God’s consistent love and guidance is a gift we can count on in this very uncertain and difficult world we live in. As widows, no matter how fresh our sorrow is, or how long we already traveled with grief as our unwelcome companion, we need an anchor to tie our hearts to. An anchor secures us to prevent us from drifting into dangerous waters. It is a person or thing we can rely on for support, stability, and security.
So in the same way, God wanted to end all doubt and confirm it even more forcefully to those who would inherit His promises. His purpose was unchangeable, so God added His vow to the promise. So it is impossible for God to lie for we know His promise and His vow will never change!
And now we run into His heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness. This is where we find His strength and comfort, for He empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakable hope! We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God Himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold, and where Jesus, our forerunner, has gone in before us. He is now and forever our royal Priest like Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6: 17-20 TPT
Our faith in God puts a whole new spin on how we view the world around us. The beauty of the Christian worldview is we are encouraged to take initiative and control what’s within our power. God’s faithfulness to us empowers us to keep pressing forward and sometimes even step out in faith when we are unsure, knowing and trusting God will lead and guide us in the way we need to go.
We also acknowledge there is a huge part of life we can’t control. Doesn’t it seem like this is so much more real since our husband is gone? At least for me, this has been the case. Not having my husband here means everything is my job and my responsibility, even those things I have no idea how to do.
But you know what? Even this is under God’s governance. God always shows His constant and steadfast love. In spite of our continual flaws, sin, and tendency to stray away, God’s love draws us closer back to Him. Giving and receiving love is often conditional and fleeting by the world’s standards. God’s love is stable, healing, comforting, and a source of refuge.
God is eternally wise and good, and we simply are not. We are fickle and easily distracted to veer off track. This is why we need to learn we’re far better off with God in control than if we were. In fact, God told us how to be successful and what to do in His Word.
Instead, I told them, “If you listen to Me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be My people, and all will go well for you.”
Jeremiah 7: 23 CEV
We need God more than we may ever know. We can only see part of what is going on. We can only use our logic and intellect to guide us as far as those things are accurate. There is way too much in our lives that is unknown. As widows, there is way too much in our lives we don’t feel very confident to handle on our own. That is why we can find great wisdom in God’s Word.
Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.
Proverbs 16: 9 TPT
Planning is good and necessary, but we should never plan like we can control the outcome. Our plans should be made with all the wisdom and care we can muster. I try to begin my plans by first putting them in God’s hands and ask Him to help me make them. If He is helping me, I stand a better chance of staying on track with His plans for my life. Even if I get it wrong, I also ask Him to help me surrender my control and be open to His guidance if I need to pivot or change direction along the way.
Our Father God wants to be our anchor of hope as we navigate the difficult and trying waters of widowhood. He gently beckons us to walk with Him and let Him reveal His love to us and show us what it is like to just be His precious daughter.
Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as His beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for He surrendered His life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration—a sweet healing fragrance.
Ephesians 5: 1-2 TPT
God’s compassionate mercy enables us to rejoice in future hope while we still acknowledge, understand, and make space for our present sorrow. Our kind, wise, and sovereign God can be trusted to carry us through the many raging seas of our tears. We can come to Him with open hearts and find comfort in His promises. Every word He speaks is true.
Every promise from the faithful God is pure and proves to be true. He is a wraparound shield of protection for all His lovers who run to hide in Him.
Proverbs 30: 5 TPT
It is the most vulnerable times that end up bringing forth our greatest strengths. The emotional and physical scars of our memories end up being our beauty marks that signify the great strength God forges within us. God transforms those ashes we find ourselves in when we suffer the tragedies of life and brings beauty like only He can do.
I am sent to announce a new season of YAHWEH’s grace and a time of God’s recompense on His enemies, to comfort all who are in sorrow, to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes, the oil of bliss instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Because of this, they will be known as Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by YAHWEH as a living display of His glory.
Isaiah 61: 2-3 TPT
Today I encourage you to give all your cares and concerns over to God. Give Him permission to run your life and show you the way you need to go. Let Him be your anchor in this stormy time so you are saved from any destruction coming your way. Receive His mantle of praise. Thank Him for all His mercies and goodness. Praise Him for all the ways He rescues you and gets you through the tough times.
God loves you and calls you His daughter. He is ready to plant you securely like a mighty oak tree He will delight in as His glory is displayed in you. Have a blessed and beautiful day.
***************************************************
Mark your calendars! Hope For Widows Foundation’s annual virtual Widows of Hope 5K event has returned on Friday, May 10 through Sunday, May 12, 2023. Anyone can join! Whether you are a widow, widower, or a friend/family member showing support or walking in the loss of another family member, everyone is welcome to participate. The proceeds will directly support widows through the annual financial Restoring Hope and Peace Grants, Sunshine Boxes program, and Bring Hope Holiday Assistance Program. Do you have or know a business that would like to sponsor? That’s an option too! To register and frequently asked questions- please go here: https://secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=139671
About Teri Miner
Teri’s dance with grief actually began over five years before she watched her beloved husband of almost 37 years take his last breath and enter Heaven’s door on October 6, 2019. A terminal degenerative neurological disease steadily and increasingly attacked nearly every major system of his body and transformed him from a vibrant, brilliant, strong and caring man to a bedfast invalid at the end. She was devoted to caring for him and doing her best to make the most of every minute they had left, to love him and pray for a miracle.
She thought she knew what her future held, but she had no idea. Losing him was the first time she experienced a close and personal loss. He was the love of her life. The onslaught of the pandemic with its reign of fear-mongering, forced isolation and separation entering the scene and disrupting or destroying whatever sense of “normal” that remained, just added insult to injury.
Her faith in God is the sustaining force keeping her fighting spirit to find and share hope in a bright future. Her heart’s desire is to walk beside her fellow widows toward a path of promise and healing. She wants to offer encouragement and hope so others can find the strength to take that next breath or next step. She recently started her own blog, https://widowwhispers.blogspot.com/, to share with other widows not only the struggles and hardships of widowhood, but the triumphs. Her hope is found in leaning on the Lord Jesus to enjoy a God inspired future anchored in expectation He will bring us to a fulfilling and meaningful life.