Kari Jobe | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘Kari Jobe’

At the End of Herself

Posted in WONDER, tagged at the end of herself, be still my soul, Empty, end of your rope, Hope, Kari Jobe, Sorrow on October 17, 2013| 7 Comments »

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“I have nothing left … not for work, not for my kids, not for my husband, not for any part of my life that demands something of me. I have no more strength, no more energy, no more solutions. I am at the end of myself.”

As I listened to those words, I heard her heart … she had reached the end of her solutions, her strength, her abilities. She did not know what to do, nor did she have the energy to fake it any longer. She was desperate, in a position of having to rely rather than having anything to offer to others.

As I shared in her sorrow, I soon realized that, although my heart and desire was to help her ‘fix’ her woes, I was not her solution, I was not her Savior. I was simply ears to hear, and arms to hold. With that realization, I felt the immensity of the weight that she was bearing. After all, haven’t we all had moments at the end of our ropes … at the end of us?

Certainly it would seem that we mere mortals periodically get to the end of our ropes, with no hope in sight, yet hope is always there in the form of God.

The problem is, that when we are at the end of our ropes, at the end of ourselves, we sometimes need an intervention, we need one to step into our moccasins, and carry us to the one who CAN fill our empty spaces. To hold a lethargic, emptied soul and lift them to the God who strengthens, who fills, is the greatest of honors, the greatest of callings.

Writer, Ann Voskamp (and Dietrich Bonhoeffer) has said, “blessed are those at the end of their rope because they can be tied to God. Blessed are the broken for they can be gathered into belonging. Blessed are those who find themselves wholly empty, because they have space to be holy filled with God.“Only he who cries… is permitted to sing…” is what Bonhoeffer said.”

“In you I rest,
In you I found my hope
In you I trust
You never let me go
I place my life
Within your hands alone
Be still my soul”

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Remembering is a Consequence

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged Alexander Pope, cannot forget, forgive and forget, Forgiveness, healer of my scars, Jeremiah 31:34, Kari Jobe, lifelong scars, Past, redeemed, remember their sins no more, sins erased, sins of the past, steady my heart, to erri is human on January 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

English poet, Alexander Pope said, “to err is human; to forgive, divine,” expressing well that forgiveness takes a Christ-likeness to offer, but I wish he had said something about forgetting as well.

I was reminded of this when I encountered a reminder of my past mistakes, failures, sins. I felt certain that I had acknowledged what I had been doing wrong, had asked for forgiveness and had been striving in my daily life to not return to the wrongdoings of my past. Then it was back, staring me in the face like nothing had ever changed. I was blown away, frustrated and disappointed.

When God heals us of our sin, it is a complete and miraculous event. He can take our failures and foibles and redeems them, and us, so fully that we are encapsulated by His forgiveness, and the altering that only He can do in our human hearts and lives. Even to the extent that we completely forget our actions. images-4

But we humans are not divine, and we cannot forget completely.

I was so sure, so confident that God had healed me from those sins. That they were forgiven, erased and forgotten for all time … and that was and is true. What I had missed was that, although I felt transformed, cleansed and redeemed, there still are Earthly consequences to sin, and one of the most pervasive consequences is that others do not forget.

What frustration to have worked so hard at allowing God to change ourselves for the better, only to have someone throw our past mistakes back into our faces. It would feel like our efforts are hopeless.

But our efforts at allowing God to change our lives, our hearts, are never hopeless or meaningless. Every good and broken part of our lives are part of His plan for our life.

Just like the injuries of childhood heal completely, and the pain of them be completely forgotten they still leave scars that stay with us all of our life, and sin leaves lifelong scars too. But like a physical scar from our childhood, that can remind us of the pain of touching a hot stove, the reminders of of our past sins can remind us to continue pursuing right living, and of how very humanly frail we really are.

“For I will forgivetheir wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Jeremiah 31:34

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Needing a Physician

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged Burden, Burden Bearing, GOD, Healer, Ill, Kari Jobe, Matthew 11, Sick, Struggle, The Great Physician, Trust in God on February 6, 2012| 4 Comments »

I feel cruddy! My head is swirling, my body aches, my brain is not thinking straight, and there is a throbbing in my heart that just won’t rest. I think I need to see a physician.

Other than my body aches (from a super energetic walk with hubby, after going far too long without doing so), none of my symptoms are ones that a Medical Practitioner could help with. They are ones that come from disappointments that life sometimes brings our way.

My symptoms are ones of angst for the hurting of ones I love. Sometimes baring the burdens of others is more weighty, more heavy than bearing our own. And, on this particular day, my shoulders are sagging with the weight of the burden of another. My sleep, my appetite (oh, how I wish it affected me by my losing my appetite … then there could be some good come of this heaviness), my every thought is preoccupied with this smothering burden.

Then I heard a song on the radio, and it reminded me that the one who makes the world spin on it’s axis has everything under control. I still do not know how things will work out for this burdened on who I love, but I know who loves this person more than me, and I trust in You, the Great Physician, to carry this burden, and to carry us.