I was frightened. I had heard a noise in the darkness, but my eyes could not see. I had that sinking, nauseating feeling of panic as the blood seemed to rush from my face. With weak knees, I crept through the den and down into a basement. I knew someone was in the house, and that my children were in danger. I hear them upstairs crying and fearful of what might be happening.
I manage to fumble around and find the wall phone in the darkness, and begin frantically dialing 911. The phone line opens, but nobody is there. I am yelling for help, but nobody hears me. Nobody is answering my desperate plea for someone, anyone, to come save me and my family. I fall to my knees with hopelessness and despair, wondering how I can protect my children, what should I do next, how can I get to them and keep them safe from harm, and more panic sets in.................
....then I wake up from my nightmare - heart beating fast, sweating, and feeling completely frantic - until I realize, it was just another dream.
I have had this dream many times, even ones with similar feelings, but different settings. Such as, my kids are outside and I see a tornado in the distance, but I cant get to them in time and they cant hear me warning them of danger. Or one of them is getting pulled into the rough ocean waves, and the force of the water keeps me from reaching them. Or I see someone kidnapping them, and my legs seem to be frozen, paralyzed.
One morning recently after having another such dream, I began to pray. I know that my dreams are simply a visual hallucination of my deepest fears; of something happening to those who are most important to me. And I know that I need not have those fears, because my God loves me and my family, and His desire is to keep us safe from harm.
So I found myself praying, asking God to strengthen my faith and my trust, and also inquiring as to why I continue having this scary dream. I immediately had a new thought. A thought that had not entered my mind before, so I know that God had placed it there.
"That feeling you have in your dream of hopelessness, despair, panic and the fear of recognizing that you are all alone without the prospect of someone hearing your cry, is how people feel when they do not know Me."
The thought took my breath away. For a moment, I laid there thinking about the very real feelings that I was still experiencing when I awoke from the dream. And then I felt the feeling of sorrow enter my heart.
Sorrow for those people who are lost, who dont know Jesus, and who dont have a God to call out to when they feel hopeless, desperate and all alone. Sorrow for those who are internally crying out for help and answers, and desperately wishing that someone, anyone, could hear them and bring them comfort.
Millions of people in our world feel alone every day. I dont mean they are actually alone, without crowds or people around, but they FEEL alone. They carry around a burden of loneliness every day; they carry a longing to be filled and fulfilled, but nothing they get, do or accomplish fills that void.
Christians do not have to fear loneliness. We may yearn for a little company every now and then or want to spend time with friends, but the feeling of desperate loneliness, with nobody to call out to, is not there. With Jesus as our Savior and friend, Christians can walk with confidence and happiness, because true loneliness is a feeling that results from the absence of Jesus.
Matthew 10:29-31 says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Jesus knows the numbers of hairs on your head, and He loves you. But does He really know you? And do you really know Him?
If you do not know Him, and you have been experiencing those feelings of loneliness, desperation, wondering what your purpose is in life, and why should you keep on going, then please visit this link today. You can fill that void that has been gaping open for years.
If you do know Him, then consider if there is someone you know who is feeling alone today. Forward this blog post to someone you love who needs to hear that Jesus is waiting to meet them, and that He is the answer to all those prayers for true friendship and someone they can trust and believe in; someone that hears their cries, and wants to reach out and save them.
God will answer your calls. He sees your situation. He loves you.
God is there, even when nobody else is, and He is only one prayer away.
I manage to fumble around and find the wall phone in the darkness, and begin frantically dialing 911. The phone line opens, but nobody is there. I am yelling for help, but nobody hears me. Nobody is answering my desperate plea for someone, anyone, to come save me and my family. I fall to my knees with hopelessness and despair, wondering how I can protect my children, what should I do next, how can I get to them and keep them safe from harm, and more panic sets in.................
....then I wake up from my nightmare - heart beating fast, sweating, and feeling completely frantic - until I realize, it was just another dream.
I have had this dream many times, even ones with similar feelings, but different settings. Such as, my kids are outside and I see a tornado in the distance, but I cant get to them in time and they cant hear me warning them of danger. Or one of them is getting pulled into the rough ocean waves, and the force of the water keeps me from reaching them. Or I see someone kidnapping them, and my legs seem to be frozen, paralyzed.
One morning recently after having another such dream, I began to pray. I know that my dreams are simply a visual hallucination of my deepest fears; of something happening to those who are most important to me. And I know that I need not have those fears, because my God loves me and my family, and His desire is to keep us safe from harm.
So I found myself praying, asking God to strengthen my faith and my trust, and also inquiring as to why I continue having this scary dream. I immediately had a new thought. A thought that had not entered my mind before, so I know that God had placed it there.
"That feeling you have in your dream of hopelessness, despair, panic and the fear of recognizing that you are all alone without the prospect of someone hearing your cry, is how people feel when they do not know Me."
The thought took my breath away. For a moment, I laid there thinking about the very real feelings that I was still experiencing when I awoke from the dream. And then I felt the feeling of sorrow enter my heart.
Sorrow for those people who are lost, who dont know Jesus, and who dont have a God to call out to when they feel hopeless, desperate and all alone. Sorrow for those who are internally crying out for help and answers, and desperately wishing that someone, anyone, could hear them and bring them comfort.
Millions of people in our world feel alone every day. I dont mean they are actually alone, without crowds or people around, but they FEEL alone. They carry around a burden of loneliness every day; they carry a longing to be filled and fulfilled, but nothing they get, do or accomplish fills that void.
Christians do not have to fear loneliness. We may yearn for a little company every now and then or want to spend time with friends, but the feeling of desperate loneliness, with nobody to call out to, is not there. With Jesus as our Savior and friend, Christians can walk with confidence and happiness, because true loneliness is a feeling that results from the absence of Jesus.
Matthew 10:29-31 says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Jesus knows the numbers of hairs on your head, and He loves you. But does He really know you? And do you really know Him?
If you do not know Him, and you have been experiencing those feelings of loneliness, desperation, wondering what your purpose is in life, and why should you keep on going, then please visit this link today. You can fill that void that has been gaping open for years.
If you do know Him, then consider if there is someone you know who is feeling alone today. Forward this blog post to someone you love who needs to hear that Jesus is waiting to meet them, and that He is the answer to all those prayers for true friendship and someone they can trust and believe in; someone that hears their cries, and wants to reach out and save them.
God will answer your calls. He sees your situation. He loves you.
God is there, even when nobody else is, and He is only one prayer away.
(If you linked over here from the Proverbs 31 Devotion, then welcome! I hope you will come back soon!)
8 comments:
Tracy,
I loved your devotion today. I am going to share it with someone I love who is feeling broken. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Great blog post too. WOW!
Tracie, the devotion today could've been written about me a year ago.
I've been in church all my life--my husband and I were even in the ministry at one point--but I'd never really trusted God, though I'd asked to be saved a million times. I honestly didn't believe that he wanted anything to do with me.
About this time last year, I felt his love and mercy around me like never before! I'm free of brokenness in my life, some I'm still living with simply because of my life situation. But the inner peace of knowing that, somehow, God has a plan for me, can use me, and most of all, LOVES me, is the greatest feeling I've ever known.
I'm so glad to see where you are, that you've been where I've been--I may not write books, or be a woman that other women look to for guidance, or live my dream of singing God's grace and mercy to others, but I have a place in God's kingdom, and that's all I need to know!
♥Susan
Thank you so much for sharing your heart and your fears, and your Hope with us today, Tracie! Your P31 devotionals are some of my favorites, mostly because of your openness and willingness to be vulnerable to point others to Jesus. I just wanted to thank you for obeying Him by telling others what He's done for you.
I, too, have been fearful, lonely, and broken. But God is good and He holds us tight even while we call out asking Him where He is in our situation!
God bless you and your ministry, as you have blessed me!
Jenn
What a powerful message God placed in your heart!
Thanks for sharing :)
Blessings,
Kate :)
Tracie, your devotion today brought back a flood of memories. I grew up in a Christian home and asked Jesus into my heart at an early age, however, it wasn't until after a year of journeying a path of depression years later that I truly found out what it meant to actually be loved by the Lord.
I will never forget the morning - it actually was a September 11th, years before the terrorist attacks, that God's love reached through my brokenness and healed me. A song was playing on my stereo at that time - and to this day I don't recall how the CD started to play, but Steven Curtis Chapman was singing, "You are a treasure, worth more than anything under the sun or the moon, God's greatest treasure is the treasure of you". God's greatest treasure is me? I still remember how the thought of that began to pierce through layers of insecurities. My life forever changed at that moment when God reached down to me.
This morning on my blog I wrote a post entitled, "Within His Reach". Regardless of wherever we are or how far our hearts wander, we are for always and forever within the reach of His love.
Powerful writing here today. Praying the Lord will use His words to draw others into relationship with Him.
Blessings,
Joy
Wow. Thank you for sharing what the Lord told you regarding those without the Lord. That really puts it in perspective what people are feeling. God bless.
Thanks for sharing this. It is a powerful reminder to continually pray for those who are lost.
Hi Tracy.
Thanks for the reminder that we need to pray more and do more for the lost. How truly sad it is that they don't have our loving Saviour in their hearts and lives!
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