Welcome, friend!

If this is your first visit — you may want to begin here. I’m so glad you are with us! May God infuse you with fresh faith, passion, and purpose!

We’re asking the question during this 31 Day journey  —

How do we allow God to fire up our faith so that we can shine bright for Him?

We’ve talked about Presence, Promises, and this week we’re discussing…..

Key # 3 —Remember your Purpose

God isn’t looking for perfect women, just ordinary women — like you, like me — who are willing to let God use every ounce of our lives for His purpose and glory.

We’ve looked at how God can bring His redemptive purpose from our past (thanks, Beth Moore) and our present day, ordinary lives (even at a fast food restaurant.)

But what about our pain? What do we do with the pain of our lives?

Is there purpose in the pain?

First a disclaimer.

You have to know, when I listen to precious women share the details of their pain — the betrayal, the infertility, the addiction, the affair, the deceit, the cancer, the job loss, the intense loneliness —

My heart breaks right along with them.

Every single time.

My hope today isn’t to minimize your pain, or share a quick Christian cliché and expect everything to be all better.

If you have pain in your life, sweet friend — picture me leaning in close and whispering, “I’m so sorry, friend. You are not alone. I’m. so. sorry.”

But this I know and believe with all my heart —

God can take the most painful parts of our lives and use it for His Kingdom purposes.

I speak from experience on this one, friend.

Most of you know, in 1998 my fiance was tragically killed in a freak workplace accident. I’ll never forget sitting on my parent’s hardwood steps, looking at my pastor in the eye and wailing, “Why? Why,  why? Why would God allow this?”

My pastor’s response, “Cindy, I just know God is going to use this somehow…someway. He will bring good from this, if you will let Him. I promise.”

Now to be honest, my pastor’s well-intentioned words didn’t bring much comfort at the time.

In fact, his words made me want to puke.

Sorry, I’m just being completely honest. We do that here on my blog, right?!

I didn’t want God to use David’s death for good. I just wanted my best friend back – whole, healthy, good, alive – not some story to be redeemed someday.

My pain was so intense I could barely function, and couldn’t comprehend living life with David — much less with such extreme devastation and despair.

However, I did promise that night that I would give God my pain….every ounce of it.

My heart was shattered in a bzillion different pieces, and I couldn’t carry the broken pieces alone. I begged God to make something beautiful out of my devastated, shattered heart.

Since that time, God has mended my broken heart — painful stitch by painful stitch.

I’ve watched firsthand as God has used the broken pieces for His good purposes.

Through the pain of David’s death and the journey of grief following, we’ve witnessed —

• MANY men, women and children give their life to Jesus Christ (including my Dad!)
• God provide opportunity after opportunity for me to speak and share messages of hope based on my personal and painful journey through grief
• God use my story on the Day of Discovery TV program to transform lives around the world. (Check out where God has taken “He Loves Me” here.) Wow!
• My faith was strengthened and refined in the midst of that devastating season. Y’all know I am now passionate about women experiencing a fired up faith! (In fact, so much so I wrote a Bible study called Red Hot Faith!)

And guess what else —

• Last year I was invited to be a seminar expert for GriefShare.   Are you familiar with GriefShare? They provide support for individuals and families journeying through grief, and their groups are held in over 20,000 churches worldwide.

Did you catch that – over 20,000 churches?! Wow! Let’s all say in unison, “Wow. Only God!”

I’m not making this up! In fact, here’s a quick two minute video introduction for proof —

GriefShare Expert Cindy Bultema from Church Initiative on Vimeo.

Sweet friend, I’m so sorry for the painful seasons and experiences that have shaped you into the woman you are today.

But what if today was the day we gave God the broken, painful pieces of our lives and asked Him to make something beautiful out of our devastated, shattered hearts?

What do we have to lose?

“I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God.”  ~ Elizabeth Elliot

Today’s Challenge: Day 17 of our 31 Days.

1. Grab your notebook, jot today’s date, and then, write out a prayer to God asking Him to open your eyes, ears, and heart to what He wants to accomplish today.  Reflect on today’s post, and journal your thoughts as you reflect on God bringing purpose from your pain.

2. A Focus on the Family article shared, “Why we suffer may always remain a mystery on this side of eternity. We can, however, glean certain truths from God’s Word.”  Look up the following verses. How might you “pray these promises” for comfort, hope and fresh faith in a season of suffering and pain?

• Psalm 18:2
• Psalm 34:18
• Romans 8:18
• 2 Corinthians 12:9

Is there a verse that has brought you comfort that you’d want to share with a friend in a season of pain?

3.  Author Terry Wardle says,

“In His hands, the object of deepest sorrow can become the source of our greatest blessing.”

Have you found that to be true? How have you seen God use your broken pieces to encourage or strengthen others? Share with us please!

Sweet friend, if you are experiencing a painful situation, may I encourage you to reach out to a friend/church member/counselor today?

Ask God to give you the courage to call for help and prayer, and then, do it. God does not intend for us to journey alone.

Thanks so much for stopping by 31 Days to Fire Up Your Faith! You are dearly loved, precious one!

Sweet blessings

P.S. In case you don’t want to miss a day, you can like my FB page, connect with me on Twitter, or subscribe to my blog via the sidebar. There’s 14 more days of ideas, resources, and encouragement to Fire Up Your Faith to come!

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