I thought long and hard about whether or not to post this but…. but I simply can’t let this “not” become a lesson.

So many times, we look at a person’s life and we just tend to think they have it all together. The brushed images, the happy quotes, the snippets of a life that looks so full of joy and so void of heartaches.
You have to always remember, that behind what a person ‘wants’ you to see is plenty, they don’t.

We all have hurts, pains & things we wrestle through. We all have things we fight DAILY to overcome and we all have things that we mistakingly think we can handle on our own.

So many times, we look to people, who have overcome much and those who have a joyful spirit and just think they’ve ‘arrived’ … which, by the way, none of us ever do… until eternity.
We will never arrive until we have seen the precious face of Jesus Christ and hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

This week, was challenging.

I faced several BIG & EMOTIONAL THINGS that left me recalling my past and lessons learned. I shared my story with other audiences, different platforms and outside of the comfortable reach I am so used to.
The more The Lord brings me out, the more layers He peels back. Those seamingly endless layers…

The Lord is so kind to give me just what I can handle, in just the perfect measure. He is stretching me and this week, I was STREEEETTTCHED.

I faced so many things regarding what is (still) in my heart and The Lord was so loving and tender to gently remind me that HE ALONE, is my strength & that He is capable of doing ALL things. I don’t have to do a thing but trust Him, rely on Him and press into Him… every, single, second.

Behind every strong person you see, is a person who has been at times, immensely WEAK. And shaken. And broken. And pieced back together.

We so often want a person’s “life” without realizing what The Lord has walked them through to bring them to this place. Often times, excruciatingly hard things. We want to experience the rewards and the fruit… without the struggle.

The Lord reminded me so tenderly that apart from HIM, I am not capable of anything eternally good, but with Him, all good things are possible, most of which will spawn from the deeply painful, raw moments of my life.

He is my breath. He is my purpose. He is my strength. He is my motivation. He is what keeps me going when I feel like I can’t. He kept me going this week.

I cried a lot, this week, as I wrestled through these things with Jesus.

As The Lord continues to heal my heart and use my experiences, I realize the weight of how much this heart has held, for so long. He cleansed me by helping me cry buckets of tears and then taking me to His Word to immerse in His truth.
I didn’t just cry for past things, I cried for how far He has brought me.

He took a broken little girl and made her whole.. COMPLETELY WHOLE! He is THAT GOOD.

It was a roller coaster of emotions & experiences this week (thank The Lord it’s not like this every week, LOL) and Jesus was there for every single one.

He is present in it all.
He cares for it all.
And you know what?
He cares for YOU.
He has a plan for YOU.

Stop trying to compare yourself to everyone around you and realize that anyone you see, who is strong, is only strong b/c of what The Lord has walked them through & that strong people don’t just happen. They face their “stuff” with Jesus.

So, in the spirit of keeping it real, I wanted to share this with you. Let Jesus work in and through you and your wildly unique story. Stop looking around, stop asking for things outside of God’s good & perfect will and just surrender your heart, your life and your pain at His feet.

Surrender it all.

…. and watch Him move, through it all.

He cares for you more than you can ever fathom or imagine and the proof of just how much is told in the precious pages of scripture. It is a true story that is more powerful, life changing & awe inspiring than I think we can fathom, though we may try.

It enables me to walk out all of my days, all of my emotions and all of my experiences with STRENGTH. Psalm 27:8 tells us “The Lord is my strength, and my shield, my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for JOY, and with my song, I praise Him.”

He sent Jesus for ME and FOR YOU and because of this, we can do hard things.

We can overcome, very hard things. ❤

Blessings,
Ashley Poptodorova

Ps 46:10
Exodus 15:12
Nehemiah 8:10
Ps 118:14