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Written by Nilaurys Garcia, Iron Rose Sister Ministries volunteer in Chile
Labels are very useful to identify spices and to differentiate between salt and sugar in the kitchen. When moving, they help us know where the fine china is so that we can be careful to not break it. They can also identify who we can ask questions when we are at a tourist site, travel office, sporting event, or in other places.
In the same way that labels have their positive aspects, they also have their negative side when they are used to judge.
Opinions are more impactful when they come from those we most love, our physical family, our spiritual family, friends, coworkers, or classmates. And on those days when we feel down, if someone gives us a strange look, we can feel hurt.
Can you think of a time in which the labels of Christian and single might have a negative connotation?
The way in which you define yourself, at times, can be different from the way in which others see you, simply because we are using different lenses. If you do not live your life in the way that the world wants you to and you have not met the world’s standards, like having a partner, a stable job, kids, an academic title, and being highly recognized across your continent, I invite you to take a deep breath and repeat with me, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Eccl. 3:11, NIV).
If you’re like me, others have made you feel bad for being single. I want to remind you that you are important because you are a daughter of God, not because of your marital status. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). You are not incomplete as some may think. You have not missed your chance. And you will not be the bitter old lady with the cats.
If you have suffered for the cause of Christ, if you have lost your job because you decided you could not be part of a certain situation, or if your own family questions why you study the Bible, why you connect to that Zoom meeting, or why you gather with that group on Sundays, I encourage you to keep the faith. I know it hurts, but the reward far outweighs any suffering and we have the great Comforter. “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5).
You are I my prayers. You are not alone. You are worthy and I invite you to repeat, “I am a daughter of the Almighty and in Him I find comfort.”
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Written by Karyn Dancy, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
I was reading a devotional about Jonah this morning that really hit home for me. It was pointing out how Jonah was running because God is merciful, and Jonah didn’t feel the Ninevites deserved mercy. God is merciful. Even to the Ninevites who did deplorable things.
Do you ever think about why God would spare the Ninevites, but not Sodom and Gomorrah? He knew what they would become.
It struck me because God is merciful to me. Over and over, God has been so patient with me, teaching me step by step what I was able to accept and improve on a little bit at a time. For example, I’ve struggled with depression ever since a terrible car accident that caused some brain damage 20 years ago. I was even suicidal. Ten years ago, though, I had what seemed to be a revelation to me. You see, I always thought that my faith in God was strong, but in one life changing moment ten years ago I had a realization that if I didn’t trust that God had a plan for my life, then my faith was not strong because He promised me that He has good plans for me in Jeremiah 29:11.
I feel like that must be such an obvious thing to anyone who’s thought about it, but for me it took time to come to this realization. God revealed it to me at just the right time, though. It was an ah-ha moment that I needed to be able to fight the depression and trust in the Lord. It gave me a story to share.
Believe me, there are plenty more stories in which I have been on the wrong path in life, much more embarrassing ones, but God was patient with me and helped me come to an understanding of what I needed at just the right time. I could look back on all my years of getting things wrong and think God should’ve abandoned me so many times, but I’m still here, so He must see that I will be a part of His plan one day. Maybe that day is today. I’ll probably always be a work in progress till He calls me home.
I’ve been very negative about myself, beating myself up for my past and also for my physical appearance. It’s time to redefine myself. God sees something in me. I’m going to take hold of that and look for it. I’m going to look for His will in my life. I’m still going to stumble, but I know that God knows I’m going to get there. That’s enough for me.
In case you need the reminder today, His mercy is enough for you too!