... crushed, abandoned and destroyed ????

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed

( 2 Corinthians 4 : 7-9 )

spent the last hour looking for a blog post I thought I had written about this passage...

found a few but not the one I was looking for.. so here I go again..

have loved this passage for the last 10 years or so...  memorized it and have been holding onto it for dear life at times.. believing it to be true even when it didn't feel like it.. when I  was in despair, abandoned and definitely felt destroyed...

trusted that because I have this treasure, in me, the broken, lowly, earthen vessel, I was not going to stay there..

that by the all surpassing power from God I was going to be strong enough to make it through the next day..

meditating on this again this week, I remembered what had struck me a while ago... looking at it from a different angle and realizing that yes, this was a passage communicating hope, it also is one to tell us that the Father in Heaven is well aware of what we are going through...

being hard pressed on every side... that's no fun.. that is painful... not crushed, but almost.. it's a big deal.. struck down.. that hurts, deep inside.. bruises and deep wounds inflicted... all this is reality for all of us at some point in time..

as Christians we sometimes think we need to almost deny that we are going through hard times, shouldn't we be able to deal with it and be hopeful and joyful all the time??? after all, we have this treasure in jars of clay, don't we????

there is a tension between living the reality of our earthly lives and the truth of scripture.. and I am sure the Lord is more than aware of it.. we do not have to pretend we are FINE, because, let's face it, ultimately no one can separate us from the love of God.. He will bring us safely to His Heavenly Kingdom.. with Him we can make it from one day to the next, and we do not need to lose hope..

thankful for knowing this, for learning that the compassion our Father in Heaven has for us is never ending... it is new every morning and His love spills out and envelopes us at all times..

He does scoop us up and holds us close when what we are going through feels more like despair and abandonment than being Super Christian Woman that can deflect any attack......

will never get tired of His Word.. it's alive and sharper than a double edged sword.. what a gift it is..

Praise God!!!!!