"When It Seems Hopeless"

"I have been driven many times
to my knees by the overwhelming conviction
that I had nowhere else to go"

Who could have penned these convicting words?

Certainly not someone who had an easy life.

-his mother died when he was nine years old,

-he remained distant from his father

-he suffered from depression, despite his jokes and storytelling.

-his in-laws disagreed when he married their daughter
(he was poor, they were wealthy)

Obscure facts for a household name.

Who was this man who treasured prayer?

Who was this simple man who overcame?

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States of America, he won by a landslide and that with only the support of the states in the North.

God had put his man in place.

A man who had allowed himself to be driven to his knees...

How comfortable are you when you are resting with head bowed and waiting to hear from the God of the universe?

For Abraham, it changed everything.

Our perspective certainly changes, from this vantage point.

Because Abe realized this truth early in life and was driven there often,

God allowed him to see measured success, despite a life filled with loss after loss, struggle and heartache.

He never gave up.

How about you??

Has your life had its share of struggle, sadness, pain and disappointment??

Sometimes the pain has been afflicted for so long that we become apathetic and in this apathy choose the road

heavily traveled in hopes that we will get lost in the crowd.

'I just don't care anymore'

'It can't be fixed'

'The pain is too deep'

Lies!!!.. Lies!!!! All lies...from the pit!!

Lies meant to effectively destroy you...

But in fact...your great God is ready to recalculate the journey you are about to embark upon.

''If you will allow yourself to be driven to your knees''...once again.

Do you believe you serve a God who can take your pain and smash it together with the very one who has hurt you and make it something beautiful?

A God who can take your love and make it more than it once was..

Indeed,... He is in the business of making our  lives, our marriages, our careers and our families what they should have been all along.

Our God is in the business of restoration.

He can take our old hearts..

soften them...

and let us begin again.

But ours..

is always the first step to be taken in the healing.

When you have no where else to go..

follow the example of a man placed in history--who effectively changed the course of human events, 

when he allowed himself to be driven to his knees...

again and again and again.

For on our knees-we see things differently.

We find forgiveness...

and that little inkling of hope.

(If you can't see that 

from where you are..

then get on your knees)

For on your knees, 

You find the air to breathe,..yet again. 

Ezekiel 11:19

"And I will give them one (undivided) heart.
I will put a new spirit in them.

I will replace their heart of stone 

And give them a heart of flesh ."