I recently went out to lunch with a friend.  I spent a good amount of time telling her about two situations that had been going on in my life.  On the way home, she asked if church was helping me to get through it.  I responded, “Yes. Absolutely!”.  After getting home and giving it further thought, I regretted saying that.  Why? Because it’s really my relationship with Jesus that gets me through difficult situations.

Going to church is important to me.  It’s a place for me to worship God.  It’s an opportunity for me to fellowship with other believers.  I learn things about God and myself.  I often even leave feeling challenged and charged up for the week ahead.

All that being said, none of this is possible without my relationship with Jesus.  Let me be explain; my relationship with Jesus and going to church are two separate things for me that work together.

Many people don’t know this about me, and I didn’t even realize until the last few years, but I’m an introvert.  People are important to me, and I love my family and friends, but I am extremely comfortable being by myself.

I think the reason for this is because I am watching myself get to a place in life where I don’t find my value in people.  Do I have people I love? Yes! Does it feel good to be loved? Of course!

But what happens when friends are unavailable, family isn’t around, and church is days away?  What then? Suddenly things get real.

Not long ago, I found out that someone I thought I could trust had betrayed me.  Not only was I heartbroken and angry, but I was also embarrassed and scared.  I wondered how I could have allowed myself to even be put in this situation.  This was someone I loved and cared for dearly.

I did confide in three close friends, but I couldn’t even put into words what I was really feeling at the time.  I felt so broken. But, the truth was that I wasn’t.  This won’t be the last time I say this, but I’m speaking from experience when I say that feelings lie sometimes.  Thankfully, I don’t have to go too far to find truth.

I may have been broken, but not too broken for God.  He specializes in brokenness. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).  I can’t even begin to tell you how true this is.  If I’m honest, I will tell you that my first instinct when I’m heartbroken is to hide in bed under the covers and go back and forth between sobbing, sleeping, and watching mindless TV.  I bet a few of you can relate.

It just so happened that on this particular weekend that I wasn’t even going to have time to go through my normal routine.  I was super busy, and oddly enough, it was at church.  I don’t particularly believe in coincidences.  Even when I use the word, it’s not really what I mean. Some things are just too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.  It’s more so about God’s timing, and God’s timing is EVERYTHING (I’ll talk more about this in another post to come)!!!

As it turned out, I was going to be singing in a workshop that weekend.  Can I tell you that the lyrics to those songs got me through? It wasn’t even the first time that I had heard or read them, but they were really speaking to me.  I was in the process of being rescued.  God has created an escape for me, but not as in an escape from reality.  This was an escape that allowed me to focus on…

• Who He is- “He’s My Way Out”
• What He has done- “God Made Me New”
• What is yet to come- “Things will get “Better”

As you go through life’s ups and downs, stay focused on God.  This is the relationship you can always count on. I promise you with everything in me, if you know Him, He will never leave nor forsake you, and if you don’t know Him yet, He’s already waiting on you.