Crushed, Not Forsaken

Nearing the end of my twenties, I’ve found myself in seasons that have felt a little more crushing than I expected.

I always imagined that by this point in my life, I would have certain things figured out. I thought I would have my career fully established, my finances in order, and maybe even marriage and a family of my own. But life hasn’t unfolded exactly the way I planned.

And if I’m “keeping it a buck”, sometimes that’s hard.

It’s hard watching loved ones lose people who are near and dear to them.

It’s hard when finances hit close to home.

It’s hard when jobs don’t work out the way you prayed they would.

It’s hard when relationships end differently than you imagined.

It’s hard when you look around and realize that some of the things you thought would already be yours… simply aren’t.

But somewhere in the middle of all of those disappointments, I’ve had to remind myself of something:

God has never abandoned me.

Not in the seasons that felt uncertain.

Not in the seasons when I questioned what He was doing.

Not even in the seasons when His answer was “no.”

And maybe that’s one of the hardest lessons to learn for us…that God’s “no” doesn’t mean His absence.

Sometimes God allows us to walk through seasons we would never choose for ourselves because He is doing something in us that we cannot yet see.

Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Notice that it doesn’t say if  we become brokenhearted.

It tells us what God does when we are.

He draws sooo near.

And maybe that is the reminder some of us need in this season:

Being broken does not mean being abandoned.