Heavy eyes. Heavy heart.

It was the morning after a fitful night. An infection was waging war inside my body. But the physical struggle was outmatched by the wrestling between my mind and my heart.

I couldn’t stop the physical pain, and I couldn’t quiet emotional anguish. The only sleep that found me was filled with semi-conscious manifestations of frustration, fear, and sadness.

I’m not alone, am I? You’ve had nights like this, no doubt.

And it’s hard, isn’t it? To get yourself out of bed that next day. To face what is…and what might be.

Morning didn’t seem like morning. But it was. And the day wouldn’t wait. The routine took over. But my heart wasn’t in it. Instead, it was sending up wordless pleas for reassurance and help and wisdom and peace.

I pillaged my memory, grasping for every promise I had hidden there through the years. The ones I captured, I set on loop in my mind…an effort to remind and convince myself of their truth. Their reality. Trying to pull them close enough to feel.

My spirit cried:

I believe! Lord, help my unbelief!

And then, on the morning commute——–

God showed up.

He showed up with words. Voiceless words. Words no ear could hear, not even my own. Words spoken directly into my heart. Words heard more clearly than had they been shouted aloud in my native tongue.

He showed up in a brilliant display. A single cloud hung in the hazy blue, post-daybreak sky. Behind it the sun, positioned perfectly, outlining every curve, angle, and break. Filling every hole. So light, so beyond white…it was silver, but more. And from that breathtaking silver lining came inaudible, unmistakable words that thundered in my soul:

Dana, I am bigger than this.

Peace.

My desperate pleas died on my tongue. My cries fell silent in my soul.

He was there…He was in it…He was in control.

Friends, He didn’t end the battle. He didn’t remove the pain.

He didn’t have to.

With a few personal words, He asked me to trust. He asked me to remain faithful. He reminded me that He is working. That He’s got this!

Gratitude pushed out the anxiety. The cry of my heart turned to praise:

Indeed, God, You are so much bigger. Thank you. For loving me. For reminding me. For comforting me. Thy will—not mine. For your glory. Carry me through.

Doesn’t it just blow you away when the Creator of the Universe shows up in such a personal way? So humbling. So reassuring. So strengthening.

He shows up in so many different ways. And it’s breathtaking…every. single. time.

How has God shown up for you?

How has He reminded you that He is in your battle? Your struggle? Your hardship? Your grief?

How has He planted the right words right where you need them, right when you need them?

Friends, my prayer is that you and I will be able, in the midst of any and every circumstance——–

See Him

Feel Him

Hear Him.

And that no matter where we find ourselves or what we are facing, may our hearts sing—through our tears—it is well with my soul. And our cries are always followed by an unwavering claim on His good, good promises.

Because our hope is Him alone, even if…

Your DoAhead Friend,

Dana