Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion written for Devotionals Daily by Courtney Pray Duke, author of And She Got Up.
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I stood breathless on the frozen ground. My legs began to shake as I dared take one more step into a life without him. A life unknown, empty and shattered, full of questions void of answers. I struggled to take a deep breath, wondering if the suffocation of the pain would ever relent. As I left the cemetery that afternoon, I begged God to breathe life into me, because if He didn’t, I wasn’t going to make it. I was out of moves, out of strength, and out of hope.
Little did I know that a phone call would be the undoing of life as I knew it.
I married my childhood sweetheart. We had three beautiful babies, served God together, and believed we had our whole lives ahead of us. That was the dream.
But the dream shattered when a clear blue-sky day turned as dark as midnight in an instant. I wept in the hospital where my precious husband had been transported after a fatal bicycle accident. I stood next to our three babies and wondered how we would survive. The colors faded, and so did the joy. Was this the end of anything good forever? Did I even have a future?
Maybe you’ve experienced a hurt so deep. A dream broken. A love lost. A life unraveled at the seams. You’ve felt the sting of loneliness. You know what it feels like to be burdened, heartbroken, overwhelmed.
We serve a good God who has good plans, even when life doesn’t feel good.
The beautiful truth is that God always has a plan to bring renewing to the undoing. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us,
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Friend, what if the undoing becomes the very ground for a glorious renewing?
Jesus has always turned suffering into glory. We see it in the cross, through the long dark Saturday of the in-between, and in the resurrection. It is tempting to believe that what we see is the whole story. But God is working even when we cannot see Him.
Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. — 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NIV
The days, months, and years following my undoing, I made a choice to anchor my life in God’s Word. Slowly, it began to take root and come alive inside me. What I could see in the natural often felt like a blurry, hazy mess. But when I lifted my eyes, I could see something deeper… the promises and presence of God… and He began to breathe life into me.
As soon as I lifted my eyes off my circumstances and onto Jesus, I began seeing life in color again. Not because the pain vanished, but because His presence was greater. Jesus promises He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5 NIV)
And He didn’t leave me on that frozen ground.
- God specializes in doing a new thing, and He doesn’t waste a thing.
Isaiah 43:19 says,
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
The wilderness is not the end of your story. The wasteland is not where hope goes to die. It is often the very place where resurrection begins.
In Matthew 9, Jesus encounters two women in two completely different situations, yet both are desperate for healing and renewal. On His way to heal a dying girl, He heals a bleeding woman. Two interruptions. Two miracles. Two stories of restoration.
One woman had suffered for twelve long years with a health crisis. Her suffering was chronic and costly. No doctor could fix her. Her resources were depleted. I can only imagine her strength and sanity were worn thin, too. Yet she had heard whispers about Jesus, how He healed the lame and restored sight to the blind.
She said to herself, ‘If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed.’ — Matthew 9:21 NIV
Maybe you know what it feels like to endure year after year. Years of tears. Years of disappointment. Maybe the resources have dried up and so has your hope. But just like that woman realized she had one more move to get to Jesus, you have one more move too.
On the edge of desperation, there is still an outstretched hem to reach for.
Moments later, Jesus arrives at the home of the synagogue leader whose daughter has died. The crowd had already decided that the story was over. But scripture says,
After the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. — Matthew 9:25 NIV
And She Got Up.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NIV). If He did it then, He can do it now. He does not grow weary. He does not run out of power. He does not run out of miracles.
Do you need Him to bring something back to life? A dream? A calling? Your faith? Your joy? There is still an outreached hand. One that heals. One that restores. One that renews.
Jesus’ resurrection made a way for your resurrection. Romans 6:5 says,
For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.
Resurrection is not just a someday promise, it is a present reality. It is God breathing life into devastated places. It is color returning after everything went gray. It is strength rising from the valley floor of ashes.
Friend, there is a miracle left for you.
And just maybe, at the very center of the undoing, is the sacred ground where God will bring a glorious renewing. Just as He did for me, He wants to touch your life.
The frozen ground will not stay frozen forever.
It will bloom.
It will burst forth.
It will become the birth of a new beginning.
Take His hand, friend. Lift your eyes. Watch for the first glimmers of light breaking through the dark soil. Hear the Father speaking hope over you.
And you, too, will get up.
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Written for Devotionals Daily by Courtney Pray Duke, author of And She Got Up.
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Your Turn
Do you feel like you’re on frozen ground today? In the heartbreaking wilderness? Suddenly in a wasteland? This isn’t the end of your story. Our Almighty God specializes in doing a new thing. He doesn’t waste a thing. ~ Devotionals Daily