Wednesday, February 3, 2016

A Fresh Look

I just spent some time focusing on praying my beads....and the first section of beads I devote to God's characteristics, praise and thanks.  I thanked God that HE is in control of this situation, not me and not the doctors.  I thanked him because of Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11. He has a plan for my life that he is carrying out and the end result will be to my benefit and in this I can take hope.  That future hope may not be on this earth. It may be waiting for me in Heaven.  But be assured: it will come.

Praise and Thanksgiving in the face of terrible news, may not seem appropriate to those who do not know my Yeshua.  But even the cross---on the surface, was a terrible, painful disaster. But wrapped with that pain, there was a gift for us.  You have to get through the pain before you can "open the present."  The cross was such good news that almost everyone has a cross they can wear on their neck...to remember and celebrate.

James says to "count it all joy" when you are beset with suffering and trouble.  It works to our benefit -- it hones our character, makes us an inspiration to others, allows us to comfort others with the comfort we have received from God, and prepares us for Heaven by getting rid of our rough edges.

And we have God's promise that he will never leave us; even if our own family abandons us.(Ps. 27:9-10).  God gives us the strength to get through the minute we're in (sometimes looking at the needs of an entire day seems too overwhelming).  He is present with us in our pain.  He is ready to comfort and to pick us up when we can't take another step.

You might think it a bit "schizophrenic" to write this post so soon after the one I just posted....but God did some marvelous work in my prayer time and I felt that I couldn't leave you with the bleakness of the picture I'd just painted.
So don't give up on me.
God is still honing and sanding my pretty rough edges.

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