Abby Bern

⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble,
    so prosperous will your future be.

Job 8:7 NIV

Have you ever experienced a loss or a situation where you had to let go of everything for some reasons? A happening where it seems like you have been stripped off with everything that is important for you? Well, I have my fair share of this experience. Recently, I lost my wallet with all my important IDs and my Philippine Debit Card in it. This led me calling the bank to have the card blocked so that no one can use it. But to my surprise, long before my wallet got lost, 10 days before it to be exact, someone has been trying to use my card to purchase online. This means all my money is gone. I have not used my card since I came here to Sweden. And it’s so weird how someone hacked my account. Despite all that has happened to me in the last previous weeks, instead of being affected and devastated by it, I choose to trust God and have peace.

I was reading the book of Job as my devotional and this verse came to me:

All the wealth you lost will be nothing
    compared with what God will give you then.

Job 8:7 Good News Translation

If you read about Job’s life, he lost everything he owns and yet God sustained his life and returned him everything seven times more. I love how the NIV Translations puts this verse where it says that even if we have humble beginnings, God will see to it that our future will be even more prosperous. Whatever we lost will be nothing to what God has in store for us.

Coming to Sweden means leaving everything behind–my career, my car, my family, my comfort zone, my luxurious life in a way. I had to start from scratch and build a new life in a new country. If you look at it, it may be a wrong idea coming here by simply turning myself away from the comfortable life I had. But if you look at what God is doing and what He has in store for my future in this City, I see it as an opportunity for Him to create a greater story out of my emptiness. He can fill my empty storehouses and my heart with new and greater things. I can embrace and enjoy new beginnings and be excited about the future because I know my God is faithful. Also, I learned to rest in His grace and have peace in any circumstances I’m in. This too shall pass and I know He is in control and gracious enough to restore the things that I lost even better than what I had before.

Well, if you are in the same position as mine, I want to encourage you not to lose hope because someday soon, life will be greater than the noonday. Just hold on to His promises and see it as an opportunity for new beginnings and amazing testimony to tell. I’ve seen how God moved in my life in the past and I believe that He can do far more amazing things. As Job 11:17-19 says,

¹⁷ Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,
    and life’s darkest hours will shine like the dawn.
¹⁸ You will live secure and full of hope;
    God will protect you and give you rest.
¹⁹ You won’t be afraid of your enemies;
    many people will ask you for help.

We have all the reasons to give up and be bitter about life. But remember, we also have the choice to look at the brighter life. God can turn our ugly situation into a wonderful story. God can bless us more than our losses. God is faithful and He will not leave you and take you for granted. He is present to give you hope, protection, provision, and rest. Trust that He is in control despite your circumstances and that His breakthrough and blessings for your life are on its way.

Sincerely,

Abby Bern