Differences

Sometimes it is hard to know the difference between tough love and simply being pummeled.  The fury of first and events delivered in love often seem very similar, in other words – exactly, like what comes from people in love with violence, anger, and frustration.  You and I never see the complete story.
 
There are three differences in the grasp of God.  First, one experiences a sense of peace as one turns to God, no matter how painful life might seem.  It may seem fleeting.  It can see random.  It’s often missed.  Yet God’s love, no matter how tough, always comes with a sense of mercy which can be sensed by one’s heart.  The only way I know how to describe the impact is by saying it’s been my experience.  I believe from my soul it will be yours.  Evil doesn’t, won’t see this.
 
Second, change comes from the inside out.  God’s impact is never just felt, there is a shift in what makes up your heart and soul.  We may not always understand it but we can feel something shifting and the outcomes are visible in our actions, choices, and decisions.  The results may seem confusing at time.  There will be moments of blatant inconsistencies.  Yet our heart, mind, and body will turn in the wind towards compassion, mercy, and acceptance – in other words, God.
 
Third, the pain will end.  It may take time.  I know it’s hard to accept or believe if you are in the middle of a bad patch, but this time will end.  Frankly “it will be your enemies who are beaten to dust, the mob of tyrants who will be blown away like chaff.  Because, surprise, as if out of nowhere, a visit from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, with thunderclaps, earthquakes, and earsplitting noise, backed up by hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning strikes, and the mob of enemies at war with Ariel, all who trouble and hassle and torment her, will turn out to be a bad dream, a nightmare.”  (Isaiah 29.5-7) 
 
There is a difference when one decides to remain in God’s hand.