Several years back, as I packed boxes for our upcoming move and looked around at the chaos that was my home, I noticed a note from a woman I had the pleasure of ministering to a while ago. I have her permission to share the following general information.
BEYOND HOPE
When she first came for biblical counseling, her life was in crisis. She shared that she had been caught up in some devastating and sinful habits. Her honesty was refreshing. She believed that she was beyond hope.
Her situation required endless hours of counseling. Sometimes it also demanded daily input amounting to thousands of little encouraging communications and hundreds of hours of prayer.
TRUTH LEARNED
In the end, although “life” did not go the way she had hoped it would, she remained obedient to God. She left the sin of her past behind. She continued to be faithful to God. He was glorified by her response to the Truth and by her commitment to living for Him.
In a subsequent email, she shared that she wanted to pass on what she had learned in our time together. She was ministering to someone who was struggling in the same way she once did.
She repeated the same truths she had learned:
- Honor God above all else (I Corinthians 10:31).
- Hold the line of righteousness (Psalm 106:3)
- Honor God in this with your actions and thoughts, not only turning from the sin but doing good to others in the process and loving others regardless of what they do for you (Romans 12:10)!
Christian, this is the essence of what our lives are to be. Honor God. Hold the line of righteousness. Do good to others and love them regardless of their response to you. What utter joy this brought to my heart to see this lamb, once lost and wandering, now following hard after Christ! In addition, she uses her experience and what she has learned to minister to another hurting person.
God is so faithful! The truth that He cares about us and draws us to Himself is testimony only to His goodness and mercy, for none of us deserve anything at all from Him.
One reason our training program, Reigning Grace Institute, exists is to train the next generation of people to effectively use the Word of God to help others with their problems. I am trying to work myself out of a job, having so many people who know how to pass on these truths that places like Reigning Grace Counseling Center won’t be necessary anymore. Investing in people can be demanding and sometimes troublesome. Oh, that we would all develop such love for the Savior and each other that we would be willing to be inconvenienced for others’ sake!
When I find notes like this one, I am reminded that it is infinitely worth the cost.
We are not a licensed counseling agency, nor are we psychologically or medically trained therapists. We offer ‘pastoral’ counseling intended to bring life change through heart change.