I remember the tears. The days when laughter began to slip away and emotions threatened to unhinge my knowledge of truth.

It was a season in which I felt as though God had abandoned me. Life hadn’t worked out as I had thought it would. I was left in a puddle of emotions and God was nowhere to be found.

Or so I felt …

Have you been there before? In that space and time where the pain is big? Where you cry out to Jesus, and sense only a black wall of silence?

What do you do when you cry out to Jesus but only sense a wall of silence? #hope #notalone #momentsofhope
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A little over 6 years ago, we arrived home from Bulgaria with our daughter. The battle to bring her home had surpassed 2 years. Our biggest cheerleaders were there to celebrate her homecoming and praise God for answered prayers.

But nothing was as we expected and sadly, celebrating wasn’t even an option.

We were left with only one option and that was survival.

Our little girl was not well. Unbeknownst to us, severe trauma had inflicted its ugly wounds into her heart while hidden and untreated physical illnesses were spinning out of control. Emotionally, physically, and mentally she was in a state of emergency. Immediately, the pursuit of healing began.

Specialists, therapists, centers, hospitals, procedures, and testing monopolized our days.

But the most difficult part? Because of what trauma had inflicted upon her brain, our child couldn’t find rest. 24-hour days of hyper-vigilance. Sleeplessness, high anxiety, and raging consumed the lives of every one of us. She would allow no one in to love her.

The cry of my heart was to make this better for her. For our boys. For my husband. For our marriage. I felt as though I were failing because I couldn’t seem to fix anything.

This is where my emotions began to unhinge my truth.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9 NIV

Feelings are Indicators, Not Truth.

The world misleads us and tells us “Follow your heart” or “Go with your feelings.” But our hearts and our feelings are not stable. They sway with the events of each day. They can mislead us as they vacillate and often walk us into the depths of deception and pain.

Why would we follow what is unstable, inconsistent, and unreliable? Why wouldn’t we instead choose to follow an unchanging Truth? The Truth of God.

Our feelings are inconsistent and unreliable. Stick to TRUTH instead! #hope #notalone #momentsofhope
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As indicators, our feelings point to a deeper wound. We need to acknowledge not only what are feeling, but why we are feeling it. For me, it was anger, fear, and desperation.

I had to get honest with God. Yes, He already knew what laid within the recesses of my heart, but when He says, “Come to Me” (Mt. 11:28), I believe He means in complete transparency. Symbolizing our trust, His love beckons a deep exchange.

As I began pouring out in prayer every gut wrenching emotion in my heart, God began revealing truth.

As I cried “injustice”, He revealed:

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine …” -Isaiah 55:8 NLT

As I poured out my fears for the future, God revealed:

I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. –Isaiah 45:2-3NIV

As I purged my desperate desire for healing, God revealed:

And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire. Matthew 26:39 AMP

That season of my life is now just a memory. From the gift of perspective, today I can share hope. I see the work God was doing. I know as He walked along beside me, He collected every tear and gave me just what I needed to take the next step. He brought laughter back and rebuilt our family in a new and better way. I’m quite sure all He put in motion still isn’t visible to me. I may see it yet in the future, but in all honesty, there is much I will never comprehend on this side of the cross.

From the gift of perspective, we can share hope #notalone #hope #momentsofhope
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My feelings tried telling me God had left my side. But the Truth I embraced said God will never leave my side.

So, friends, if you are in that place of hurting. In that place where you feel as though God has left your side. I urge you to continue pursuing deep relationship with Jesus by incorporating these 6 strategies into your everyday life. I promise, a day will come where you will once again feel His presence and see His handiwork.

1. Pray boldly and authentically. Pour out all that lies in the heart.

2. Listen for His answers. Sometimes we speak and do too much, drowning out the subtle voice of Jesus.

3. Praise God for all He is! Gratitude and praise are powerful weapons against pain.

4. Worship Him even when it’s difficult. Maintaining a life of worship keeps our hearts in tune with Him.

5. Read God’s Word keeping it sealed in the heart. Learn of the hope within those pages.

6. Contradict feelings with Truth. Taking every feeling before the Word of God. Rewriting it with the light of His Truth will bring healing and show the traces of God’s hand in each step.

Today, I pray you continue to pursue Him until laughter once again fills your home. And that each time your feelings begin to unhinge the Truth, you stand strong, faithfully reclaiming what is yours. God is for you. He is there with you. And He will never leave you.

*This post first appeared on iBelieve.com

Featured #MomentsofHope Post

The adoption and parenting of our sweet Selah has been a journey of one unexpected turn after another. There’s layers of grief cushioned by moments of deep joy. There’s wrestling with God in the moments of frustration and a deepening of relationship with Him when His grace welcomes me back.

So when I opened Sarah Geringer’s post this week and read the guest post written by Julie Holmquist of Stuff of Heaven, my heart filled with emotion. Julie’s post is about the unexpected turns in life. The kind that turn your world upside down in only a moment. Her sweet boy grew in her belly while our daughter grew in our hearts. But the hopes and dreams of a Mama is universal. And when the hopes and dreams look radically different, embracing the new normal takes work. It takes faith.

And then you see the power of love.

When our hopes and dreams look radically different, embracing the new normal takes work. #specialneeds #parenting #momentsofhope
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Step on over to Sarah’s blog right HERE. What you find will challenge you and give you hope. And it may just push you to lean into Jesus even a little more.

Before you go… Could you use some real HOPE today??

I’ve created the 5-Day Hope Toolkit: Claiming the Victory of a Hope-filled Life just for you!

(Get it here) I’ve designed it so that it breaks these 5 strategies down into manageable pieces.

In it, you will receive a 5-day series of Scripture prayers giving you a solid foundation in how to pray God’s Will through praying His Word. You will also receive:

• A checklist to determine whether you have a hopeful or hopeless attitude.
• A beautiful printable image with positive “I am ….” statements of truth.
• A list of my go-to books, blogs, and websites when I am in need of encouragement.

To get to your 5-Day Hope Toolkit, click HERE!

#MomentsofHope Link-Up

Join us for the #MomentsofHope Link-Up! Share hope and be encouraged every Monday! #hope
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Each week I’ll be visiting as many posts as possible, sharing them to my Moments of Hope Group Board on Pinterest as well as my other social media platforms when applicable, and choosing one post each week to feature.

Thank you for joining me here each week to share the hope given to us through Christ. Whether your words come from a story that points to the full healing you have experienced in Christ, or its a story of the journey along the road to the healing you know He is working in you, it is giving hope to others. Your words matter and it honors me to have you share them here in this space!

What I ask of you:

1. Share up to 2 blog post URLs resonating with the topic of HOPE. That which gives us hope for tomorrow and hope for victory. The little things and the big that inspire us to lean into Jesus and let Him carry us through.

2.#MomentsofHope is a place to give and get hope, so let’s encourage others in their efforts to share the hope of Jesus. If you have time, stop by more than one sweet writer’s little corner of the blog world!

1. Please either grab the #MomentsofHope button found here or link back to me. If you’ve been featured, grab your button here!

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The post When It Feels Like God Has Abandoned You (and 6 Ways to Pursue the Truth) #MomentsofHope Link-Up appeared first on Lori Schumaker.