September 18 // Flip the Script

FLIP THE SCRIPT

How do you rise above the inevitable losses in your life?  

“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”      Matthew 5:4

God doesn’t expect me to be happy all the time.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven . There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”     Ecclesiastes 3:4

Grief is essential to my health. 

God doesn’t want you to repress grief. 

God wants you to express it to friends and confess it to him.  When you do that you’re on the road to healing.

“When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me.  I moaned all day long.”     Psalm 32:3

HOW GOD BLESSES BROKEN HEARTS.  

“Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”      Matthew 5:4

GOD BRINGS US CLOSE TO HIMSELF.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.”     Psalm 34:18

“I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.”    Hebrews 13:5b

GOD GRIEVES WITH US.

“(Jesus was) a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. He knew suffering first hand.”    Isaiah 53:3a

“When Jesus saw Lazarus’ sister sobbing, and saw how all those with her were crying also, his heart was touched, and he was deeply moved . . . Then Jesus wept. ‘See how much he loved Lazarus!’ they said.’”  John 11:33 - 36

“Jesus wept.”    John 11:35

GOD GIVES US A CHURCH FAMILY TO CALL HOME. 

“In Christ we who are many form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others . . . Be devoted to each other like a loving family . . . Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.”   Romans 12:5, 10, 15

GOD USES GRIEF TO HELP US GROW.

God uses pain to get our attention. 

“God whispers to us in our pleasure but he shouts to us in our pain.”  - C. S. Lewis

“Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.”   Proverbs 20:30

God brings good out of bad.  

“We know that in all things  God works for the good of those who love him . . .”   Romans 8:28

GOD GIVES US THE HOPE OF HEAVEN.

“We don’t want you to be ignorant about believers who have died.  We don’t want you to grieve like the people who have no hope.”    1 Thessalonians 4:13

“God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away.”   Revelation 21:4

GOD USES OUR PAIN TO HELP OTHERS.

“God comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others with the same comfort we received from God.”   2 Corinthians 1:4a

Your greatest ministry will come out of your deepest hurt.  

Every day you either need comfort or you need to comfort others.