June 30, 2012 ~ Mourning to Dancing

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Psalm 30:11-12

Thoughts~

Have you ever felt so despondent that you could hardly function? Deep mourning is like that. When I lost my Dad, I lost the earthly hero of my life. He showed me love unconditionally, even when I was not deserving of it. He had a terrific sense of humor and was so much fun to be around. He built me up when I was down and encouraged me I could do anything I wanted to do. My loss felt like a heavy black sack was placed over my whole life.

God only allows grief to embrace us for so long before He steps in and “clothes” us with gladness, with joy! I know how the Psalmist felt when he wrote the words above.  What a relief, what a release and what a response to sing God’s praises and thank Him for bringing me out of blackness and into the Sonshine of His love.

Action ~

Today, take a piece of paper and fold it in half. Open it back up and on the left hand side write mourning/sorrows; on the right side write gladness/praises.  Now fold it again and on the left hand side begin listing sorrow in your life for the past year (or whatever time frame you feel like). 

Spend a little time on this so you can remember these times but not so much you become sad over them. 

When you are finished, open the paper back up again and list, across from each sorrow, the gladness God brought into your life when the sorrow was over.  This action will help you to realize God always brings the SONSHINE after the storms in our lives. 

Pray ~

Oh Lord, thank you, THANK YOU that you don't let mourning and sorrow engulf us forever. Thank You for bringing gladness to my heart after the hurt begins to wane. I give thanks to You forever and I love you with all of my heart.

Trusting in the Lord,
Becky