When God Speaks Through Pandora.

     There are times that I feel separated from God. This week has been one of those weeks. I feel alone and misunderstood. I try to be strong and hold it all together, but I eventually break. My most recent break down took place in my car on the highway. I was driving and I started sobbing. I was driving, sobbing, and yelling at God. I asked him why I felt like this. I told him how far away I felt and how all I wanted was to be close to him again. 

     I turned on my Pandora Radio, and after a few songs of driving, crying, and praying, I was quiet. The song that played next can only be explained as God speaking. The song that played is called "Little Light" by Matt Hammitt and Audrey Assad. I listened, and then five words popped out at me. 

"God is near little girl."

     God is near little girl. GOD is NEAR. God doesn't leave. I stray. He stays near to me even when I take my own path. I am his daughter. He loves me enough to break me so that I will look to him. Then, he can get me with five words. My daddy is near because I am his little girl. I AM HIS. 

     He stays near and waits for me to run back into his arms so that he can hold me. The song goes on to say his tender hands are holding you tonight. His heart is RAVISHED when you look at him. God is here little light. 

     My God loves me. I am his little girl and his little light. He has called me to shine a light in the darkness. He shines his light through me. I am worth so much to him, even if the world tells me I'm not. Sometimes I just need to run to my daddy so that he can hold me close to him. I need him. I need him more than anything in this world. I need him more than acceptance. I need him more than friends. I need him more than all earthly things. I need him more than everything that I've put before him for so long. 

     My life's purpose is to fulfill God's plan for me. My plans mean nothing. His plans mean everything. For me to fulfill them however, I need to always be in the presence of my father. I need to glorify him in every single thing that I do. Sometimes, I just need to let him hold me so that I can be his little light. 

Becoming Diamonds.

     Sometimes I don't understand why things happen. I don't understand why there is darkness in a world that my perfect God created. I don't understand why there is poverty or why there is so much hurt. I don't understand why my life gets turned upside down and shaken around.

If God is so perfect, why do so many bad things happen?

     God is so misunderstood. We as people are not perfect. He as God is perfect. There is no way that we can even fathom how perfect he is. Since he is perfect, his way is perfect. Our imperfect minds can't see how perfect his path is. Sometimes all we can see is evil, darkness, and pain. When we see the world from our imperfect perspective, we don't understand God's greater plan. We get discouraged and try to quit. We stop in a place of darkness, and then we feel stuck. God sees us in this place and urges us to move forward. He knows that once we get past the darkness, there will be light. 

     God told Joshua and the Israelites that to get to the promised land they had to march around Jericho once a day for six days and then on the seventh day to march around it seven times and then the priests had to blow their horns and everyone would shout. Then, the walls would come down. The people didn't understand how this was going to work. They wondered why God would tell them to walk around a city a bunch of times. They didn't think that they were ever going to get to the promised land. They didn't understand why God didn't just go ahead and knock down the wall. They were his children after all. Some of the Israelites might not have stuck around for the wall to come down. They might have quit on the fifth day because they were tired of walking around a wall day after day. They didn't understand why they had to struggle so much. 

     The story goes on to say that they stuck it out and marched until the walls came down. They trusted God and his plan even though it sounded really crazy. Sometimes, we just need to keep going. We might be on day six of our "march" and the walls will be coming down tomorrow. We have to stick it out and trust in God's sovereignty. He knows best. 

     Before diamonds become diamonds they have to be heated and squeezed. If this process didn't happen, they would never become diamonds. Our struggles are our heat and pressure. God is using them to strengthen us so that we can become beautiful diamonds. He knows what he is doing. 

     Struggles won't last forever. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and we just need to get there to see it. We have to keep moving forward. God is always by our side even when we can't feel him. He is faithful. We are his beloved children. He knows our hurt. He knows us inside and out. Even in the most lonely of times, we need to remember that God's way is the best way. He knows exactly what is best for us. Life may hurt and shake us up, but it's all apart of our journey to become diamonds.