What Kind

After a diagnosis is given, what kind of parent allows their child to go through the necessary testing and procedures to resolve the problem?  What kind of parent would allow their children to endure discomfort, anxiety, and even possible pain in an attempt to heal the underlying condition needing fixing?

What kind?....

A caring, loving, compassionate parent.  A parent who only wants and allows what's best for the child and has their best interest in mind.

Not only accompanying them to such an appointment, but having first called to even schedule such an experience.  A parent whose underlying concern is for the overall well-being of the child.  The end result of restored health being the primary goal and focus.

~~~~~

What kind of a God allows difficulties in our lives?  Do I dare say that I think I am beginning to understand an answer more and more?

If He uses suffering, trials and testing to grow me more like Him, then is it not ultimately for my overall well-being?  If a situation is brought before Him and He gives permission, in His sovereignty and goodness, to allow that to come before me...can I not rest assured that He has a purpose... in even that?

It's not as if something tragic happens, and then He scrambles to make something good of it.  Oh no my friend.

Instead, He sees the potential situation and already knows the growth and change it could generate in me.  He already sees how much it could be my good.  How much it would allow me, through faith in it all, to reveal who He is... all for His glory.

Just as I take my child through what they might define a difficult and potentially painful experience to get to the bottom of a health issue...how much more would I not expect that my God might schedule an appointment of another kind, knowing full well that He will accompany me through it, to get to the other side of a "spiritual heart" issue.

Should I not instead welcome it, having full confidence that He already has a purpose in each moment of it?  If I will just honestly give every piece of it back to Him.

Not for my comfort.  Not for the ease of my life.  But to make me more and more into the imagine of His own Son, Jesus.  All for Him and His glory alone!

Trials, testing, difficulties... gifts of His grace to not leave me as I am, but to restore me to all that He designed me to be.

What kind indeed... 

Precious Promise #5: Jeremiah 29:11

The Israelites find themselves in captivity.  Yet in the middle of that, God whispers hope...

  
Jeremiah 29:11

(NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

(Message)  "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

In the middle of what we are facing, there is a plan! However, it is God's plan and not ours. What we may think needs to or should happen may not be the perfect plan God has in store.

It is God's plans for us that we must trust and cling to!!

In the middle of the situation you are facing, THERE IS A PLAN!! It is not one of destruction, harm, abandon or devastation. It is a plan full of care, hope and a future. Even when it seems all is falling in around you, God has a plan of victory that you can cling to!

Precious Promise #4: Romans 8:26-27

(Amplified Bible)

"The [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning's too deep for utterance. And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will."

(Message)

"The moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves and keeps us present before God."

Does a situation you are facing leave you speechless? Does it go so deep that you aren't even sure how to ask others to pray, or even how to pray yourself? Is the waiting for the situation to be resolved getting long?

The Spirit is praying and interceding for you and on your behalf. He presents you before God and makes sense out of your sighing and groaning.

He knows how to pray. He knows what to ask. He knows better than we even know ourselves. Ask Him to pray on your behalf.

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." --Robert Murray McCheyne, (1813-1843)

The Flood. The Flowers. The Lesson.

The day had been long. The week had been long. No matter. Friday had come and I was headed home.

Home to rest. Home to relax. Home to refresh so as to have the strength to do it again the next week.

My mind wandered into nothingness...

I came to the top of the hill and instantly my mind jolted to reality. The audible cry that escaped my lips almost startled myself in the silence of the car.

It was gone. Completely under water. The town I had just driven through hours before was now buried. Only roofs were seen. On them I noticed people. A helicopter was hovering in the air. The town was buried in the flooding and the road I was to take to reach my home... gone.

There are a few things I distinctly and vividly remember about the flooding that occurred the summer that I was home from college.

Cresting the top of the hill only to look down and see nothing of the town that had been there just that morning is one of them. It took me an additional two hours to arrive home that night due to having to find roads passable.

I also distinctly remember what I call... the flood flowers.

As we were driving to church one morning, I was looking out of the window. This had become a very common practice as we compared the water level to where it had been as it slowly receded.

On our drive I was straining to find the ditches I knew were there. I wondered if it was just a very small taste of what Noah must have felt. Straining, almost as if it required great effort, just to catch one small glimpse of earth beneath the water.

It was then that I saw them. They were some of the smallest and most beautiful flowers I had seen. Springing up, where plain ol' earthy ditches should have been, through the murky water left from the flooding... tiny flowers reaching towards heaven.

I pointed them out to the rest of my family. We were all amazed and wondered at their appearance. In what seemed so devastating, so ugly, so destructive... was rising something so innocent, so simple, so precious.

Their thin stems standing tall seemed to announce determination. Their perfectly formed petals seemed to shout hope. Their bright colors seemed to proclaim life.

We later learned that they were a flower that grows after and in the midst of large flooding. I wish I could recall what they were called. I can't. But I do remember the lesson they taught me.

 I have experienced moments of life that can feel destructive, discouraging, devastating, and overwhelming. That all beauty has become ugly and repulsive, perhaps even nauseating. I have felt as though all hope is lost. There is nothing to salvage, nothing to rebuild, nothing but ruins.

However, if I look.  If I wait.  If I am willing to see them... they appear. They are there. As I strain to catch just one glimpse, in time, I am not disappointed. My heart flood flowers appear.

God does a planting in the middle of the chaos. Strength is bolstered. Beauty is remembered. Hope is renewed. There is promise of sunshine after the rain. Life springs forth from apparent death. And He provides the reminder in the midst... just for me.

I find that now I am not so amazed and astonished when I see them in my heart, just more assured and comforted. A knowing smile crosses my face and a peace settles deep in my spirit as I look out the window of my soul, gazing upon my heart flood flowers.

For you see, I've learned... that's just the way my God is.

(Note: the flowers pictured here are not the actual flood flowers we saw.)

Precious Promise #3: Isaiah 40: 28-31

(New Living Translation)   

"Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?  The LORD is the everlasting God,  the Creator of all the earth.  He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint."

(Message) 

"Why would you ever complain, or whine saying, 'God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me?'  Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?  God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind." 

Be encouraged! Regardless of what you are facing, God remains in complete control. He is not unaware.

Situations that exhaust you, do not phase God.

In fact, if we continue to press hard into Him in the middle of our circumstances, He will provide strength and energy in those very moments. Not just strength to survive or to get by.... but fresh strength.

Strength to soar above our situation.  Strength to run to the very end.

What promise have you been reminded of this week?


More about "Precious Promises"

Passing It On

I just wanted to pass on a few things...

*  A link you might be interested in:  "8 Steps to Meeting God in Silence and Solitude."

*  A blog you might be interested in:  The Works of God:  "Reflections on the sovereignty of God over disability, disease, and suffering, for God's glory and for our good."

And last but certainly not least...

*  An event you might be interested in:  Ladies Brunch and Mini Retreat - Feb. 4 (all of this for only $20!)  If it weren't a plane ride away I would be there in a heartbeat!  I have heard Leslie speak.  You won't be disappointed!  But hurry, space is limited and seats are filling up...  (I would love to hear if you are able to go!!)

What have you found worth passing on?

Precious Promise #2: Deuteronomy 31:8

Deuteronomy 31:8

(KJV) "And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed."

(NLT) "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." 

Be encouraged! Whatever it is you are facing... you are not alone. You do not need to fear, be discouraged, or be dismayed. God, himself, walks not only with you... but ahead of you, preparing the way. He will not fail, forsake, or abandon. He will be with you!

What promise have you been reminded of this week?


More about "Precious Promises"

The Reading of My Tombstone

Have you thought much about your tombstone lately? When I think of mine it encourages, inspires, challenges and pushes me forward.

When I’ve attempted to create a life goal, mission statement or other form of purpose statement for my life, I seem to have trouble formulating it into a few simple words. I get much too wordy to include all that I want to pursue. I become discouraged as I can’t seem to accomplish it all and still do it well.

Many years ago I began wondering what I would want to be said about me at the end of my life? What legacy would I want to leave behind? What would I want to be known for? What one thing would I want my tombstone to say?

Over the years my tombstone saying has never changed. I have re-evaluated it. I have contemplated changing it. Yet, somehow, it has dug a furrow deep into my heart.

As I have grown and worked on bringing my tombstone saying to life, I am amazed at the irony of it all.

You see, I have come to realization that I am, at my very core, a rather selfish person. It requires a conscious effort on my part to think beyond myself. I find taking on the selfish me and laying down my own expectations and desires is a daily task and challenge.

I use this realization to force me into making my tombstone dream a reality. I use the challenge and thorn of it to drive me forward in taking on my selfish self and coming forth victorious as I overcome selfishness in different situations.

I long to not only learn to animate my tombstone saying for myself, but to also instill it in my children. I long for them to not only have the ability to proclaim about me the reading on my tombstone, but for them to then also be able to say, “And she taught us to do the same.”

I am frequently reading my tombstone in an effort to make the call on my heart a reality in my life. I’ll let you read my tombstone as well.

“Born to Serve.  Died Serving.”

Serving God.  Serving Others.  Serving in action.  Serving in motive.  Serving in prayer.  Serving...

Have you thought much about your tombstone lately?  What would you like it to say about you?

I challenge you to not write something easily attainable for you. Write something that will be more than just a simple accomplishment in the end.

Write something that will, in and of itself, dictate and explain a pursuit that entirely consumed a part of what your life represented as you changed (with God's help) to become a better person to make it a reality.

What does your tombstone life mission read?   What are you doing to accomplish it? 

Precious Promise #1: I Corinthians 2:9

I Corinthians 2:9

(NIV) "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." 

(MSG) "No one's ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it— What God has arranged for those who love him."

Be encouraged! Regardless of what you are facing, God has arranged a plan beyond your wildest imaginations!

What promise have you been reminded of this week?


More about "Precious Promises"

Why Eat?

Do you remember what you had for lunch two weeks ago Tuesday? 

Even if you don't remember, do you think that it still had some amount of nutrition?  Do you believe that at some level it sustained you?  Would you admit that it provided energy, strength, and nutrients to get you to the next task on your list for the day?

What if you hadn't eaten that meal?  That day?  Or even for 3 days?  Would you notice?

Just because you don't remember what you had for lunch two weeks ago Tuesday, has that caused you to consider stopping eating all together?  I mean, really, if  a meal can't be remembered... then what's the use, right?  Maybe it's all just a waste of time... this eating gig.

Of course that sounds absurd!

Guess what else is absurd...

I used to excuse the importance of my personal time in God's Word away with that same type of thinking.

"I can't always remember what I read.  I wonder if it's just a waste of my time.  Yeah, I know I should read, but really... who has time for something that can't be remembered later?"

You know what I have found?

Much as the physical nutrition for the moment brings health to my physical body, so the spiritual sustenance and strength I need for the day comes from the Words I read that morning.

Even when I can't always remember the details of each moment at a later date, I am confident that the time spent there meditating and focusing on His Words to me have sustained me more than I know.  More than I would probably even believe were I to know the full impact.

So, although I can't always remember exactly what I had to eat a few weeks ago, I am confident that I did eat.  And that food sustained exactly what I needed for that day.

Hungry anyone?...