Personal Testimony of God at Work in Life's Most Challenging Times | Divorce, Death of a Loved One

West Church Podcast | Mooresville, Lake Norman, NC | Relevant messages for today

Hear the personal testimony of West Church Staff member Dawn Lynch and how God has led her out of life's darkest moments.
Her story is an inspiration to us all. From the divorce of her parents to her own struggles to leave an abusive marriage with her four children, to the death of the man she credits with teaching her what love is, this is a moving Christian faith message. If you are struggling, we hope this helps you find strength and hope and realize God is present, even in the darkness. Subscribe to our channel for more.
Pastor Smith relates in the video: "Sometimes I think we feel guilty if we're not the perfect Christian or perfect follower of Jesus, but Jesus wrestled with feeling far from God, so I think if Jesus can wrestle with it, we can too. And I think that's such a powerful part of your story that you did feel not okay and not in love with God, and your journey through that, and here you are this leader of people in faith."
On prayer:
One of the things we can learn from Dawn is about the power of prayer. Dawn surrendered herself to her pain and her anxiety and worry, and just threw up her hands or physically fell to her knees in a posture of prayer, and said, all right God, here I am. I hope you heard what she said that in those moments of absolute brokenness: "you felt this warmth just sustain you." Please don't ever underestimate the power of prayer, both in self-surrender, but also in praying for each other. There is something that happens in the universe that when we pray for one another, energy surrounds them and lifts them up when they need it. It's a real thing. We don't have to understand it, but it is very real, so please don't ever underestimate when someone tells you they're praying for you or praying for each other. It really does make a difference
11:55 -- When have you felt far from God?
15:50 -- Where have you seen God, even in difficult times?
17:55 – God at work: Leaving an unsafe relationship; growing spiritually
How serving the church provides purpose and meaning
21:00 -- Jesus wrestled with feeling far from God; we can too
22:00 -- Was there a turning point that you remember realizing you needed God?
25:00 -- Don’t underestimate the power of prayer. We don't have to understand it, but it is very real.
28:00 -- The challenge of starting over as a single mom with four kids
33:00 – God’s ironic sense of timing
PTSD diagnosis after divorce: Healing from the trauma with EMDR
36:00 -- Dawn’s journey into employment in ministry
When have you felt far from God?
Dawn: When you first told me that this would be one of the questions, I thought, “You know, God's always been with me. I haven't felt far from God.” But then I started to think about it and I'm like, wow, the list just grew longer and longer, but actually I discovered that it was my pain and my anger from my pain that really prevented me from being able to see how God was already at work in my previous situations.
I had wonderful parents and a beautiful childhood, for whatever reasons, my parents separated and divorced, and that brought pain to me early on as a child. Then I married at a very young age of 21, and my husband battled with anger, which led to addiction and an abusive personality. So there was a lot of pain in that marriage and that time together. Then just when things felt like they were finally starting to come back together after the brokenness of my marriage, I fell in love with this wonderful man who truly showed me what love should feel like and look like through his example. Then he was tragically killed in a boating accident, so that just really left me feeling lonely and sad and afraid and somewhat unworthy of happiness.