Receive the Healing and Hope that God is Releasing!

Over 25 years ago, I was a poor college kid trying to earn some money before getting married in a couple of months time. I had a part time job, but at the moment there wasn't much work, so one day I decided to go down to the local temp job office. As I was sitting in the waiting room, various jobs were being offered, most of them in food manufacturing plants, which didn't sound all that appealing. Finally, there was a call for two people who were needed at a construction site, so I decided to seize the opportunity. I was given the address of the site and I jumped in my car and headed off to work.

The job was located at a hotel in downtown, where a construction company was tearing out an old concrete driveway. As the other worker and I approached the job, the foreman came up to us and told us what our job was for the day. There was a backhoe that was used to break up the concrete, and a dumpster where all the broken concrete was to be placed. Pretty simple. The foreman asked if either of us had experience with a backhoe. My slight delay in replying cost me being able to sit on a nice padded seat of that machine all day, because the other guy quickly answered, yes. Unfortunately, that meant that I was relegated to picking up 30 to 100 pound chunks of concrete and throwing them into a dumpster all day long.

I hadn't anticipated working construction that day, so I didn't bring any gloves, and the foreman didn't have any extra gloves either. Bloodied and blistered hands quickly ensued as I tossed one heavy piece of concrete after the other into the dumpster. A couple of hours into working, the owner of the construction company pulled up in his $100,000 SUV, rolled down his window, and asked the foreman how everything was going. After getting an answer that was to his liking, he pulled out and went on his way. I remember sitting down at lunchtime and trying to think of a legitimate excuse to quit, but I couldn't convince myself to leave because I had made a commitment to be there. And so, I continued to work throughout the day, bruised and beaten up from the hardest day of work I had ever experienced. As quitting time was getting closer, the owner showed up once again to check on the progress, but this time in his $150,000 Porsche. I'm sure the he didn't mean it, but it sure felt like he was showing off his wealth and status to us scrubs, reminding us of our lowly place in the world. Regardless of his intentions, at least I still had the hope of a paycheck waiting for me at the end of the day, and that money would help with bills and the upcoming wedding costs.

I finally finished that grueling day of work and headed back to the temp job office to collect my check - my sweet reward for a hard day's work. Walking out of the office, I just about started to cry as I opened up the envelope to a check of about twenty-five dollars. I just sacrificed my body, bloodied my hands, and worked as hard as could have, and it was all for twenty-five bucks.

As I got up this morning, I was reminded of this story, and how useless that my day's efforts felt in that moment. In the middle of recounting this day in my mind, the Holy Spirit began impressing on me that there are people who will read this who have recently finished a season of hard work, but their assignment has resulted in little to no fruit. Even though there were times you wanted to quit, you remained faithful to the assignment, hoping for something good to come of your efforts. As you look back over this season, all that you're reminded of is the bloodied hands and pain that was endured. You're also reminded of the enemy's scoffing and ridicule that was thrown at you in the middle of your work, and you're beginning to think that you shouldn't have even started the assignment. You have doubts that you heard from the Lord to begin with, and the enemy has caused you to even doubt the goodness of God. The thought of trusting again, and risking to start your next assignment is littered with anxiety, and all you can think about is the seemingly uselessness of this last season.

The Lord is coming to release healing and hope to you. He sees you and the wounds that you sustained, and He's coming to wash away your physical and emotional pain. He's also coming to restore your faith and hope. He's giving you fresh vision to not only see the victorious future He's leading you into, but also the ability to look back at that past difficult season with eyes of hope, and believe that the seeds that were sown were not for nothing, but for an eventual harvest of good fruit.

Even though it's hard to see any positives from your last season, know that there were necessary things that were accomplished, both in the ground and in your life. The enemy would love nothing more than for you to quit and not risk again, because he knows that there is breakthrough for those who endure and do not give up. Rise up! Dare to trust again, and receive the healing and hope that God is releasing.