Tag Archives: losing everything

May 6, 2025 · 5:33 AM

Bitter To Better

In the book of Ruth, Naomi thought her story was over. She was forced to leave her home due to a famine. While living in a foreign land, her husband died. Some time later both of her sons died leaving her without a way to provide for herself. She tried sending both her daughters in law back to their parents so she could return home, but Ruth famously stuck with her. When they arrived in Bethlehem, people recognized her and couldn’t believe it was Naomi. She replied, “She said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness’” (AMP). Even though she felt like her life had turned bitter, people still called her Naomi.

What seemed like the end of her story, was really a new beginning. God was quietly putting the pieces of her new life together. He led Ruth to the field that belonged to Boaz to glean and find food. Her willingness to stick with Naomi impressed Boaz and he protected her. Not only that, he was able to redeem Naomi’s family name, heritage and legacy by marrying Ruth. When they were married and had a son named Obed (worshipper), the town people said, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel.” Naomi’s life is a testimony that when it seems you’ve lost everything, God can create a new beginning.

Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].” God doesn’t leave us in our pain or loss. He heals our broken heart and bandages our wounds so we can heal. Just like He was working behind the scenes for Naomi, He’s working for you. When we’re blinded by our pain, He sees a future we can’t in that moment. Your story isn’t over when one chapter ends. God uses pain and devastation to birth new life and create fertile ground for new growth. God can take us from bitter to better as we allow Him to heal our brokenness and comfort us in our sorrow.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

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September 25, 2024 · 5:45 AM

Leaving The Pit Of Despair

September 25th holds a special place in my heart and on my calendar. It’s the day where I hit rock bottom in my life. After seven months of having the bottom fall out from underneath me, this was the day I gave up. I walked into my house, laid down on the living room floor, curled up in the fetal position and bawled like a baby. I was hurting inside so badly and was tired of losing everything. In that moment I cried out to God and told Him I was done. It was then that I heard a still, small voice say, “Finally.” I had been doing thing on my own and living how I wanted to live. God spoke and said if I was ready to build my life His way and live how He wanted me to, He would rebuild my life. I repented right there and agreed to change. I walked over to my calendar and wrote, “The Bottom.”

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus told a parable about another man who tried to do things his way. He went to his father and demanded his inheritance while his father was still living. He insulted his father and his whole village. He took the money, went to a foreign land and lived how he wanted instead of how he was raised. He was having a good time until he ran out of money. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was famine that caused food to be scare. Then the economy crashed and he couldn’t find work except the lowliest of positions. After struggling, he finally hit rock bottom and decided to seek forgiveness. He headed home. Verse 20 says, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (NLT). His father put a new robe on him, put the family ring on his finger, killed the best calf and had a celebration. His son had returned and agreed to live by the father’s rules.

Psalm 40:2 says, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” I’ve been to the pit of despair and cried out like the Prodigal Son. A friend recently asked for practical steps to get out of that pit. I to,d him it starts with repentance and crying out to God. It takes determining to make changes in your life and leaving situations, people and places that got you there. It takes committing to reading the Bible, praying daily and getting involved in a body of believers who will love you. When I made these changes, God lifted me out of the pit, put my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I made progress. It took more than ten years to get back to the point where I felt like I was back to level ground. It’s not easy climbing out of that pit of despair, but it’s possibly by surrendering to God.

Photo by Tyler Mullins on Unsplash

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December 28, 2021 · 5:41 AM

We Need To Worship

In Job 1. we read one of the most devastating stories a person could ever go through. In one day, Job lost all his possessions, his servants, his shepherds, his livestock and his children. One bad report came right after the other. In under a minute, he had lost everything. His knees buckled and he fell under the weight of everything. Verse 20 says. “Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship” (NLT). I imagine him face down with his hands raised up in surrender. He didn’t understand why everything was happening, but he did understand that God would care for him. The final verse in the first chapter says he didn’t sin by blaming God.

Every one of us are going to experience hardship that we don’t understand. Every one of us are going to unexpectedly lose things and people that we love with no answer as to why. Jesus said in Matthew 5:45 that God causes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust just like He causes it to rain on both. We are not exempt from pain, disappointment or loss. Instead, we have an anchor to hold on to when all seems lost. We have hope that others do not have. We can still worship in the middle of a storm we don’t understand. We can still trust God’s plan when our plans are torn from us. We can still look ahead when we’re too weak to move.

Hebrews 12:12-13 says, “So be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship. And strengthen your weak knees, for as you keep walking forward on God’s paths all your stumbling ways will be healed!” (TPT) When we are at our lowest, we need to worship. When we are out of options, we need to worship. When all seems lost, we need to worship. When we are too tired and feel like giving up, we need to worship. Worship regains our perspective. Worship renews our strength. Worship gives us hope. Worship keeps us moving forward when we can’t see the path. We don’t have to understand what God is doing, or even why. Like Job, we have to trust that He sees the bigger picture and knows what He’s doing. When nothing makes sense and you can’t do anything else, worship. He inhabits the praises of His people. He will not abandon you in your greatest time of need.

Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

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October 20, 2020 · 5:52 AM

Yet I Will Praise Him

If you’ve ever read the book of Job, you may have found yourself feeling sorry for him. There may have been times in your life when you’ve even related to him too. I know I have had those moments. When you go through periods of loss or continuous disappointment, Job is a great book to read. You will find that there’s always someone who has it worse than you, there is purpose in pain and that you can endure anything. I don’t know how many times I’ve read the book, but I can tell you that I’m still amazed when I come to the end of the first chapter. After Job has lost all his livestock, his riches and his children, he doesn’t curse God. He doesn’t cry out, “Why me?” Instead, it says he fell to his knees and worshipped God. He recognized that everything he had came from God, and if God took it all back, he was good with it.

I can honestly say that during my times of great disappointment and loss, that was not my attitude. To stand on rock bottom in life, look up from the hole you’re in and bless God seems unfathomable, yet Job was able to. If he was able to, you and I are to. He made the choice to worship instead of to whine. He chose to bless God instead of to curse Him. He made the choice to recognize everything he had belonged to God and wasn’t a result of His own work. The perspective he had challenges me to readjust and calibrate how I see God and how I react in the bad times. It’s easy to worship when things are going well, but can we worship when everything seems to be going wrong? Can we praise Him when our prayers are unanswered? Can we thank Him when we don’t see a way forward? Can you say, “Even though I’m broken, yet will I praise you”?

Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!” (NLT) There’s a very similar picture here to the attitude Job had and that we are to have. Joy is not something that is circumstantial. It doesn’t rely on what’s going on around you. Joy looks at where your strength comes from. It looks at who your hope is in. It is defiant in the face of any circumstance you may face, and it says, “My hope is not in al, these things. My hope is in God. No matter what comes my way, I know that my God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than I can ask or pray for. Even though things look bad now, yet will I praise God! He is my rock, my fortress and my salvation.” You and I have that same spirit of joy within us. In tough times, activate it and worship. Remind yourself that God is in control, He has a plan and that no matter what happens you will continue to trust and to praise Him.

Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash

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April 17, 2019 · 5:36 AM

Surrendering Your Future

Several years ago I lost just about everything in my life that mattered to me. I went through a six month stretch where I would think I hit rock bottom, but then the bottom would fall out again. No matter what I tried, no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop the free fall. When there was nothing left, I cried out to God one night and said, “Lord, I give up! I can’t do this anymore.” Laying there on that floor, i heard God’s still, small voice whisper back, “Finally.” For Years I had been fighting what God wanted to do in my life and had been living life for myself instead of for Him. I had built the life I wanted on top of the foundation He had laid.

That night, in my mind, i saw a picture of myself curled up in the fetal position on a foundation. There was debris all around me and it was pouring down rain. I didn’t have the strength or the will to get up. I believe God was showing me my life at that moment. Everything I had built had been stripped away. When I said, “God, I’ve been left with nothing,” He relied, “You still have your foundation. If you’ll let me, I’ll build on it the life I want you to have.” I prayed, “Lord, do with my life what you want. I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

In Psalm 16:5, David prayed a similar prayer that resonates with me. He said, “You, Lord, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands” (GNT). You and I can spend a lifetime trying to plan our future and build the life we want, but we will never be satisfied until we give our future to God. He has a master plan for each of our lives and desires that we give Him the reigns of our future. It’s up to us to surrender our will to His. I can tell you from personal experience that the life He wants for you is far greater than anything you can imagine or build yourself.

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

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