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marbella3 70F
2483 posts
10/16/2018 5:11 am
Terrible and Beautiful Things

Read: Psalm 57

Bible in a Year: Isaiah 47–49; 1 Thessalonians 4

Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. Psalm 57:8

Fear can leave us frozen. We know all the reasons to be afraid—everything that’s hurt us in the past, everything that could easily do so again. So sometimes we’re stuck—unable to go back; too afraid to move forward. I just can’t do it. I’m not smart enough, strong enough, or brave enough to handle being hurt like that again.

I’m captivated by how author Frederick Buechner describes God’s grace: like a gentle voice that says, “Here is the world. Terrible and beautiful things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.”

Terrible things will happen. In our world, hurting people hurt other people, often terribly. Like the psalmist David, we carry our own stories of when evil surrounded us, when, like “ravenous beasts,” others wounded us (Psalm 57:4). And so we grieve; we cry out (vv. 1–2).

But because God is with us, beautiful things can happen too. As we run to Him with our hurts and fears, we find ourselves carried by a love far greater than anyone’s power to harm us (vv. 1–3), a love so deep it fills the skies (v. 10). Even when disaster rages around us, His love is a solid refuge where our hearts find healing (vv. 1, 7). Until one day we’ll find ourselves awakening to renewed courage, ready to greet the day with a song of His faithfulness (vv. 8–10).

Healer and Redeemer, thank You for holding us and healing us with Your endless love. Help us find in Your love the courage to follow You and share Your love with those around us.

God’s love and beauty make us brave.


MrsJoe 76F
17367 posts
10/16/2018 6:19 am

Sometimes, I have to push on, knowing all this but not "feeling" like it...... until eventually, that courage is awakened.


Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.


starwomyn 70F
8871 posts
10/16/2018 11:32 am

I have a friend who recently lost her little granddaughter who had been sick for some time. It was sad for the family to lose their little trooper but for the little girl, no more chemo, no more iv's or painful medical procedures. Her sight is regained and she can fly with the angel wings she earned on earth.

Abracadabra