The Bible has provided direction, comfort, and inspiration for me many times throughout my life. Over the years, certain verses have stuck in my mind for use in difficult situations.
During my time as a foster parent for my baby girl, several verses provided comfort and wisdom to deal with a difficult situation. One of the hardest verses for me to claim was Job 1:22. “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
I felt that God gave this verse to me as a command to praise Him no matter how the situation looked. The baby’s mother was trying to get her back and I was worried that I would lose the little girl that I had come to love. Instead of God telling me that it would work out, it was like He was saying that I had to praise and serve Him, even if He took her away from me. Somehow, by claiming this verse, it turned into a promise to me that God was in control and nothing could happen that He didn’t allow.
Another passage that God has used in my life many times is in Psalms 37:4-5. This passage was my mother’s favorite and it has become one of mine. “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”
I wanted to have a family for so long and used this passage as my promise that if I served God, He would provide one for me. One of the things I’ve learned is that it contains a command before the promise. By delighting in God, He can change my desires to be His desire. This is what happened with my desire for a family. I now have a family with my adopted daughter but it wasn’t how I had planned in my mind. Once I delighted in Him, my idea of family changed to what His purpose for my life was.
My other favorite verse comes from Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the thoughts I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This verse tells me that God knows my future and has it all planned out for me and I shouldn’t worry. This has comforted me in different circumstances, the most recent one being my foster situation. I knew He not only had my future in His control, but my foster daughter’s, too. He loved her much more than I did and I could trust her to His care.
I could not survive the many trials and tragedies of life if I didn’t have the Bible promises to cling to in dark times. I’m thankful my parents taught me to commit them to memory.
All verses are from the New King James version of the Bible.