Personal Stories of Encouragement to Help You See God

How to see God when life is overwhelming.: Personal stories for your encouragement

Life. The smallest things can derail you faster than the speed of light.

• The sink is full, again.
• The torrential rains from the week are keeping you cooped up inside.
• And your phone died, I mean under the ground, no recovery, died.

Things like sitting in the sunshine or enjoying a hot, sometimes cold, cup of coffee start to feel like a luxury.

I have young children (7 and 4). If I don’t have rules, the whole house may fall down.

I do not like to break my own rules and I really don’t like my schedule to go off the railroad tracks.

But sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Sometimes life throws you curve balls, and God gives you what you need, whether you know it or not.

Back in September 2019, our family had quite a few curve balls thrown at us, good and bad.

We were planning my son’s 4th birthday party and my sister’s wedding, If you have ever planned either, you know your list of to dos can make your wheels spin faster than the speed of light.

But the saddest of all was two deaths in the family.

• My sister’s new husband’s father passed away the night of their wedding.
• My grandmother passed away in September at precisely 12:18 PM.

We knew both deaths were imminent. Both loved ones were on Hospice. But your heart can still be anchored to the bottom of the ocean.

I feel at peace with my grandmother’s passing. She had been in a nursing home the better part of a decade from remnants of a stroke. She was unable to walk and while she was “with it”, her quality of life had been slowly declining.

My sisters and I visited her this past summer with our entire families.

I have no regrets.

I said my goodbye on the phone. My dad said as I was talking, my grandmother opened her eyes just a little. (She had been unconscious for the better part of 24 hours).

I know she will no longer be hurting, her body will be healed and she will be reunited with my late grandfather, her beloved “Dave”.

But in all of the sadness, when you’re feeling that your heart is empty, and lacking, You’ve got to remember that grief isn’t the absence of love. Grief is the proof that love is still there.

Tessa Shaffer, Heaven Has No Regrets

Allowing Myself Grace to See God

With all the above events unfolding, grace was necessary. However, instead of giving myself grace, I kept pushing, and in God’s great imminence, He provided a much needed break.

How our Lord knows our hearts and needs without us even asking!

What is the price of two sparrows-one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God then a whole flock of sparrows.

Matthew 10: 29-31 NLT

When God Pushes:

I had a full day of plans, but alas my son came down with a fever the night before, effectively preventing me from going anywhere but the necessary stops.

Maybe you think these daily things are just coincidence? What does a great God care about the little things in my life?

I must confess, I too find myself doubting at times. How can something so magnanimous exist in a world of great sin? Great scientific and philosophical minds could debate this much better than I.

But I know these things to be true because I see God everyday.

In Weeds:

• I see God in the purple flowers in our yard after the loss of my husband’s mother. Purple was her favorite color. Never before had those flowers appeared until the spring after her death.

In Socks:

• I see God when my extra sensitive daughter is trying to find socks that she can wear and a previously lost one appears in plain view where I had already looked once, effectively avoiding any drama on a harried school morning.

In the Wind:

• I felt God in the gentle breeze against our faces on a hot sultry humid day in Louisiana at church camp one year…. Immediately after I prayed for just that.

In my Journal:

• I see God when I’m crying tears of anxiety over my child and realizing how much of my energy and worries go into my daughter on a daily basis. Then I turn the page of my journal to find written in my daughter’s kindergarten handwriting:

“I love You, God and Gesus”.

• And God gently shows me that He’s got me and my daughter. Simply because he cares.

Sharing an Umbrella:

• I see God on a rainy day during nursing school, where the tears are blinding me and the darkness is enveloping me. Then out of the blue, he sends an angel to encourage, provide hope, and to share her umbrella.

Dreams:

• I see God in how my daughter at age four, had vivid dreams of talking with her Mimi after her death and how my daughter remembers the crib and rocking chair she was so lovingly rocked and placed in by her Mimi. My daughter was one and half when her Mimi passed away.

Amongst Depression:

• I see God when someone I love attempted to kill himself with a gun to his head, knowing the day before that it was indeed loaded, to find when he pulled the trigger that the gun jammed.

Death of Loved Ones:

• Finally, I see God at the death of my grandmother happening hours after all six of her children were united with her, hands held tight.

In all these things we are more than conquerors!

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Matthew 13:16

Maybe life just seems a little too much right now: Too much school, Too much togetherness, Too much loneliness.

Have faith my friend. Amidst the overwhelm, remember to stop and see God. He is there, if only we have the eyes to see and the ears to listen.

If God can make the lame to walk, the blind to see, if he can tell the waves to stop with the sound of his voice, then he can provide a break for you. And he can show you his love in any overwhelm of every day life. Whether you think you need it or not.

The cold cup of coffee, the sunshine warming your face, and even the full sink. Those things, they are gifts.

Gifts of a full life. Gifts from a gracious and loving God who shows up in unexpected ways, especially when life gets overwhelming.

Today, I simply ask you:

• Will you open your eyes to see His gifts?

Rejoice! For THIS is the day the Lord has made!

How have you seen God today? Share in the comments below!

Sharing is Caring! As always thanks for reading!

Related Articles:

Gods Power: 3 Incredible Examples from the Bible that Show Gods Power (unfadingbeautyandstrength.com)

How to Calm Anxiety in 10 Practical Ways

Resting Among Chaos

The Best Way to Practice Meditation

A Glimpse of Heaven

**Note: If you are looking for a resource to help your anxious thoughts, you should consider Transforming Your Thought Life. It has really helped me in my relationship with God and meditating on all that He has done and all the great gifts he has to share with us.

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