"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10.

Proper Healing From Pain:
"The Journey of Proper Healing"

To a woman who felt all dried up on the inside, no verses brought life back into my bones more than those in Hosea 2. It's this beautiful and dramatic portrayal of Israel's journey from hardship to restoration. But it also parallels our own situations so powerfully.

Beginning in verse 14, there is this "wooing" of Israel where God wants to bring his children close to Him on a personal level. And then describes how, although we may currently be in a Valley of Achor (also known as "Valley of Trouble"), there is a door of hope in the future. Essentially, God wants to bring you close to Him and there in your valley of trouble and pain, show you there is this hope before you. That the trouble won't last forever.

Further in verse 16, there is this transition between the levels of relationship. Again noting a more personal level, God wants you to no longer see Him as just a master, but as a "Husband." This reiterates affection towards His people. We then see a key phrase mentioned three times in two verses, "I will betroth you." When a phrase or word is mentioned multiple times in a short time, it means it's very important to understand what's being said. God wants to make sure we know the importance of His covenant and restoring love.

The chapter leaves us with a confirmation by letting us know He will show love to us, even if we may feel unloved. To a woman who felt really lonely and unloved after a heart-wrenching loss, nothing made me feel more comforted than those words.

In your grief and pain, coming face-to-face with the circumstances won't be easy. But there can be great comfort for you in these words about love, redemption and hope. Ground yourself with roots deep in this passage and allow God to draw you near to Him. Hold on to belief that there is a door of hope just ahead and that no matter what, there is a God who deeply and passionately loves you.

""Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. "In that day," declares the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master. ' I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked." "In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord. "In that day I will respond," declares the Lord — "I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one. ' I will say to those called 'Not my people, ' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.' "
‭‭Hosea‬ ‭2:14-23

Breaking Free From Depression:
Sadness vs. Depression

Sadness—we are all familiar with it. Taylor Swift has made a career writing songs that tap into this emotion. Yet, Taylor typically maintains a positive outlook at the end of her songs. The sadness she talks about is mostly temporary.

Our sullen blue friend in Disney Pixar's Inside Out demonstrates this emotion a little differently. She says, "Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life's problems." This is a more extreme emotion than the sadness in Taylor Swift's pop songs. Some would call this depression.

What's the difference? Sadness is normal. Everyone encounters sadness. Sadness is usually the direct result of a situation, such as a breakup, like in Taylor Swift's songs. Sadness doesn't last very long, doesn't impair your functioning, and doesn't significantly disrupt your thinking process or distort your view of yourself, God, or life.

Depression, on the other hand, is something more extreme. When these sad feelings deepen and persist over the course of weeks or months, it worsens into clinical depression. Unlike sadness, depression involves feelings and emotions that interfere with your state of mind, impair functioning in many aspects of life, and disrupt your view of God, self, or life in general.

Some basic differences include:

Depression involves a loss of self-esteem. Sadness doesn't affect self-esteem.
Depression lasts weeks to months. Sadness lasts for several hours or days.
Depression convinces us there is no hope, while sadness doesn't.
Depression disrupts our relationships.
Depression is a serious illness. Sadness is a normal and beneficial warning sign.
The Bible gives us two examples of depression—Peter and Judas—who both betrayed Christ. Out of the depths, Peter cried out to Jesus and found hope in Him. Unlike Peter, Judas didn't turn to Jesus, and his condition worsened. This is only one example of many more found in Scripture.

"So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. Davidʼs two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God."
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭30:4-6‬

"while he himself went a dayʼs journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19:4-9‬ ‭

Experiencing Hope and Healing In A Fallen World:
FACING GRIEF

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. As David Works can tell you, this is never more true than when dealing with grief.

It started out as a normal Sunday in December 2007. The sun shone bright across New Life Church in Colorado Springs as the Works family climbed into their van after that morning's service.

Then everything changed.

Out of nowhere, bullets crashed through the windshield and pinged off the vehicle's metal frame. A mere ten yards away, the muzzle of a rifle flashed toward their van. By the time the gunman moved on in search of more victims, David Works and his wife, Marie, had lost two of their four daughters.

Few of us have experienced trauma quite like this, but none of us are immune to loss so deep it brings us to our knees. Psychologists will tell you we each grieve in our own way.

However, David says there is one universal truth he learned that day: there are no shortcuts. You can't heal from grief by avoiding it or going around it. You have to walk straight through the middle.
And, boy, is that difficult. But with the support of family and friends and God's loving presence, we can face our grief and make it through to healing. We may not charge ahead with confidence, and our steps may be shaky at first, but that's okay. With time, the Lord can repair the broken places, and we'll find ourselves stronger than we were before our world changed.

For a daily dose of encouragement and perspective, check out Jim Daly's blog, Daly Focus, at JimDalyBlog.com.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬