121 Stories - God Came Near in Her Suffering
The peace of God is there for you even in the midst of struggles.
Pamela Shannon
Mar 26, 2020 4m
In this message Pam recounts one of the darkest times in her life. She shares that she was able to find the comfort of God, and the peace of God, during her most difficult times by being open and crying out to him. Video recorded at Grapevine, Texas.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Pamela Shannon: 00:04 I have always thought of myself as a Christian, and connected to God, but God always just kind of seemed far away. I never really knew how close I could feel to God.
Pamela Shannon: 00:18 And probably about 10 years ago, I found myself in one thing after another happening. I ended up getting a divorce, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and then died four months after that, then I blew out my knee. I had an ACL MCL meniscus tear and I was, after surgery, pretty immobile. Just everything was kind of crashing on me, I felt my life was falling apart.
Pamela Shannon: 00:50 And in the past in my life, I always was just the one in control, who had everything together. I had a great family, and I had a great career, I just was able to balance everything and never really depended upon God. I always felt like I could stay in control. And when that happened, all the balls that I had up in the air just really dropped.
Pamela Shannon: 01:21 And I remember being stuck in bed and, and feeling really sorry for myself. And my son coming in, and he was probably about 11 at that time, and said to me, well, maybe God has you stuck in bed so he could talk to you. And that hit me, I think that was one of the first times when I really felt the Holy spirit talking to me that I couldn't do life on my own
Pamela Shannon: 01:48 I would hear people say about talking to God, or hearing from God, and I never knew what that meant. I never knew that, and it was frustrating to me because I felt like, well, maybe I'm not important enough for God to talk to me. And I'm not significant enough, I'm not good enough, those thoughts were in me. Maybe I'm not even a Christian, like those things really hit me.
Pamela Shannon: 02:21 Though I realized as I stayed quiet and I tried to stay connected and stay in prayer, I started feeling that peace for me. It was just, there was something inside me, I knew that that was the Holy spirit leading me a certain way. As I was getting closer to God, and really starting to let him lead my life, instead of me leading my life. I realized that as was going through this disaster of a life that I found myself in, and I started going to a Christian counselor, and I really saw how in all that messiness and tragic stuff that was going on, how much that helped me to be able to hear how much God loved me. Even though I had sinned, even though I got a divorce, even though my life wasn't everything that it looked like on the outside, that he really, really loved me.
Pamela Shannon: 03:38 And it was that time when I felt so close to him that I knew I mattered to him, instead of just being good or looking good because I was successful or had a great looking family. And with that, I just think God used all of that messiness of my life. And I just felt my heart want to help other people who find themselves in these situations, whether it's their own sin or just life happening to them, to use that time when they're so vulnerable to go to God. And to know God is really there, he's really right here with us, he's not just up in heaven, glancing down at us.
Recorded in Grapevine, Texas.
Pamela Shannon: 00:18 And probably about 10 years ago, I found myself in one thing after another happening. I ended up getting a divorce, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and then died four months after that, then I blew out my knee. I had an ACL MCL meniscus tear and I was, after surgery, pretty immobile. Just everything was kind of crashing on me, I felt my life was falling apart.
Pamela Shannon: 00:50 And in the past in my life, I always was just the one in control, who had everything together. I had a great family, and I had a great career, I just was able to balance everything and never really depended upon God. I always felt like I could stay in control. And when that happened, all the balls that I had up in the air just really dropped.
Pamela Shannon: 01:21 And I remember being stuck in bed and, and feeling really sorry for myself. And my son coming in, and he was probably about 11 at that time, and said to me, well, maybe God has you stuck in bed so he could talk to you. And that hit me, I think that was one of the first times when I really felt the Holy spirit talking to me that I couldn't do life on my own
Pamela Shannon: 01:48 I would hear people say about talking to God, or hearing from God, and I never knew what that meant. I never knew that, and it was frustrating to me because I felt like, well, maybe I'm not important enough for God to talk to me. And I'm not significant enough, I'm not good enough, those thoughts were in me. Maybe I'm not even a Christian, like those things really hit me.
Pamela Shannon: 02:21 Though I realized as I stayed quiet and I tried to stay connected and stay in prayer, I started feeling that peace for me. It was just, there was something inside me, I knew that that was the Holy spirit leading me a certain way. As I was getting closer to God, and really starting to let him lead my life, instead of me leading my life. I realized that as was going through this disaster of a life that I found myself in, and I started going to a Christian counselor, and I really saw how in all that messiness and tragic stuff that was going on, how much that helped me to be able to hear how much God loved me. Even though I had sinned, even though I got a divorce, even though my life wasn't everything that it looked like on the outside, that he really, really loved me.
Pamela Shannon: 03:38 And it was that time when I felt so close to him that I knew I mattered to him, instead of just being good or looking good because I was successful or had a great looking family. And with that, I just think God used all of that messiness of my life. And I just felt my heart want to help other people who find themselves in these situations, whether it's their own sin or just life happening to them, to use that time when they're so vulnerable to go to God. And to know God is really there, he's really right here with us, he's not just up in heaven, glancing down at us.
Recorded in Grapevine, Texas.
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