Ruth and Melanie, thank you thank you thank you!! Your comments absolutely make my day! It brings me joy to see you rely on God in the midst of troubling circumstances, and even greater joy to see you praising him!!

Mike,
My verse today was out of Matthew. It was the 26th chapter 49th verse...

"Judas came straight to Jesus. "Greetings, Teacher!" he exclaimed and gave him the kiss."

Jesus knew very much what it felt like to be betrayed and hurt. He can understand how that pain can make us not want to trust anyone again. And I suspect he can uderstand that anger too. He is always there to console us and give us his sustaining love...through it all!
Great post! Very timely indeed. Thanks Mike! And thank you for being obedient and listening to what HE needed you to write. :)

I praise God for "the ultimate entourage" previously mentioned.   He is there.......in the cave, not in the cave...........He is the only real hope ! 

Oh how I can relate. I just spent the last two months in the cave. I am so thankful to be able to cast my cares uponn Him knowing that he cares for me.

Thanks brother!

Amen....it goes right along with a blog I wrote a month or so ago about "It's because of my situation or circumstances that I am the way I am.......or is it?"    Bottom line GOD is big enough and has more than enough grace and mercy for us as we learn His ways.  He wants us to seek Him first in all ways and all things, but the key is that at some point we stop talking and start listening as He shows us, instructs us and prepares our paths.  Then, just do it!

Sometimes we think there is nothing we can do for people who are hurting, and so that's exactly what we do...nothing.  I've seen how powerful simple prayer, our presence and silence can be, as we allow people to speak as long as they need to, to vent and sort out their issues with gentle encouragement from us.  They are not waiting for us to say something "brilliant" that will solve all their problems or ease all their pain, we can't. They want someone to truly care. God does, He truly is in control, and where are in no better place in this universe than in His hands.

Strong, encouraging post Brother!  Be blessed!

Plumbline, good advice! Feel free to post links, crosslinks are good -- more resources are better than fewer.

Tammy, so glad to hear that you're emerging from your struggle(s), thank you for your post sister. 

Mary, thanks...it's wonderful to hear you say that!

Thank you Paul, Jenily, Eliza, Michael....!

Melanie, you bless me again, thank you! The imagery you use is powerful too - ultimate entourage (as opposed to lonely individual), prison of entrapment (as opposed to our poor choices)... Those who pray for us really don't need to hear us vent, don't need all the gory details (acc to Matt 6:8). Wonderful input, thank you!

I love Psalm 46.... God is my refuge and my strength.!  Thanks Mike!

Hey Mike, I have seen and used God both as a punching bag and as a pillow for comfort.  I can testify He is the same in either case.  His loving nature never changes and Jesus has been acquainted with our sorrows and knows how to bring us to the Father.  At the bosom of the Father is really where we are seeking..we just don't realize it at first.

I remember being so angry and distraught once that I threw my Bible against the wall and called the Lord a liar.  I told Him to leave me alone.  He just loved me back to Himself until I was resting once more in His loving, caring arms.

Praise the Lord for His love and faithfulness.  Hope thou in God (Ps. 38, 42, 43, 78, 146)

Interesting...  I will be honest.  It's been a rough couple of weeks/months.  There has been great stress mainly because there has been the necessity of change in many areas.  I say this not for sympathy but to explain why I am fuzzy headed (and asleep at 6:30 before waking back up and skimming this post and these comments).

What strikes me is the lost art of communication.  We seem to think that "I should take this take this to God because it's a positive thing."  Or "I shouldn't take this to God because it's negative".  The fact of the matter is I don't think God cares about whether it's positive or negative.  The fact of the matter is right now we are who we are.  There's no doubt we need to change, but many years ago I know I was trapped in the mentality that I had to get right before coming before God.  And that's completely backward.  I need to come before God before I can get right.  Yeah a lot of it is garbage.  But God knows it anyways.  Why would we try to hide it from Him?  Often the fact that we do becomes the very thing that separates us.  

It's interesting because this morning at Bible study, we were going through Romans 3 and the idea of being more blessed came up.  The question that got raised was "If we follow the law, will we be more blessed?".  It wasn't long before the word "blessing" came into question, if for no other reason that if we answer the question "Yes", the next question that has to be asked was "How was Jesus blessed?".

The very hardships we have often are the blessings that God intends to use.  Bringing those before God isn't using Him as a punching bag, but is necessary for us to acknowledge how great He is (and that we don't have a clue). 

Hmm.....you mean in the Body there are MANY people at the same time who are in the "stuff's going wrong" cave?  :)  I had no idea.  I guess Paul knew what he was talking about when he said "No temptation has overtaken you but that which is common to man" -- and yes, retreating into a cave IS
a temptation.  But I digress...

I wonder if there are so many of us "in the cave" at least partly because we (as a group collectively) are so often not mindful of our brothers and sisters in prayer?  We always seem to assume everyone else is "doing well unless notified otherwise"...kinda why I titled my last blog "Why do you want to pray for me NOW?".

Sometimes we have to peek our heads into our brothers' and sisters' "caves" to remind them to look up during all that time spent looking inward...and sometimes we need our brothers and sisters to peek into OUR caves when we're looking somewhere other than up as well.  That little touch of human contact can go a long way -- the enemy loves using circumstances, despair, and isolation to get our eyes off God, and a simple "Hey, how ya doin'?" from a loving brother or sister can just stop that before it starts.  You're great at that -- thank you! -- but we can all stand to peek in on each other more often.

Otherwise, we end up with severed Body parts all over the place, never being re-attached and simply left to decay on their own...no bueno! 

Cast all of your cares upon Him for He cares for you!  God has broad shoulders.  Scott Wesley Brown sang this song back in the 80s:  "If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders, I know my brother that He will carry you."  There is absolutely nothing wrong with entering into a dialouge with God.  Job, had a few questions, Jonah definitely had some questions, Elijah wondered what God was up to...even the Apostle Paul asked for a reprieve but God's word to him was, "My grace is sufficent for you."  God is a loving Father, but He does not spoil His children.  He expects us to go through the valley of the shadow of death, but He has promised to always be with us.  Problems, sufferings, Persecutions, adversity are all part of the process of making us like Jesus.  We carry about in our bodies an eternal weight of glory, and God is working it out, through sufferings to conform us to His image. If Jesus was made perfect through sufferings, what makes us any different?  When we go through adversity to the point we have "nothing left in the tank."  that's when God does His best work!  He is all about bringing us to the point of surrender and total dependence upon Him.  It truly is a painful process for Him to do His thing but I reckon that the sufferings of this present day are not even worthy to be compared witht the glory that will be revealed in all of us.  So have thine own way Lord thou art the potter and I am the clay.  Mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting yielded and still. 
God Bless You Mike you have a great ministry.