To Dwell Well

I find myself talking about disappointment a lot, which seems unlike me because I would claim to be a rather happy person. But in a recent conversation, I came to the understanding to dwell well in this life between two gardens, we must get comfortable with being unashamed and naked in the presence of the Lord. Yes, I said naked, fully exposed. We are most triumphant when we place our disappointments in the hands of the Lord, when we trust Him to redeem them and return them to us as a part of our testimony. Just as breaking bread feeds our human bodies, I’ve found that showing others my wounds feeds my soul. I’ve taken comfort in my disappointments, both new and old. Maybe I’m hoping that in sharing my disappointments, others would feel free to do the same, that they’d find freedom in talking about things that no longer hold any power over them. Maybe I’m hoping that in sharing our wounds, that we would then show up for one another with compassion and those disappointments wouldn’t sting with such sorrow anymore. To have compassion is to be clothed in garments of understanding. Again, this life between two gardens can sometimes make it impossible to be human and in those moments saturated with disappointment and sorrow, I pray that someone compassionate would be standing by my side. My disappointments have made me painfully aware of my own brokenness and need of a Savior, they’ve also shown me that I am loved by a God who just wants to be invited into that pain. As much as I’m a fan of the word compassion, what flows from compassion is really what stirs my heart. Compassion is mentioned first in Colossians 3:12. Its from compassion that kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience flow. I like to believe when I rejoice in my disappointments and share them with others that it shakes the enemy with fear. I would also assume it angers Satan to know that even though this world has wounded me deeply, I have come out loving, wearing my scars of suffering well with compassion for others. I dare say that it is in my own sufferings and disappointments that I have gotten a glimpse of what it would be like to lick the floors of hell but it’s in these disappointments that I have seen just how compassionate our God is. People need to know God’s compassion is alive and well and winning the epic battle of good versus evil. Praise God that He has tenderly met me in my brokenness and pain and for reminding me daily that because I am still showing up, I still have so much light and beauty to offer this world through my disappointments. I pray that we continue to show one another our wounds so that we may show one another our Savior.