18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"
23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. 25 In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. 26 The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted.
After reading these verses, I was full of reverence for the Lord as He spoke to me through them. I realized that although I receive challenges from the Lord, "adversity + affliction," God has a paved path for me, and He wants to use these experiences to direct me, build my character, and help me learn to trust Him.
From undergrad when I first decided to trust in God and accept Jesus as my salvation, one thing that never went away was...God will NEVER give you anything that you cannot handle. Moreover, scripturally, He says He will send a messenger out to direct us, and He gives us the tools to battle them.
Yesterday as I attempted to take a photo of myself for my Columbia Uni ID, I had difficulty smiling correctly. Mainly because of my horrific dental experiences at Western Dental, I came to dislike what happened to myself and became saddened at my ruined smile. In vain, I walked out to Dominics to purchase food for my siblings, yet as I walked out, there was a mother/sister/aunt (not sure) walking this younger girl, who had a covering over her mouth from some illness. In chagrin at how I dare to challenge the blessings of God, God revealed to me how much more thankful I should be, and I was ashamed.
In addition, although my father has sinned against me, God gave me the verse from Matthew 6:14-15
If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
I am trying to learn to be a witness/salt/light to my family. However, only through God's strength can I learn to be that way. Shattered and destroyed by the sins of my father and mother as I grew up, I am learning a spirit of forgiveness in which only my heavenly Father can teach me. I ask of that from Him and want to learn to dwell with Him and be a manifestation of it.
Amen.
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