Trials of Life

Trials and life altering tribulations occur in all of our lives, but it seems that some experience more than their share of suffering.  I know this first hand.  When I was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening disease I thought my world had just been turned upside down.  Then six months later our five month old grandson died of SIDS.  Life couldn’t get much harder!  Then six months later our daughter in law and two of our grandchildren were in a horrible accident that left our four year old grandson paralyzed from the neck down.  Yes, this had to be the most life altering experience of my life. 

We all have our own way of dealing with pain.  Some people blame themselves.  Some lash out at the people closest to them.  Some withdraw inward.  Some blame God and some fall on their knees and beg HIM for help.  I fall into the latter category.  It is difficult to say this without sounding a little crazy but if I had not experienced these events I wouldn’t know God the way I do today.  When I needed Him the most He was there!  If you have never experienced the Holy Spirit upon you it is hard to explain the peace that just comes over you.  No matter what the circumstance you know in your heart that everything is going to be alright…..no matter what the outcome.

Our grandson just turned eight and he is a blessing from God.  I know that God did not cause the accident but He did allow it to happen.  I don’t know the exact purpose for my family’s suffering but I do know that as a result I am a changed person.  God has shown me things in my life that needed to be dealt with and things that needed to be done away with.  I truly am a new creation.

God’s Word says that “if we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”      1 John 6-7  I was saved at 8 years old and then again at 18 but never really lived a Christian life.  That is until I realized how much I needed Jesus.  Not the Jesus I prayed to when I remembered or the Jesus that I sang hymns to when I did make it to church.  I needed the Jesus of the bible.  The life giving, life saving King of Kings.  I needed the Risen Savior!  And to my joy He was waiting for me with open arms.  All I had to do was humble myself before Him.  I cried out to Him lost and brokenhearted and He rescued me.  He gave me His peace.  The peace that surpasses all understanding!  It’s true, there is nothing like the Love of Jesus!! As you think about the trials of your life and wonder if you can have this peace, the answer is yes.  Yes you can!  Jesus is waiting for you too. 

SCRIPTURE

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.  1 Peter 5:6-7

You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials.  So that the genuineness of your faith more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire may result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 1:6-7

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.   May He be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen Ephesians 3:14-21

I watched a video today that I had seen before but for some reason this time it touched me so deeply that I cried out to God.  Yes Lord, it is the same, the very same thing!  It was a 13 year old boy who called into a radio station because he had to put his “special calf” down because she broke her back. 

He said he cried out to God for a reason.  He said “why God, she was special!”  He said God answered him. “ You know, Logan, my Son was special but He died for a purpose.”  Logan said “so when you lose a loved one or a pet it is so important to always remember that God gave His Son, too and He understands, He will always understand so just run to Him”.  What a tribute to the love and mercy of our Heavenly Father.  That He would send this powerful message through a 13 year old boy!!  It goes to show you that God can and does use anyone who is available.  We don’t have to be rich, famous, beautiful, smart, etc….we just have to be available. 

My husband and I have been discussing for some time how we might serve God in our community.  We have kicked around several ideas but haven’t decided just exactly what our goal should be.  IE: help the needy, start a charity, visit orphanages, help in the foster care system.  There are so many people who have immediate needs it’s hard to choose where to start.  After listening to Logan I don’t think the choice is up to us.  It’s up to God how He decides to use us.  We just need to put ourselves out there and be available when God calls on us.

I think if we are all available when God calls us this world would be a better place.  The next time you see someone broke down stop and ask if they need help.  When you see that someone has their hands full hold the door open for them.  Smile and say God bless you to the next cashier who waits on you at Wal-Mart or Target or any other store you are blessed to be shopping at.  Service can start with kindness to a stranger or even kindness to someone close to you.

God has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us who claim to be His child.  It is up to us to show the world the love of God through our words and our actions.  God showed us His love through this 13 year old boy in a mighty way.  How can He show His love through you and me????

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Matthew 5:7

Below is the link to watch the video.  

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/vod/WGR38v1

God's Amazing Grace

As I look at this picture of my grandson enjoying the warmth of the sun upon his face I can’t help but wonder what’s going through his mind.  Is he thinking how wonderful it feels?  Maybe, he is thinking “this is the best part of my day”, or maybe he is talking to God.  Someday I will ask him but for now just knowing that he is content and happy in that place is enough for me.  Feeling the warmth of the sun is such a small thing to most of us.  Something we rarely even think about and even take for granted, but this child, this precious little boy who has no feeling below his neck finds comfort in the feeling of the sun upon his face; isn’t the grace of God amazing? 

Friday, Jason will celebrate his 8^th birthday!!  He is so sweet and kind and funny.  He brings out the best in everyone around him!  He has changed my life in so many ways and on so many levels over the past three years.  Through this child my faith is tested and strengthened.  I miss the way he used to be but I love the child he is today.  It is hard to explain but the accident and the subsequent events have made me realize who God truly is; who I am in the Lord today is not who I was three years ago.  I see Him in a way that I never saw Him before.  He is my strength, my comfort and my life.  Without Him I am nothing but with Him I am more than a conqueror and so is Jason. 

I know that God, by a miracle or by modern medicine will make the way for Jason to feel and move his body again.  I look for that day to come as sure as I look for the second coming of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am that certain!    Until that time arrives I have the comfort of knowing that Jason is fully content in the body he has and even says that he loves his body just the way it is.  God has blessed him with acceptance and contentment in the way things are.  Instead of dwelling on what he is missing out on he is enjoying the sunshine on his face.  I wish we could all be more like him.

Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms, so my heart is quiet within me.  Psalm 131:2

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  Philippians 4:12

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14

I pray that out of His glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:16-21

Generosity

Generosity does not come naturally for most people.  I struggle with being generous and then I struggle with the guilt I feel because I failed so miserably.  I am more generous than I used to be but still not as generous as I should be.  It helps to remember that all we own, everything, belongs to God.  We don’t really own it at all.  We are just the earthly managers of the blessings that God in His goodness gives us.  Our family, home, job, health, wealth as well as our freedom belong to God.  “Some people give much but get back even more.  Others don’t give what they should and end up poor.  Whoever gives to others will get richer; those who help others will themselves be helped.”  Proverbs 11:25-25

Jesus lived a generous life.  Everything about Him was giving and loving and kind.  He loved us so much that He laid His life down so that you and I might live with Him for eternity.  He is our example.  “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him”?  1 John 3:16-17

We have the greatest example of generosity to live by, Jesus Christ. We might not have to die for our brother (because we live in America) but showing kindness to a stranger, going to visit a friend in the hospital or a loved one in jail is the least we can do for our Savior.  He paid the ultimate price and it is up to us to share with the world this great love. 

Where are you on the journey to generous living?  Is your motive pure?  Is God pleased with how you show His love to the world?  I am a work in progress.  Some days I think God is pleased and other days I just have to pray for forgiveness and direction.  I pray that as each day passes I will become more like Jesus and less like myself so that when I do see Him face to face He will say to me “Well done, My good and faithful servant”. 

But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus -- the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love.  Acts 20:24