Sometimes the loneliness still astounds me. Sometimes it still hurts to breathe. Sometimes I still find myself wondering how all this happened and why. Sometimes I still cry about all of it. Sometimes I find myself just stopping in my tracks or looking into the mirror and wondering how everything went so off track…and I let myself feel what I need to during those moments.
Maybe you can relate.
It’s in these moments that the thorns feel so sharp. I feel the thorn of a broken marriage and broken covenant. I feel the thorn of the effects of that broken covenant and how it has and continues to affect my daughters. I feel the thorn of being sad that I am alone in many ways. These feelings happen without warning at times and can sting sharply just as a thorn does.
If I were to let the thorn fester for too long, an infection of my soul could occur. My heart could become infected with pain, bitterness, and worry. The Bible tells me that out of my heart flows my actions (Matthew 12:34), so it’s important I pull the thorn out of my heart and place it in the hands of Christ. God’s Word tells me that as his daughter I am a lily among thorns (Song of Solomon 2:2). The love of Christ for me is beautiful and pure. I can love my neighbor and treat them with respect, but for “my people”…my chosen ones…the love I have for them is deep and precious to me. Likewise, it is with God and his love for his chosen ones (1 Peter 2:9).
Today you have a choice to make.
You can live this day like a thorn has robbed you of all joy. You can sit and stare into that thorn all day long, OR you can get up, wipe your face, look into the mirror of God’s Word and see yourself and your children as a lily AMONG the thorns. The thorns of this life will never go away, but we do not have to allow them to infect us with their poison. Instead, we can intentionally choose to look to the One who is the lifter of our head, and we can SHINE OH SO BRIGHT!
Our actions matter. Our children are watching us make intentional decisions every day. So choose wisely, my friends.
Charles Spurgeon said, “If his name is on your heart, then be sure of this, that your name is on his breast, and written on the palms of his hands.”
You are so dearly loved.
