God Isn't Trying To Break You

Don't despise the pressure.

Clay doesn't become beautiful by being left alone.

It is pressed.

Shaped.

Turned.

Refined.

Again and again.

Sometimes we ask God,

"Why is this season so difficult?"

When perhaps the better question is,

"What are You forming in me?"

The Potter never applies pressure without purpose.

Every turn of the wheel.

Every stretch.

Every moment that feels uncomfortable.

Every season that makes no sense.

Is in the hands of Someone who already sees the finished masterpiece.

The clay doesn't tell the Potter what it should become.

It simply stays in His hands.

Maybe that's the invitation for us today.

Stop fighting every difficult season.

Stop assuming every hardship means God has abandoned you.

Sometimes the pressure you're feeling isn't punishment.

It's preparation.

God isn't trying to break you.

He's shaping you into someone who can carry what He's preparing to place in your hands.

Trust the Potter.

Even when you don't understand the process.

Because the hands that are shaping you...

Are the same hands that created you.

But now, O Lord,

You are our Father;

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all we are the work of Your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

- David Baugh

Meme: Unwanted Seasons

Hope In God's Goodness

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13 (NKJV)

There was a time when someone spoke Psalm 27:13 over me, praying “that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.” Not just someday in heaven. Not just once I was free from the pain of this world. Here. In the middle of the brokenness I was drowning in.

At the time, I couldn’t receive it. I couldn’t even imagine it. I believed in God’s goodness … for other people. For the ones whose prayers seemed to get answers, whose lives looked stitched together. But not for me. The absence of joy felt like a final verdict in my life, and all I could see was sorrow. Hopelessness kept me stuck, rooted in despair.

Hannah knew that kind of sorrow too. We see in 1 Samuel 1 how she longed for a child, but year after year, her womb remained closed. In her anguish, she poured out her soul before the Lord - weeping bitterly, praying silently. But Hannah kept showing up. She believed, even in her pain, that she would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And in time, she did. She gave birth to Samuel, who would become one of Israel’s greatest prophets.

In fact, Samuel anointed King David, whose words in Psalm 27 echo Hannah’s story. She could have let the silence of unanswered prayers convince her that God had forgotten her. But instead she clung to hope. And she witnessed God’s goodness.

Hope can feel fragile when life is loud with pain. Sometimes it seems safer to brace ourselves for disappointment than to believe God’s goodness might actually break through in our lifetime, in our story, in our ache.

Maybe, like me, you’ve found yourself in that gray space where it feels like hope has packed its bags and moved on without you. You still whisper prayers, or maybe even shout, but heaven seems to hold its breath. You hear others testifying to answered prayers and overflowing blessings, and you quietly wonder, What about me?

Psalm 27:13 offers a lifeline: “I would have despaired had I not believed …”

What did David believe? That goodness was coming. Not just in eternity but here. On this side of heaven. God is not done. This chapter isn’t the whole story.

It’s not easy to cling to hope sometimes. But even if you’re in a season of silence or sorrow, may this be a sacred moment of trust, an act of gentle defiance against despair. May you dare to believe, even with trembling hands, that goodness is still chasing you down. Even now. Especially now.

Lord, when my heart feels thin and hope feels far away, steady me again with the promise of Your goodness. Remind me, like You reminded Hannah, that You see every silent prayer and every hidden ache. Help me cling to You with quiet courage, believing I will see Your goodness. Lift my eyes, strengthen my spirit, and let hope rise again. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Tabitha Yates

Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Life Seasons

Life has seasons where everything feels flat, where nothing seems to bring joy, and those seasons can feel endless. But they don’t define your worth, and they don’t define your future.

Even the people we read about in the Bible had moments like this. David was called a man after God’s own heart, yet he cried, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalm 42:5). Elijah, after doing incredible things for God, sat under a tree and said he wanted to give up. These were not losers. These were people caught in deep valleys, and God met them there.

Joy isn’t gone forever. Sometimes it goes quiet, buried under the weight of exhaustion, grief, or disappointment. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means you’re in a tender place where God wants to meet you differently. You don’t have to make joy happen on your own. Joy is a gift, and it will come again, even if right now all you can do is breathe and take the smallest steps forward.

Your life is not over. You are not behind. You are not worthless. You are in the middle of a story that God is still writing, even if the page you’re on feels blank. And sometimes, in those blank chapters, He’s planting things you can’t see yet.

If nothing is sparking joy right now, maybe the invitation is not to chase joy but to rest in God’s presence and let Him hold you until joy returns. You are loved, seen, and not forgotten. - Ellie Mont

Meme: Your Journey...

Trusting God When You Are Tired Of Trying

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."

Jeremiah 31:3

That morning, I picked up my phone off the nightstand with dread. Anxiety filled me at what I knew I would find there - other people enjoying their lives while I cried about mine.

Lord, am I going to feel like this forever?

I made a mental list of what I felt like I could no longer handle: battling relentlessly with my mental health, juggling two kids under 5, my husband’s unforeseen job loss, the sudden passing of my father-in-law, and ongoing financial pressures - just to name a few things.

There was no relief in sight, and it was hard not to feel frustrated, fed up, and forgotten by God. My soul was exhausted, and I was tired of trying. It seemed I had prayed every prayer I knew how to pray and studied every scripture about my circumstances. And yet nothing seemed to change.

Maybe you know this season all too well. You’ve been hurting deeply for so long. You expected to handle this better, to be stronger when everything came crashing down. But it’s OK that you’re feeling weak and unsure. God wants you and me to let go of having to figure it all out and instead let Him do what He does best: save us.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites never expected their freedom journey away from slavery to take so long or be so hard. But God took them through the wilderness to teach them dependence on Him and ultimately bring them into the good land He had prepared for them.

In reference to that time, the Lord said: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. 
(Jeremiah 31:2-3).

God hears our cries for deliverance. He has grace for us in our wilderness.

As I walked through my own wilderness, I realized that all the things I thought were breaking me, God was using to make me more like Jesus. I was exhausted because I believed it was all up to me. But as I chose to trust God to hold my broken heart and I received His grace each day, He revealed the good plans He had all along.

Will we dare to remember the heart of God when we don’t understand why He’s not fixing our most hurtful situations? Will we trust that we’ll find grace in our wilderness? Will we believe that God has rest for our worn-out souls and that He will never stop loving us?

Regardless of how we feel, we can stand in confidence that God will continue to be faithful.

Lord, thank You for hearing my exhausted prayers when life feels like it’s just too much and I’m desperate for solutions. Help me to hold on to You in faith and to stand on the truth of who I know You to be: a good, faithful, and loving Father who always has my best in mind. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Ashley Morgan Jackson
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Comfort in the Wilderness

 suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

1 Kings 19:5b (NKJV)

Sitting on my bed with tears streaking down my face, I remember feeling tired, emotionally and spiritually spent. My husband sat in front of me, looking concerned.

“I think I’m depressed,” I said.

For so long, I had been holding those words - carrying the weight of them. I couldn’t help but feel like a failure. This wasn’t my first bout with depression. I had struggled postpartum. Feelings of anxiety and sadness weren’t new to me, but I thought I had overcome them.

Although saying those words brought relief, I also felt overwhelmed with the feeling that I would have to do something about it. I would have to work hard to be happy and rested again.

The prophet Elijah knew about fatigue and despair. In one of the most unbelievable experiences in Scripture, he faced off against 450 of Baal’s prophets at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). Fire fell from heaven, and the people watching fell face down, realizing that the God of Elijah was the one true God. This was a great spiritual victory! But soon after, Elijah ran for his life because the murderous King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were out to get him.

In our key verse, Elijah was on the run and exhausted, alone in the wilderness. Thankfully, God brought comfort:

“Suddenly, an angel touched him. The angel told him, ‘Get up and eat.’ Then he looked, and there at his head was a loaf of bread baked over hot stones, and a jug of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again” (1 Kings 19:5b-6, CSB).

The voice in my head as I read this is that of a loving parent nursing a child back to health. And all Elijah had to do in response was willingly receive nourishment and rest. He didn’t have to muster up his energy to keep going. He didn’t have to prove that he was still faithful. He simply had to receive and rest.

Sometimes the holiest thing you can do is eat a snack and take a nap.

One of the ways my Abuelita Carmen says “I love you” is by serving up a hot plate of gallo pinto (Nicaraguan red beans and rice) and tortillas. There is nothing fancy about this meal, but it’s delicious and nourishing. I lived with Abuelita from the time I was a child until I got married. Through the years and all the ups and downs, gallo pinto was always on the stove, a comforting reminder of her love.

I imagine that when Elijah saw the warm bread and refreshing water God provided for him, it made him feel loved as well.

Reading the story of Elijah and God’s comfort in the wilderness helps us to see that God calls us to rest too. He wants to be our comfort, bringing nourishment and respite when we need it most.

Heavenly Father, You are the God who brings comfort, rest, nourishment, and grace in the midst of our wilderness seasons. Help us to receive Your love, especially in moments of despair and exhaustion. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Kristel Acevedo
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"