Book of Encouragement: When Life Leaves You Stuck

By Melinda Grimmage

This year of pandemic has left many scratching their heads in bewilderment as to when will life get back to normal. All you can see all around you is lost and despair. My prayer is in the midst of your Euroclydon experience that you will find the ability to laugh again, love again, and live again through this encouragement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781794833821

Book preview

Book of

ENCOURAGEMENT

WHEN LIFE GETS YOU STUCK

MELINDA GRIMMAGE

[Book of Encouragement] by [Melinda Grimmage]

Published by [Melinda Grimmage]

Copyright © [2021] [Melinda Grimmage]

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Cover by [Creative Expressions].

ISBN: [Ebook ISBN

I dedicate this book to every person that may feel like they are at the end of their rope and have lost hope. May this book give you the strength and courage needed to carry on. It's not over until you WIN!

Foreword

M

any people are going through what seems like Euroclydon storms because of this Covid-19 pandemic. Many furloughed have lost their jobs or their businesses and family due to the pandemic. Many are experiencing cabin fever because they are tired of being cooped up in the house. Summer vacation for the children has not been what they are accustomed to because all the theme parks closed, the movie theaters closed, and all that was left was four walls and a remote.

Parents are afraid to send their children back to school because of the possibility of their child contracting Covid-19. Teachers are retiring early out of fear of losing their lives in the classroom because of the virus. Many of the seniors of 2020 missed out on their senior prom, trip, and traditional graduation—some experienced graduation via Zoom. Churches are close, and what many pastors thought was the worst thing has become the best thing which is Facebook. Facebook live has become the basis of getting Sunday morning worship and bible study to their parishioners.

Some pastors have decided to retire because of the pandemic's weight on the church's financial status. Members aren't giving like they did pre-pandemic, and neither are they engaged in Sunday services via Zoom or Facebook. Many have found that it's hard to focus on Sunday morning worship while staring at a scuff mark on the floor!  The divorce rate and abuse rate of women and children have increased because the issues that weren't dealt with pre-pandemic have destroyed the family unit post-pandemic, and everyone is screaming, when will things ever get back to normal? During all of that, this book's purpose is to bring hope.  I desire to bring your perspective to a new height knowing that you don't have to die in the process and that better days are coming. Jesus has left us to hope in the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31:25 KJV For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul

Follow me and turn the page if you are ready for your hope to be restored and maybe even laugh a little.

CHAPTER ONE

The Great Replacement

To all who mourn in Israel,[a] he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,  festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his glory. Isaiah 61:3

T

o replace means to take the place of another. Chapter 61 emphasizes the reversal of fortune from suffering to restoration. In previous chapters, the Israelites, which were God's chosen people, were experiencing the judgment of the Lord, and the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem. Its surrounding towns and villages and everything looked hopeless and very dark for the Israelites to the point that they thought restoration would never come. The sovereignty of God sent the prophet Isaiah to speak again that restoration was coming, but in this restoration, the Israelites had to participate.

We often miss our restoration or the great replacement because we fail to do what God has required of us with the aid of the Holy Ghost. Many times, the promises of God are conditional. It's an "I will if You will. Both parties must hold up their part of the contract, or the entire agreement is null and void. Jeremiah gave the children hope amid their depravity with a few short words.

The Spirit of the Lord through Jeremiah said that He would

Give A Crown of Beauty for Ashes

First and foremost, for there to be ashes, something first has to burn COMPLETELY. Jerusalem was already laid waste and was full of ashes because of the Babylonians, and God required that the children of Israel give over to him what seems like doom and gloom and watch him transform it into a work of art. Nobody can bring beauty out of disaster like my God! The key was they had given over the messed-up pottery for the potter to transform it into a work of art. We often want God's restoration, but we also want to keep our mess, and it won't happen that way. We must be willing to yield