{"id":5679,"date":"2018-01-06T17:52:37","date_gmt":"2018-01-06T23:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5679"},"modified":"2018-01-06T17:52:37","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T23:52:37","slug":"grief-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/06\/grief-and-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Grief and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Smith<\/strong>
\nTrust is a big word that many people know the definition of, but not the\u00a0true\u00a0meaning. Trust is not only a noun, but an action. It simply means to ‘believe in the strength or ability of someone or something.’ Hearing that word takes me back to a Kindergarten game where everyone would pick a partner, close their eyes and as stiff as they could, fall backwards into the arms of a trusted classmate. All you felt was air in those few seconds until your\u00a0partner\u2019s arms clenched\u00a0you around the waist and hoisted\u00a0you back up into the normal standing position. You’ve then been caught, lifted up and saved by someone you put trust into.\u00a0 This simple\u00a0game accomplished its purpose then in\u00a0building a stronger class and strengthening friendships,\u00a0and it still teaches a lesson today.
\nOne day you\u00a0stand tall and firm in your faith in God.\u00a0\u00a0You do everything right, but when one thing goes wrong, you feel yourself fall. You slip up on your faith due to being blindsided by the many sinful and evil things we as humans face daily. As you fall, there is only one thing you can do before you hit rock bottom and completely ruin yourself.\u00a0\u00a0Trust.\u00a0\u00a0Trust in God, savior of the world, to catch you and guide you back up to the person you should be, firmly planted in the word of God.
\nThe Bible gives us so many examples of people who put their trust in\u00a0God during hard times \u2013 David; Esther; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; Moses and Aaron; Abraham and Sarah. The list goes on and on.\u00a0The book of Hebrews offers a whole chapter of \u201cfaith heroes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nBut the one person that sticks out to me the most is Job.\u00a0\u00a0Job\u00a0seemingly\u00a0had a perfect life starting\u00a0off.\u00a0 In Job 1:1-3 we read,\u00a0“1 There was a man in the land of\u00a0Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. 2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.”
\nJob had life made. He was a great guy\u00a0who feared\u00a0God,\u00a0he\u00a0had a beautiful family and piece of land. Satan knew this. And Satan decided it was time for Job to take that mighty\u00a0test of faith. Satan slowly destroyed Job\u2019s animals, his family, his body, his life. He took away everything that made Job happy, everything that gave Job meaning and life\u00a0on this earth. He had hit rock bottom.\u00a0\u00a0 Job questions God in Job 7:16-21:
\n“16 I loathe my life;
\nI would not live forever.
\nLet me alone,
\nFor\u00a0my days are but a breath.
\n17 \u201cWhat is man, that You should exalt him,
\nThat You should set Your heart on him,
\n18 That You should visit him every morning,
\nAnd test him every moment?
\n19 How long?
\nWill\u00a0You\u00a0not look away from me,
\nAnd let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
\n20 Have I sinned?
\nWhat have I done to You, O watcher of men?
\nWhy have\u00a0You\u00a0set me as Your target,
\nSo that I am a burden to myself?
\n21 Why then do\u00a0You\u00a0not pardon my transgression,
\nAnd take away my iniquity?”
\nJob had gone from loving his life to hating it. Notice that he\u00a0still believes\u00a0in God throughout this trial. He’s mad and frustrated, but he also continues to be aware that God is God. He never turns his back on God or curses at him, but simply questions him. He wants an explanation for the pain. This\u00a0is\u00a0Job at his worst, alone and in unbearable pain. Due to Job\u2019s faith, God\u00a0rewarded\u00a0him with even more than he had in the beginning. He lived 140 years and died happy with many children, grandchildren, animals and land.
\nSo easily could Job have just said, \u2018God, I have nothing else. You must not be all powerful. You must not control everything. You let this happen to me and now I do not love you.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0But he didn’t.\u00a0\u00a0Job let go, fell backwards and God caught him and brought him back up, better than before.
\nRecently I’ve taken my own fall. Mine was not even close to Job’s, so I can’t even imagine how he pulled through it like he did when I continue to struggle some days.
\nAs I write this it\u2019s been a\u00a0year, 2 months and 12 days ago,\u00a0when I was a typical teenage girl, full of happiness and joy. I had been dating my best friend, Taylor, for 11 months and two days and could not wait to hit that\u00a0one-year mark.\u00a0\u00a0He was my handsome,\u00a0dark haired boy in cowboy boots and Wranglers.\u00a0The sweetest boy you will ever meet.\u00a0\u00a0Perfect manners, great with kids, outgoing.\u00a0 He helped the kids at school who were mentally challenged and I even saw him yell at a few bullies\u00a0for messing around with “different” kids.\u00a0\u00a0My momma and grandmother adored him and my daddy thought very highly of him. He gave me sparks and made me crazy happy.
\nA year, 2 months and 12 days ago, started off like any other normal lazy Saturday.\u00a0\u00a0I was fighting off a cold but Mom said that if I rested, I could go out on a date that night with Taylor to Steak n Shake. Around 4:00 I started to get ready, putting on my make-up.\u00a0\u00a0Taylor had told me he was with Luke, who has been like my little brother for as long as I can remember, and that he was about to come get me.\u00a0\u00a0I had no idea that Taylor wasn’t going to show up at my house that night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nMom came downstairs and interrupted my make-up session to tell me that Taylor had been in a bad accident and we headed for the car as fast as we could to get to Luke and Taylor.
\nThe rest is a blur and something I still cannot talk about to anyone, not even myself.\u00a0\u00a0I saw things that night that I have tried to block out of my memory for over the past year.\u00a0\u00a0I saw and witnessed many things that night that I wish to never go through ever again. I call it my night from hell because it is the worst thing I have ever been through before.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nAlthough my situation is nowhere near Job\u2019s and I have no right whatsoever to question God, I found myself wondering why this had to happen. As I\u00a0lay\u00a0in bed\u00a0a couple of days later,\u00a0crying with Taylor’s momma and daddy,\u00a0I found myself mad at God for making this happen to such amazing people.\u00a0\u00a0I was\u00a0angry, hurt, weak and exhausted mentally and physically.\u00a0\u00a0I went through a really terrible few\u00a0months filled with not eating, depression, awful thoughts and feelings, incredible rage and exhaustion.\u00a0\u00a0I was below 100 pounds, weak and miserable.
\nI was forced into a free fall backwards. Eyes closed, hoping for someone or something to help me out. Luckily, God did catch me.\u00a0\u00a0Just like David in Psalm 91:2, God was my refuge and fortress. He still is because I’m still not over it.\u00a0\u00a0I go through stages but I trust in God\u2019s promise\u00a0to never\u00a0leave me in Hebrews 13 verse 5.\u00a0\u00a0I was caught and God is pushing me back up again. I’m\u00a0still not nearly close to what I was before the accident, but I\u2019m a lot better than I was.
\nProverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart,\u00a0And\u00a0lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”\u00a0<\/span>
\nI don’t know why an amazing 16 year old boy had to go while so many terrible people are still left out in this world to do bad and harmful things. I don’t know why something so terrible had to happen to such an amazing family like his who have already been through\u00a0so much. But that’s not for me to decide. God put me on this Earth knowing what I would go through and he knew I could handle it.\u00a0\u00a01 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that he won’t give us anything we can’t handle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nGod is directing my paths.\u00a0\u00a0I know it because he has put so many opportunities in front of me for me to help others going through the exact same\u00a0things.\u00a0I have\u00a0since\u00a0talked with numerous girls who have lost their boyfriends and have been able to relate and comfort them because losing your boyfriend is a rare pain.\u00a0\u00a0No one can understand it unless you’ve been through it before. I’m sure the same goes with any kind of pain of losing anyone.
\nLike I said, things are still rough. I still have my days when I’m really depressed or really sad but things are better than they were those first few months.\u00a0\u00a0No matter what you’re going through or what you’ve been through, just fall.\u00a0\u00a0Close your eyes and let go.\u00a0\u00a0Just lose yourself and fall and let God catch you.\u00a0\u00a0He’s the only one that can.\u00a0\u00a0He’ll catch you and reward you for not turning your back on Him.\u00a0\u00a0And one day, I’ll see him face to face and be able to thank Him for the time He did give me with Taylor, not the time He took away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Smith Trust is a big word that many people know the definition of, but not the\u00a0true\u00a0meaning. Trust is not only a noun, but an action. It simply means to ‘believe in the strength or ability of someone or something.’ Hearing that word takes me back to a Kindergarten game where everyone would pick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,66],"tags":[1297,419,1051,1289,1070,626],"class_list":["post-5679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-think-excerpts","tag-ashley-smith","tag-death","tag-feature","tag-february-2013","tag-grief","tag-hope","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nGrief and Hope - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/06\/grief-and-hope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grief and Hope - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ashley Smith Trust is a big word that many people know the definition of, but not the\u00a0true\u00a0meaning. 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