Encouragement

My Personal Story Of Hope

by Brandon Braddy
06/07/24
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2 Corinthians 12: 8-9 (Kjv), Romans 8: 28 (Kjv) 
    We all have certain parts of our hearts, our lives, we might prefer to keep back from the crowd. Those less appealing, but nevertheless, true stories of our lives, ones that seem to make us vulnerable. They can leave us feeling as spectacles left wide open to possible critical comments and opinions, or unbelief concerning these honest parts, if we share them. And our very lives become open for interpretation, with such pieces we think may not be needful or helpful, either to ourselves, or for others, to be shared. But I have learned over time to be unashamed of certain parts of my life's story, to share so that God and His greatness be made known, and hopefully others will be encouraged and helped by what He desires for me to tell, because it is all about Him, It all points back to Jesus. He is the center of my life, the only One who deserves all praise. The following is my "certain part", my personal story of hope. While on your own journey, if your season is a hard one flowing with troubles, pain, or one overflowing with joy and gladness, My prayer is that He uses this writing to be a help to you, right where you are, my friends.

    In my earlier days, I was honestly a train-wreck, I believe this accurately describes my life filled with struggles from disabilities. I did not understand at all why God made me with these weaknesses attached to my humanity. Why did I feel so ''abnormal''? These feelings, along with the symptoms from two of my disabilities, helped to make me feel depressed. In my heart, I wished for death. Thankfully God in His sovereignty never answered that prayer from an unsaved young person whose life was out of control. I thought my situation would never change for the better, looking back, I was stuck, and at a huge loss, even The Apostle Paul used this following word when He wrote of the struggles he faced in his Christian faith-walk, within the bible pages, and to me it is a fitting word, so I will use it, I was perplexed, and to add another word to my God-story, unlike Paul the Apostle in the bible, I was also, here is an added word, in despair. I was not yet saved, my life, my heart was not yet changed by the awesome grace of a wonderful and worthy, real God. I was struggling very deeply, very much. We all go through painful situations in this life, It is very likely you have too went through hard times, you have struggled, and like myself, could share your God-story of how He helped you with and through the depths of these situations, whether you have suffered from a disability or several, or you can fill in the blank within your mind please, of whatever you have expierenced, but now you see God's gracious hand in your life. He is my ultimate Rescuer as well. He always has been there, I believe without a doubt He was always there working in the scenes of my life, weaving it all for good, even when I did not have a heavenly Father-son relationship with Him, in depression, feeling so low, and asking why God would create me this way, with such weaknesses, and convinced in my mind that these symptoms, these struggles causing me so much pain would always remain as they were then, and I would always be struggling in these ways for all my days. When I could not see the help or the Author of that same help, I can say now, He has been there. I see the evidence left behind, Yes I have experienced the ever so hard times, stretched through the years, it seems, but I now realize the hand of a mighty and very caring God who loves us all very much, without limits, with such a love, even beyond time and space, higher above what even words can describe, so is His great love. He was there always. Today, my disabilities are still part of me, that will not change, but God has a way of making situations better than they were, and working in our lives. So if you find yourself at a loss, if you feel like a puzzle with all the pieces scattered and not fitting together in the correct places where they need to be, if your life seems out of control without hopes of changing for the better, just know, God is there. You may not see Him now, you might not feel Him now, But by experience from what I have lived and seen in my life, I tell you this, He still works, He is involved in hearts and lives. You may look behind you and see His hand in your life, you will be able to remember, to recall His goodness shown, the great wonders He has accomplished just for you, only because He is good, and if not now, maybe at a later time, but whenever your break-through, that God-sized miracle arrives in your life, Remember, it may not happen right away when you expect it to, or how you think it should, but God has you in the palm of His hand, He is close to you, and He loves you. Whether or not you have it within your heart right now, Hope remains. God is not letting go of you. He has not forgotten. He will not forget, or loose sight of you. My heavenly Father has come through for me, showed such grace, in times when I was low on hope and faith, I could not see all He would do, but now I see, and this wonderful grace is the strong evidence flowing from it's Source who shows me, even in pain, in overwhelming, hard times, There is such a strong love, a mighty hope, and a conquering faith, that I did not yet have back then, because I had not at that time accepted Jesus into my life, I had not yet been drawn to him, my name was only later called by Him, by the One mighty to save. And now that I am saved, after several years ago being beckoned to my heart by Him to come and allow Him an entrance into my life, I have access to this strong love, a mighty hope, and conquering faith found only through God, and only because of Him, I am even made accepted and chosen by Him, and how He sees me through His eyes. God is amazing. This is His view from Heaven, that when He looks down and sees you and I, our experiences, both the good and the bad, He knows us, and all that has went on in our lives, in our hearts even, and loves us constantly, It seems as if He still is blinded by His own love, yet He sees so clearly. Oh! how great and unfathomable this God is who sees us, and How much He loves you and I, cares deeply for us, and is not finished with your life. He has great plans for you, for myself, if we have hearts ready to receive Him, and His words written in the pages of the bible, and all the great blessings He has in store for us, while we follow Him. There is always hope, a reason to expect the seemingly unexpected, because feelings, if we rely too much on them, can lead us astray, But faith in Jesus, will stand for those who have already received Him into their hearts and lives, and are following His will for them. Jesus has carried me so far. It is all Him alone. If there was not a real God, who loves us with an everlasting love that I cannot fully understand, but I trust it with all my heart, such a faithful One who was here in the beginning, and will always be, and is mighty to save, who could show me my need to be saved, those years ago, when I became a child of His, If all of this was fiction, not true, I believe it is safe to say, that I would be without this hope, and a person most miserable without faith. We would, all of us, have no need for Him, Because if He does not live, If He is not real, then where is the need for Him? The truth is, God is the One who can transform our lives and help us to be better with Him, than we ever have been without Him in the equation. He is the most valuable and important Piece of all, needed in our lives. I have found that He always is, and has always been there. When others may not see what you are going through behind closed doors, Jesus knows, and He is considerate of what you are facing, still on the move, still at work in hearts and lives, all around us, He is there. And I thank and praise Him for being with me, even when I could not see Him working, moving, in my life, but He has, and still does to this day. God is always faithful to us. We can trust Him. I am thankful that I can look back and remember, yes the painful, the hard, but also His love, His goodness, this strong arm of He who was and still is evident in my life, and in yours as well, who can help and carry us with and through anything this life can throw this way. God may be blinded with love for us, but He still sees every road we have traveled, and will, Always there, along for the ride. His goodness to us remains, He stays trustworthy, The best Father and Friend we can have beside us. It is He who holds onto you and myself, The One who goes before us, leading the way. While this life can be such a journey, He desires to help us and be the One in our lives we can always lean and depend upon, because that is who He is. His hand is there, working the good in and through your life. Can you see it right now? If not, I hope and pray you will. And when you do, please share your God-story, if you believe He is leading you to do that, with maybe a church congregation in your city, or on paper between you and Jesus, the Author of your story, as an act of worship toward Him and all He has accomplished in your journey of life. Please follow Him in how He might desire you to share, so that He alone might be praised, and others around you might be encouraged. And my prayer also, is that God has used this testimony of mine, to first bring Him all honor and praise, and also to bring a bit of hope and encouragement into your hearts and lives as well. Thank you.