“But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah 9:24
Hearing that your daughter is pregnant is not a piece of news that you would like to hear from your young unwed daughter, but it happened to us. It was a Friday when our daughter confessed that she was pregnant. I was shocked and didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t do anything else but to grab and embrace her as I wept. It felt like the world was on my shoulder, pressing on me until I’m about to explode. I went to bed that night with a heavy heart and with questions on my mind. Why did it happen to us? What have we done wrong?
Talking to a counselor the next day helped sooth the pain. “You are in a powerful place of transformation and transmutation. You need to trust the process. God is in control!” we were told. God calmed our hearts and assured and affirmed us.
We led worship and preached the Word that Sunday amid the pain that we were going through. What God did that day was beyond our expectations and anything that we have experienced as a church. The worship was so intense that people were crying, and their shouts of declarations felt like thunder. The atmosphere was charged with God’s presence as He sets people free. The anointing during the worship carried through the preaching where the Word cut deep into our very soul. It hurt, and yet it was a healing that we needed.
We will never be proud of what happened to our daughter. BUT we are PROUD we TRULY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND our GOD because we choose to love, accept, and forgive her, and trusting God, in time, for healing and restoration.
Indeed, God is faithful! We are redeemed and restored! And God is using our journey to influence, teach, and help young people, experiencing the same, to be strong and hopeful as they hold on to God.
PRAYER
Dear God, help us to know and understand you more, especially in the darkest hour of our journey. Amen.
APPLICATION
Are you struck down? Are you in deep waters? Get up! Restoration is being released right now. Move forward. No turning back, don’t give up. A bright future awaits you.