Thankful for You
by Joe Leavell
Here at Biblical Counseling of Arizona, we are thankful for each of you! We are honored that you have trusted us with your stories and allowed us to point you towards the wisdom of the Gospel of Christ through God’s Word for over seven years now.
For all those we have talked with, our prayer is that God has provided wisdom through His Word and through His Spirit in our time together. We sincerely hope you did not leave your time of counseling simply pondering the pros or cons of what you should do or what you thought about our counseling techniques. We pray that you left each session thinking more about Christ than when you came, and how He is the hope for your life, no matter what your circumstances. We are grateful for all of you who gave us the opportunity to see your eyes light up as the very practical ways that truth tangibly flushes out in your day to day life connected in your hearts.
These past years have been challenging for many. Frequently, we have counseled those of you who have had severe strains on relationships, friendships, and even in your trust in God’s goodness during your struggles. Some of you faced yet another season of depression, and others struggled even with God's very existence.
Through this year, we have worked with those whose marriages took major hits. For others, this is the year your marriage ended. There are those we talked with who carried a long-term addiction. Some found lasting freedom and some we are still working through together. There are also those who are grieving lost loved ones, and we know the coming holidays are daunting and difficult.
Counseling was not reserved for adults either. We counseled many of your children and teens as well who are learning to navigate through a fallen world after their innocence has left.
This year, some of you may have come to see us for basic advice, or for an outside perspective on something specific going on in your life. Some of you we saw only briefly, and others, we are still working together with you after many months. Yet, we see each of you as a blessing from God, and we are thankful for whatever time we have together.
We celebrated with a few of you as you beautifully took that step in your walk with God by committing your life to Christ! We rejoice with all of heaven that we got to witness your new birth!
Through the rest of this year, and as we begin to ponder the next, we can find real thankfulness that God has no desire to simply make all our problems go away, to numb our pain, or to be manipulated so that we can get our way.
Wait! That’s beautiful?
Yes, because He is interested in something that to Him is far more valuable.
He is interested in...us. In you.
God sees you. He loves you and you matter deeply to Him! He demonstrated that love through Christ on the cross. His desire is to heal every single part of us, not just the parts we see as problems or our immediate circumstances. He wants our hearts...our affection...our worship. When He is in His rightful place, then all other aspects of our life begin to take shape and we can begin to find healing and purpose regardless of what challenges we face.
As we ponder our gratitude to God for each of you, we also pray for you. Our prayer is that you will continue to surrender your heart and your life to His good desires for you. We pray that you will experience the joy that it is for the Lord to build your life, give you peace, love, and experience the fullness of walking with Him on a daily basis. We pray that your walk with Him will impact every corner of your life.
Jesus truly is better than anything else we could choose to take His place. Our counseling would be empty without Him.
This is why we do what we do, and why we are thankful for each of you. We are blessed to know you and to walk with you in your seasons of difficulty.
Truly.
We are also grateful to those of you who have donated to our ministry and to those we counsel. Some of our counselees have also found support through church benevolence and others through the generosity of their family or friends. Even more than your generous gifts, thank you for your prayers for our counselees and for our counselors and our families as we seek to faithfully serve. Your investment into the lives and souls of people through BCA is truly appreciated and we pray that God will bless you through your kindness.
While we counsel hundreds of people each year, we make a point to pray for each person we counsel by name during the time they are with us. We pray that God will continue to raise up even more counselors and churches to partner with us to share the love of Jesus through biblical counseling.
If we haven't heard from you for a while, please send your counselor an update on how you are doing, and let us know how we can pray. We would love to hear from you in what the Lord is teaching you in and through your circumstances!
If you know of others who may be struggling or churches who may benefit from our ministry, please share your experience with them and encourage them to reach out.
If there is anything further that we can do to be of help through this year and beyond, we are happy to serve you.
Because of the grace of Christ,
Your Friends at Biblical Counseling of Arizona
