The Invisible, Untouchable Good Stuff

Philippians 4:13(NLT)
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

“Why do I feel like God wants me to go through this pain?!!!”

Philippians 4:13 is a source of strength and support when we face difficulties and tribulation. This is especially true when it comes to experiencing betrayal from a loved one. A healthy relationship with the significant person in your life is a beautiful thing. Most of us long for this type of relationship. When we meet someone that we believe will give it to us and also extend the kind of love we feel we need, the sense of belonging and delight is very satisfying to our souls. But sometimes, these relationships do not work out as we hope. Just as we, ourselves, may have fallen out of love with people in our past relationships, the person that means so much to our worlds right now can also lose the love they once had for us. It can be a devastating blow.

I have friends that have been on the receiving end of this kind of heartache more than a few times. I’ve seen them try just about anything to minimize the pain, because as many of us can attest, the pain of a broken heart is gut-wrenching. The effects of betrayal can leave you traumatized to the point that you don’t want to get out of bed or face the day. You just don’t think you have the strength to make it through. The reality is that pain reveals the extent to which we desperately need the power of God’s love and Word. This the only medicine that can truly heal a broken heart.

When you’re in pain, and you’ve got responsibilities and others depending on you, you’ve got to keep pressing and pushing to keep everything together. You don’t have the luxury of staying down too long. Philippians 4:13 says that we can do all things through Christ, because he’s the One who gives us strength, but this verse doesn’t mean that we have to do everything on our own. Jesus Christ is the glue. He will hold everything together. Our part is to make sure we allow him to work in us. God told the Apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”  God does not want us to be in pain. He wants to empower us in His strength, and He will work through us to bring us to victory on the other side of pain. Our part is to trust in His power and have faith that His Word is true.

Heavenly Father is our Creator and all of us come from Him. We were shaped, formed, and fashioned from His love. He is the One that has given us our identity and invited us into His family through Jesus Christ. We are God’s children and we belong to Him. Any time that we experience pain from something that has gone horribly wrong, or from someone hurting us very badly, we must remember who we are and whose we are. We don’t belong to ourselves. We belong to Heavenly Father, and He has a great plan for our lives. He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11(NLT), “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Sometimes we make decisions and choices without consulting Him. Other times, we just flat out mess up, but God knew about it before it happened. His plan for us is good and it cannot fail. His wisdom, love, and power is so perfect that despite our mess ups, despite what we’re going through right now, Romans 8:28 declares that He will make all things work together for our good.

We must realize the magnitude of God’s love and strength and be committed to let it reinforce our inner being through His Spirit.  Ephesians 3:18 tells us, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” If we’ll think back to the love we invested in the person that betrayed us, we must admit that we took something from inside ourselves that we couldn’t see, couldn’t hold, and couldn’t touch; and we gave this invisible, untouchable good stuff to someone else. It’s okay that they didn’t or couldn’t fully accept it. If we remain faithful to Him, God will send someone that will not only accept it, they will honor it as well.

But the truth remains that we took our strength and love from deep within, and we gave it to someone else. Well, God’s love is the greatest power that exists. And just as freely as we gave someone our good invisible, untouchable substance, we ought to let God fill us up with His love. The answer for brokenness is to trust God’s love for us. It’s the source of our strength, and if we have faith, His love will make us stronger and better than we ever thought possible.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“The Invisible, Untouchable Good Stuff”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.