Mid-Week Message - Coming Through the Storms

"Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."  Jeremiah 32:17  

It rained last night.  It rained hard.  We were under threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes part of the time.  The weather report said there could be high winds and tree damage.  Gratefully, though everything is very soggy, we came through the storms just fine.  

As I was listening to the pouring rain, I was thinking about life.  We all have times of hardship, or storms if you will, that we encounter. Like rain, some storms we can anticipate, but others seem to pop up out of the blue.  Someone gets gravely ill.  A job is lost.  The economy takes a downturn. Relationships end.  A child struggles with addiction or rebellion.  A loved one passes away.  The list is endless. Everyone encounters something in life that is difficult to make it through.

How should the storms of life be dealt with?  In a perfect world, we would go straight to the cross and dump those issues at the base, trust the Lord to take care of them, recover our smiles and go on. In a perfect world.  But since there are no perfect people, we do not have a perfect world.  We fight our humanness as we struggle to gain or maintain control.  We do the best we can as feeble beings who were never intended to carry the weight of these burdens.  Then, eventually, hopefully, we remember that we have a Holy Advocate who has all power and can calm our storm just as he calmed the storm for His disciples.  His words were, "Peace!  Be still."  The storm stopped raging and calm was restored.

One evening while scrolling through a social media site, I saw these words, "Don't tell God how big your storm is.  Tell the storm how big your God is!"  No storm, physical, mental, emotional or spiritual is too difficult for our Lord.  Not depression.  Not divorce. Not money problems.  Not addiction.  Not the loss of a job, the rebellion of a child, illness or the death of a loved one.  Nothing is beyond His ability to turn darkness into light, sadness into joy, or emptiness into the abundant life that He promised.  Nothing! 

So, what do we do?  Pray!  Tell the Father how we are feeling.  He delights in His children confiding in Him.  When Jesus was in the garden before His crucifixion, He was honest with His Father.  He admitted how He was feeling and asked God to take what was coming away from Him if there was any other way to accomplish His purpose.  Surely, if Jesus can do that we can too.  God didn't remove the storm from Jesus, and He may or may not remove ours. But look at what is available to us as His children because of what Jesus went through.  This is our assurance that the Lord will use our storms for our good if we will allow Him to.  

Are you facing a storm today?  Turn to the only One who can calm it then hang on for whatever comes next and know that on the other side of the darkness is the great light of His goodness, grace and mercy.

Mid-Week Message - God's Perspective of Protection

"Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."  Psalm 147:5 (ESV)  

Each Tuesday morning I drive to a nearby town to use the pool at the YMCA.  I enjoy the drive I take because I use back roads where I get to see horses, donkeys and cattle.  There is one intersection though that can be a bit tricky.  In order to see the approaching traffic, it is necessary to angle the car in a certain way.  Yesterday, a driver in a van that was behind me there was honking the horn because they were unable to see what I could see which was several vehicles approaching at a rapid rate of speed.  If I had heeded the honking, I could have been killed.  However, I understood that the driver behind me could not see from my perspective and was unaware of the danger he was urging me into. 

As He often does, the Lord used this for a lesson.  We navigate life from our own vantage point.  We make decisions based on what we see and understand.  We pray in accordance with our understanding of what we desire or need.  Then, when we believe God says "no" or doesn't answer, we get upset thinking He hasn't heard or doesn't care.  We tend to forget that He is able to see the things that we cannot.  He knows how granting our wishes will impact our lives.  

When my daughter was very young, she was curious about the stove when I was cooking.  She would reach up, captivated by the fire under the pans.  Because I loved her and didn't want her harmed, I would stop her.  But, one day, she seemed more determined than ever before.  I warned her repeatedly that she was going to burn herself.  I tried to redirect her attention to something else.  Nothing was working.  So, I watched as she placed her little hand on the stove near the heat.  Though she wasn't injured, she learned that day that sometimes she should listen to her mom.  Because I had knowledge that she didn't, I was able to see what could happen if she got what she wanted.  

There are several things that I and my family are praying for.  We pray from our own perceptions of what would fulfill our needs and be advantageous for us.  I'm sure you are doing the same.  When we lay our requests before the Father we need to trust Him to do what is in our best interest, remembering that He is able to see what we cannot.  He knows whether those things will ultimately bring good or harm into our lives.  Rather than questioning His judgement or response to our prayers, we need to be grateful for His great love and thank Him for protecting us.  Even though we may not know why He answers differently than we hope, we can always be assured that He wants only the best for us and will give accordingly.  

As we approach Christmas, the time of giving, let's be mindful of the One that we look to for guidance and provision and thank Him for His perfect wisdom and His direction as He helps us navigate the dangerous intersections of our lives.  God bless!  

Never Give Up!

Throughout history, there are stories about soldiers in desperate situations. In those situations, the soldiers seemed to have only one thing left to do. Give up and surrender. It would be reasonable and it would be an act that no one would question. However, the soldiers decide to stand their ground and fight. Surrender, for them, was not an option to consider.

We, as Christians, fight every single day against temptation. Each day is a struggle. There are days when our faith is challenged due to illness or financial problems. No matter what we face, we have to remain firm in our faith and steadfast in our devotion to our Heavenly Father. By remaining faithful and righteous in the eyes of the Lord, we know that God will deliver us from the troubles that we face.

In my own life, I have faced many struggles and snares. Each seemed more difficult than the last. There have been times when my strength has all but left me and I am just too tired to go on. I, too, want to surrender and give up. It is at those very moments when I lift my hands up to the Lord and pray. I ask Him for the strength to go on and to be victorious. You can rest assured that God will deliver you.

In Psalm 34, David recounts his experience with Abimelek and how God delivered him. David states that he prayed to God and He listened to him. God delivered David from all of his troubles. There is a very important word that we should take note of. The word is "all". God will deliver us from "all" of our troubles. David later states that an angel of God will act as a guard and that angel will surround and defend him. You could not ask for a more. An angel sent to watch over you and protect you.

Verse 19 tells us that the righteous will face many troubles, but God will rescue them each time. 

So, when you are faced with troubles, do not give up. Hold steadfast to your faith and call to God. He will hear you and rescue you.

The righteous person faces many troubles,

but the lord comes to the rescue each time. Psalm 34:19 (NLT)