ourselves and then to love others as He has loved us.

If we will do this then we will begin to experience what I was privileged to experience when I worked with those beautiful children! We will see the people around us begin to soften as we consistently display Christ’s love and acceptance and before long we will begin to see them running, not into our arms, but into the arms of Jesus and asking Him to be the Lord of their lives! We will see them craving time in His presence as those children craved time in mine. We will see them become like those little children on that Christmas morning, filled with joy and laughter too great to measure! And we will begin to see less and less people searching for alternatives of counterfeit love and acceptance.

Please join me in praying for the body of Christ to begin to accept Christ’s love for themselves so they will be able to reach a hurting and dying world with the message of hope that is only found in Jesus Christ! Too many people have suffered! It is time to rise up church and become real examples of Christ’s love! I will leave you with this verse from Mark 12:30-31. “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”