Endings always open doors for beginnings. Such is the case of marriage that ends in the death of a spouse. Our lives as widows now bear the question; what’s next?
What’s next, or what do I do now, can leave us in a state of mind and emotion that prevent us from moving forward if we allow it. But once our grief has gone through its stages and we begin to think about answers to these questions, we may be ready to move forward with a renewed hope for our future.
That is what hope4widows.com and the book, WINGS: Widows in New Growth Seasons are all about. We want to provide resources to give hope and encouragement to widows to grow emotionally and spiritually in this new beginning.
“Behold, I will do something new. Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19, NASB)
Wilderness. Isn’t that where we feel we are in that first year of widowhood? Even now, it still feels that way at times. Isaiah 43:19 is a promise from God for the children of Israel when life was hard, yet we can believe it for our lives today.
Are you tired of being lonely, of feeling isolated, and don’t really care about much of anything? Please be encouraged to know God is not finished with you. He still has something new for you and will pave a way through all the mental fog and loneliness to make a way for you in your wilderness.
Here are three points to ponder from Isaiah 43:19:
- God still has something for you that is new and different from where you have been.
- Be Aware: He is asking us to be aware of His new thing. We can be aware by asking Him to reveal it to us and show us what to do with it. It may be a new job, a new location, a new home, or new relationships. Whatever it is, he will show us when the time is right.
- God will make a way: Roads and rivers in a desert wilderness will be made. Whatever God has in store for us, we need not be doubtful for how it will happen. He will always make a way out of our personal desert as we open our heart and mind to the path He opens before us.
Are You Ready?
This is a question only we can answer for ourselves. We can make ourselves ready by pressing on through the grief to the hope of the future. Hope is the confident expectation of something good to come. Let’s be confident that God will turn our ashes to beauty, and we will return once again to the land of the living.
Begin each day with time in God’s word and prayer. Then take a walk, call a friend for lunch, or something else you enjoy.
You are being prayed for.
The WINGS Support Group Team
