Posts Tagged: karisa moore

Standing Firm in Faith

Standing Firm in Faith

Posted August 20, 2024 | Karisa Moore

Standing Firm in Faith Is Not a Guarantee For Long Life on Earth, But it is a Guarantee For Eternal Life in Heaven.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.

But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

(1 Peter 5:7-11 WEB).

No matter how many years I have lived this life without my son, the event of July 1st still exists. How am I standing firm in faith when what I hoped for did not come to fruition? I know now what I didn’t know on June 30th, 2014. Life was hard, but there was also laughter and joy. Jonathan’s soul was deeply troubled, but I hoped he would find peace. Please hear me, all of you who battle with depression day in and day out,

SUICIDE DOES NOT END THE BATTLE. IT SPREADS IT!

My son’s choice affects me daily. His friends live differently, some better and some worse. Jonathan’s death complicated his siblings’ lives. The people who would have loved him and been loved by him have a space where he should have been known. Many of us have to decide, on any given day, to turn the page on Jonathan’s actions and choose something different.

I understand despair; my wrists bear the permanent marks of my own battles as a teen. But God took a broken, self-destructive young woman, changed, and convinced her to place hope in His presence, His plan, and His provision for her life.  I continue to choose hope, even after Jonathan’s suicide, because trouble in this life is a given, but this isn’t all there is. I am standing firm in faith because a sovereign God entered my mess, and I cannot deny it. He mourns with me and has shown himself trustworthy on my worst day.

I have learned in these ten years of grieving with hope that, yes, the enemy very much means suicide for evil. He planned to crush as many souls as possible with my son’s suicide. But that is all Satan can do—plan.

You and I have the choice of whether to agree with that plan.

I choose to cast all of my anxiety on God. I am standing firm in faith because others are suffering in the same battle with despair. The devil will not devour me, and I pray to strengthen many of you by standing firm in the gospel. In return, God is taking my bone-crushing sorrow and transforming it into a beautiful head-turning butterfly. I am encouraged by many of you who also testify that life, even life plagued by despair, is worth living!

Buy one, Give one.

Find Turn the Page: Devotions to Help the Griever Hope on Amazon and wherever books are sold. One more way I am shouting with every ounce of my being, we Turn the Page on Suicide together! Stand firm in faith.

Turn The Page, Devotions to Help the Griever With Hope

Learning How to Grieve and Comfort Well

 

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Without Complaint

Without Complaint

Posted July 9, 2024 | Karisa Moore

I cannot heal without complaint.
Teach me, O Lord, to lament well so that I
vulnerably lay grief open before Your sufficiency
and intimately know the labor pains of my reality.

Without complaint, I do not question my sinfulness or Your character.
An unboxed God is revealed through unwrapping my tangled emotions and confusion.
In ashes, You acquaint me with the wounds in Your wrists, Your feet, Your side.
Swollen with sorrow, I am rocked to sleep by the songs of your strong compassion.

Develop in me gut knowledge of the suffering of my neighbors.
May my fingers brush the cracked harshness of a world gone terribly wrong.
Help me to know the desperate texture of prison walls, and mourn for the prisoner.
Rip from me a flesh-crushing wail of loss.
Show others the burden they can lay at Your feet because I crumble before Your throne,
my face buried in the purple robes of Your sovereignty. I acknowledge I cannot

But You can.

Turning Your Page: What Does “Without Complaint” Mean?

Most certainly I tell you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

John 16:20 WEB

Complaint’s original meaning is “to lament.” Lament is a mind, body, and spirit grief. In ancient times, the griever would tear clothes, beat their chest, wear ashes, fast, and cry out. Does this picture make you uncomfortable? Lamenting well draws us out of despair and moves us toward the one who can comfort us and reshape our grief.

For Further Thought:

Release Tears

The Bible Project: Lamentations 

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Spring Cleaning

Spring Clean And Find Hope

Posted April 4, 2024 | Karisa Moore

Spring Clean and Find Hope

May my tears mix with yours, Oh Lord.
Wash the stench of despair from my soil
until blight is pruned and joy
sprouts in defiant abundance.
Lift my head to bask in the sunshine of your presence.
Grow me to be a fragrant delight.

 

Tools to spring clean

Whether you are dealing with grief or despair, you need reminders never to give up. This can come in many forms.

  • Create your own memory garden.
    • Add favorite colors or the favorite color of a loved one.
    • Place reminders, such as butterflies, in the planter to remind you never to give up.
    • Weed and water regularly. This can be hard when grief or despair is at its heaviest, but the habit can also be a reminder and catalyst for healing.
  • Create a file of encouragement
    • notes from others
    • funny quotes
    • scriptures
    • a playlist that lifts your spirit
  • Spend time in nature
    • Engaging all of your senses can instantly lift your spirits
    • Find a local park to walk and observe ways God provides regularly

Lord, as the seasons change, help me to spring clean. Thank you. Nature testifies that what is hidden will be revealed. My life feels cluttered with doubt, but I know that when I think this way, you are stretching and growing me. When I can’t see the flowers, please remind me of the seeds you’ve planted. Amen

For Further Reading: Spring Haiku

One of my favorite devotionals: Streams in the Desert

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Iron Out Despair

Iron Out Despair

Posted March 21, 2024 | Karisa Moore

Iron Out Despair

Wrinkled, unkempt, weary.
Sometimes, the sluggishness of despair,
refuses to stumble out of bed, prepare, or
repair you.

Do the things that made you, you, make you, You,
and will make you YOU again.
Despite the distorted reflection blinking
blankly back, you are still sculpted by a master artist.
Love. Be loved.
Live a plump life, hoping in what you do not yet see.

Once again, run barefoot with giggling wonder.
Know nothing can deplete joy of secure identity.

Splash cool water over wethered soul.
Comb out compassion, understanding, and faithfulness.
Iron out despair again and again,
until dis-repair gets the clue that
you have formed a habit of knowing
who and whose you are.

 

Resource:

Your Hope-Filled Perspective Podcast

A weekly podcast by Neuro-Psychologist Dr. Michelle Bengtson
I have read three of her books, listened to her podcast, and am a regular listener. Today, Dr. Bengtson suggested that those wanting to help people dealing with chronic illness to actively reach out because, often, a chronic sufferer will not ask for help. Example: “I’m headed to the grocery store. What can I pick up for you?”

Trying to make a change in your self-care? Read: Deflate the Bed and Give Me Life

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Furnace of God's Presence

Furnace of God’s Presence

Posted January 2, 2024 | Karisa Moore

I am in the furnace of God’s presence
Where all I’ve learned from scripture
of your character becomes tangible, concrete,
and battle-tested by false belief.

Pushed into the furnace of God’s presence
Shame will not singe me.
The flames of intended destruction
laugh and lick around my delicate flesh with delight. Possessed.
The truth of Your love—a breath prayer.
I am nothing more than a suppressed slave to the world’s whim.
What power do I have against mighty nations?

But I’ve witnessed your sovereign will
You destroy idols and humble mankind.
I’m here in these flames of trust, you are here in your faithfulness.
On tiptoes of hope, I stretch out my arms to heaven
and submit to my Sovereign King, Redeemer, Rescuer, and Abba, come what may.
Head tilted towards heaven in defiant praise, I shout,
“Glory is Yours alone. There is no
other!”
.
I surrender to Your holy presence.
The only fire that consumes me.
I trust You in the even if…

 

(This poem was inspired by Daniel 3 when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw three young Hebrew men into the furnace if they did not bow down to the image made in his likeness.)

 

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’ ” (Daniel 3:16-18ESV).

For further reading: A God I Did Not Form

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Marriage By Design

Posted November 21, 2023 | Karisa Moore

Tender tenacious kiss of one
who embraces hope when all seems lost.
One who traces hot tears of misunderstanding back
to their source and chooses forgiveness. One
who adventures to, discovers, and treasures your identity.
One who walks with you,
fingers entwined in quiet. One who
stands fast to protect when your soul
is battered by attack. One designed
by The Creator to love you.

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Surrendered to His Glory

Posted November 7, 2023 | Karisa Moore

Surrounded by celebration
Under the illuminating lights of
Ressurection power, I
Recognize every blaring blemish
Endured on the cruel cross for me.
Naked truth. Stripped of
Distraction. Believe in Him. Abide in Him.
Enter into love so tangible death is
Rendered speechless. My ego submits
Eternally from self-indulgent glory to 
Dance with deliberate delight before the one true king.

 

 

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Rooted Tree, Grow in Christ

Posted October 19, 2023 | Karisa Moore

Tree.
What are you afraid of?
You are rooted.
Storms strengthen.
Drought triggers thirst for Him.
Sacrifice multiplies seeds of hope.
Nothing is wasted.
Not even death.
Grow with sun-kissed joy!

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Not Cotton Candy Faith

Posted October 17, 2023 | Karisa Moore

This isn’t fairground faith,
Setting up temporary attractions to entertain,
This is a battleground.

This is a crawl-on-your-belly-through-muck kind of faith.
Faith like this knows the pain of barbs and mourns the consequences
of not hitting the mark.

Faith
in Jesus Christ doesn’t melt in your mouth
and jolt your system with a quick high. This faith knows
drought and famine and still
chooses to grit it out and hope.

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Suicide & Prevention Hotline

National Suicide Hotline

If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call the National Suicide Lifeline at 988 or go to the website at https://988lifeline.org/