Work it out

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

I am doing a Bible study of the word renovation or being under construction. I feel like this is the word that God has given me to focus my daily life on this year. You see, I am constantly under construction. There are days in which I feel like there should be a fence around me and/or that yellow tape with orange barrels. You know, the kind of attention that says – BEWARE!! UNDER CONSTRUCTION! DANGEROUS!

Well, I have a mega list of Bible verses that I am going through to help me to better understand what it means to be under construction and what I need to do to improve my daily walk to be closer to Jesus. This was my verse for today. Well, it was supposed to be one of my verses, but I got so deep on studying it that I couldn’t move on until I wrote this blog post.

I love to look at the deeper meaning of words, especially in Bible verses. I believe that KJV is the first place to go. However, I do like to look in other versions and look up the deeper meanings of the Greek and/or Hebrew words that are used. There are tons of resources online for this. If you need some suggestions, let me know. I will be glad to direct you.

Now then, let me write out for you what the literal translation of Romans 8:28 says – “But we know that God works together all things for good to the (ones) loving God, to the (ones) being called according to purpose.” (Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by Jay P. Green, Sr., editor)

Oh, how I love this! The literal version puts the burden of “work together” on God, exactly where it should be! Yes, you can imply this from the KJV, but there is no question in the literal translation. I think this is so very important because too often I try and work it out. I try and find the good in the things that I am doing. I try and direct the flow so that I will end up where I think that God wants me to be. Do you see the problem here? Too many “I”s. It’s gross when I write it out. What am I possibly thinking?! My focus should be on giving it to God to let Him work it out for His good and in His time – not mine.

And I love the action in the literal – “loving God” and “being called”. To me, this shows that in order to have God active in my life, I need to be active with Him. That means getting into His word. That means studying to show myself approved – a workman rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) That means actively communicating all the time.

Prayer time does not have to exclusively be a time when you are alone and in private. Don’t get me wrong, this is an incredibly important time that you need to desperately protect because it is vitally important! But prayer is also communicating always – “Pray without ceasing.” – I Thessalonians 5:17. You can’t always be in your prayer closet all the time. God has work for you to do! Rather, I think, prayer is constantly bringing your petitions and thanks to God. Prayer is an active way of life. Prayer is how I allow God to work all things for His good. Prayer helps me to stay focused on God’s purpose and plans rather than my own.

You see, I want, no, I need God to work all things for His good in my life. I know that there are issues in all of our lives that we need to turn over to God. We don’t need to carry them around and try and unravel that yarn on our own. We need to express our concerns and needs before God in prayer and then trust that in His time, He will work it all out for His good. And when that time comes, friend, you had better be praising God for all His work in your life! There is no shame in admitting that there is no way that you worked this problem out on your own. God deserves all the praise and glory for all He has done!

Helplessness

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8:26

For those of you who may not know, both of my children are away at college. I write this from, quite literally, an empty nest. It’s a weird concept. You raise these tiny humans for 18 years and then, all of the sudden, society sees them as adults and you send them off into the world.

And then one gets sick. And you are hundreds of miles away. And she is calling you about an hour after you fall asleep, crying because her ear hurts so bad.

And you are helpless.

There are very few pains in the human body that one is helpless to ease like ear pain. I remember when the kids were little and they would develop swimmer’s ear. Here are your tiny humans that you scrub down with soap and water just to get all the dirt off, crying their little hearts out because their ear feels like someone is trying to rip it off from the inside and you can do nothing.

And then add hundreds of miles to the issue. It is a time in a mother’s life where you are remembering every trick and idea that you have ever heard of in your entire life just to ease your baby’s pain so that she can go to sleep. The phone seems cold and uncaring in your hand because there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can do to ease her pain.

BUT…..oh yes…..BUT, I know Someone who can help. I know the Great Physician. I know the Creator of that darling daughter of mine. I know the One who loves her way more than I could ever imagine.

I begin to pray. I pray for God to ease her discomfort. I pray for Him to give her peace. And then the “groaning” begins. You know, that time where your hand is across your forehead and your eyes are closed because you really just don’t know what to say other than “Father”.

As a parent, we feel that it is our duty and responsibility to provide and ease the pain and direct and encourage our children. And it is. It is a very important role that we play in their life and in their development. But if we don’t take our children to the alter of Christ and lay them at His feet for all those things that we are humanly incapable of providing and easing and directing and encouraging our children about, then we have done those whom He has entrusted us with a huge disservice. They need to know where we turn when we have no clue what to do.

So, I told her. “Sweetheart, I’m praying for you. I’m praying that God will ease your pain. I’m praying that you will have peace so that you can sleep. And I will continue praying until I fall asleep. Know that.” And you know what she said…she said those sweet words that any Momma wants to hear – “Thank you Momma.”

In all honesty, it makes me tear up just to write it. That moment when I felt so helpless to help her, she said thank you. And she said that because she knew, in the depths of her heart, that her Momma was laying in bed, several states away, praying for her.

And let me tell you, that is the most powerful thing I could do for my daughter….ever.

The One Weapon We Need

Ephesians 6:18 – “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

It has been quite a month. We have had some tough things going on in our family life that has really been challenging. Cancer has struck our immediate family. And it’s the kind of cancer that has no known cause. Not that any cancer has a specific cause, necessarily, but there are some cancers in which you can trace the origins. This one, a brain tumor, has no known etymology. It is just cells gone bonkers. And that is frustrating.

When things like this come into our life, we want someone or something to blame. We seek out information that attempts to tell us who or what to blame. But in this case, it just isn’t there.

So, what do we do? We fight. We fight fiercely. But the one problem we, as a family, have been faced with is how? How do we fight? We don’t have the skill set or knowledge to remove this thing from our loved one. We don’t know the right combination of medication, chemo or radiation that is needed to destroy this foe.

But we have something way more powerful than medication, chemo and radiation. We have the Creator of all things in our corner. We have a direct line to His ear. For those of you who are familiar with old hymns, we have a Royal Telephone available to us. We have a weapon that is available to us 24/7 with no interruptions, failures or dropped calls. We have prayer.

And prayer is what is getting us through this period of uncertainty in our life right now. Prayer from family, friends, coworkers, church members, strangers (to us) in the community are all being lifted up for my family. And I am eternally grateful. Just knowing that someone is praying gives me strength, gives me hope and gives me peace.

Prayer truly is a weapon. It is a weapon that we can wield when all else is failing. It is a weapon that can be used before the battle begins, when it is raging and when it is finally over. Prayer is what holds us together, sometimes. Prayer is what connects us to one another – knowing that we can count on someone that we can see and touch to stand in our corner for us. People aren’t called Prayer Warriors for no reason. They will stand and fight (pray) through it all and in spite of it all.

So today, I encourage you to fight. Fight with prayer. Do your battles on your knees. And remember, if you pray while driving, don’t close your eyes. 🙂

Balm for my soul

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭122:1‬ ‭KJV – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was tired from traveling all weekend. I had lots of work to do. But also, yesterday was the one year anniversary of the home-going of my grandpa. It was also the day that we had a funeral at our church for a local family whose 2 year old daughter drowned last week. My heart was super heavy.

Yet, we had Ladies’ Meeting last night. I brought a lesson on Hannah. We shared some laughs while getting God’s work done. It was good.

As I was sitting there listening to the wrap up of the meeting, my heart was just overwhelmed at God’s love toward me. He knew that I was tired. In fact, we were all tired. The majority of the ladies there had served at the church all day long trying to provide a meal for the huge amount of people who attended the funeral. God knew that we were all spend – physically and emotionally. Yet, He brought us all together to give balm to our souls.

Some people have the misconception that church is boring and doesn’t do anything but tell you all the ways that you are wrong. Well, that’s not true. Church is a “called out body of believers”. Church is a place where your additional family abides. Church is a place to be lifted up and encouraged. It is a place to share your burdens with others and receive comfort in knowing that someone is praying with you and for you. Church is a place to develop eternal relationships – with God and His people. And sometimes, church is the place where God brings us to remind us where we have gone wrong but at the same time to provide us with the opportunity to make things right.

You see, I have found that when I am obedient to His Word and attend a service of some sort whenever it is offered, I am blessed in one way or another. Even when things are tough or down-cast or joyful or bewildering, I am brought closer to Him when I am with His people in our local New Testament church. And that makes me want to say – “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Bearing burdens

Galatians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭KJV – “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”‭‭‬‬

Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2. A simple verse with profound meaning. But what does it mean to “bear … one another’s burdens”?

Last night, we had our monthly ladies’ auxiliary meeting. We had our Bible study. We conducted our meeting and finalized the plans for our upcoming mother/daughter luncheon. And then, we had prayer requests. 

Now, when some people hear “prayer requests time”, especially amongst women, they might tend to think that this is a time to gossip about others. But I tell you the truth, it is anything but that. 

This is the time when we share the intimate thoughts and concerns on our heart. We share things that we might not share when we are out in public. We express concerns and frustrations and longings that God has placed within our hearts. It is a special time. It is an encouraging time. And occasionally, we even get a good chuckle out of some of the things we share. 

But this is the way we “bear … one another’s burdens”. 

Too often, the devil wants to keep us isolated. If he can keep us from reaching out to our sisters and brothers in Christ, he can keep us right where he wants us – in the pit of despair. He knows that when we share our burdens things become less bleak. 

This simple act of sharing creates hope. We know that someone else is praying for us. We know that we are no longer facing this challenge, this frustration, this fear alone. We know that God has provided someone else to come along side of us and, literally, hold our hand. I know, God is with us and willing to hold our hand anytime we ask. Yet, God also knows that sometimes we need that human touch; sometimes we need our sisters and brothers in Christ. 

So the next time that something has got you down or maybe something has gone incredibly right, share. Tell someone. Tell lots of someone’s – the more the merrier! God has provided people in your life for that very reason. And be a good recipient. “Bear … one another’s burdens” with gladness and seriousness. And remember, you never walk alone. 

Black Monday

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬- “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Monday was a tough day at my house. Before we even left for school, my daughter received a text from a friend informing her that a boy she had gone to school with last year had died in a jet ski accident on Sunday night. 

At school, they had an impromptu assembly to discuss the matter and pray for the family and friends of this young boy. This really brought it home to my daughter. Someone, her age, had died – never to return. It broke her heart. And on top of it all, the incident occurred at the home of another boy she knew. He was the one that witnessed the accident. He was the one who pulled his friend from the water. She was heartbroken for this boy.

How do you console a 9th grade girl over the loss of a boy she really didn’t know? How do you guide her to something close to understanding so that she is able to process all of this? 

The things I tried to talk to her about were understanding different ways to grieve. She was getting frustrated with some people and their constant talking about the situation. She needs time to think it through and process it all. Some people have to talk it out to understand it. 

We also talked about taking each and every opportunity to share Christ with others. The saddest part of this whole situation is the fact that she isn’t sure that the young boy had accepted Jesus. She knows that she can’t make someone believe but she is learning the importance of living a life that honors Christ. 

And we talked about prayer. Sometimes prayer is the only thing that we can give to someone who is going through a tragedy. We can pray for the family. We can pray for the friend. They all need our prayers right now. My daughter said to me yesterday, “Mom, I’m just scared that he (the friend) will turn to things that aren’t good for him to cope.” Pray. That’s the most important thing we can do for him right now – pray.

I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer on this one. I just felt the need to emphasize the importance of numbering our days. We never know if we will have 14 years or 99 years. But what we do know is that we must use each and every opportunity, every day, every moment to honor God and share the salvation message He has given us. 

And enjoy life. Live it fully. Live it wisely. Live it joyfully. Today, Wednesday, is my son’s regional final soccer game. And believe you me, I will be cheering my heart out! I will be living life as full as I can while encouraging the boys out on the field. 

Christ came to give us life and to give it to us more abundantly. But let’s not forget in the midst of living to number our days for Him.

What a day…

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭KJV – “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

‬‬

Yesterday at church, before preaching even got started, nearly brought me to tears. Let me give you the run down on the song and prayer portion of the worship service yesterday morning at a little church on the side of the road.

The first thing to happen was during prayer request. A young woman we have all been praying for for so long reported to us how well she is doing in her battle with cancer. Her positive outlook and joy in her voice just touched me in a way she will probably never really realize. In fact, it wasn’t just me who noticed it. I think everyone was elated over her progress and touched by her infectious enthusiasm. It was beautiful!

And then the “little folks” got up to sing. Our “little people” have been running short on numbers as of late, but that doesn’t stop them from bringing a special every Sunday morning. But this one song was a bit more complicated than their little voices could carry. So they asked us all to sing with them. “This is the day that the Lord has made” has never sounded so good.

And then, the icing on the cake – a lady, who shouldn’t have a voice due to cancer and subsequent treatments, sang for us. She had difficulty getting the song she was singing to match the song being played on the piano – so she went “a cappella”. And it was beautiful – a few voices in the audience came alongside and sang with her. It overwhelmed my heart.

The whole 15-20 minutes that this all occurred in was so touching and so moving. It reminded me of how we are to come alongside one another – in each and every situation. When someone needs prayer, we pray. When things are lean and sparse, we step in with a helping hand. When we feel like we just can’t get the job done, we have our brothers and sisters come alongside us. Sometimes the request is not even uttered. Our loved ones just know when we need them.

That’s the beauty of our church family. Sometimes we ask for help and sometimes help just shows up.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve beside fellow followers of Christ at my local New Testament church. If you don’t have one, start looking today. Ask God to show you where you should be serving. Believe me, on the side of the road in the middle of the swamp is one of my most favorite places to be!

Breaking through

Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬ – “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”‭‭

It has been a while. Sorry. I have had some things on my mind – things that have been a bit troubling and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle them. 

I had some time this last week to think on them and pray about them. And here is what I determined – the devil is trying to keep me from doing what I know that God would have me to do.

We get like that from time to time, don’t we? We are plugging along, doing what we think and feel that God wants us to do, and then we hit some sort of invisible wall that all of the sudden this thing that you have been doing just doesn’t seem doable anymore. You start coming up with excuses and find reasons not to fulfill what you know that God wants you to do. Things begin to happen that make you question your reason, your purpose and your safety in completing what you know that God has laid on your heart to do. 

It happens to everyone – the pastor, the missionary, the teacher, the casual blogger. You have to find a way to break through. 

This last week, my husband was at a conference that I was blessed to be able to attend with him. There were several motivational speakers there that he heard. On the last day, he was asked to be a part of one of the seminars as a helper. Well, I had to see what this “helper” was going to help with – it was breaking a board with one’s hand. Sounds very ninja-like, right? Well, I saw people of all ages, sizes and abilities breaking an untampered board with their bear hand. The whole purpose of the activity was to write what it was that was holding you back from moving forward in your life on this board and then break through it – metaphorically and literally. 

We all need to break through something. Often times, that thing is fear. It is fear of failure, fear of starting, fear of change and sometimes, just plain old, flat out fear. It permeates us from time to time. It holds us back. It keeps us from moving forward. It keeps us from the blessings of God. Fear is one of the great tools of the devil. He uses it to control us, to keep us from serving God in such a way that could change the world. And we let him use that tool. We choose to see fear as something that protects us from the bad we perceive. Truth be told, that “bad” isn’t really “bad” at all. We should, instead, chose to see it as a challenge that forces us to move in a different direction. God put it there for a reason.

So this week, what is holding you back? What do you need to break through? What is it that is hindering your blessings from God? What is keeping you from serving Him like you know He is calling you to do? Together, let’s break through this thing!

“Walk Worthy”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬ – “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.”
It has been a while, yes, I know. Things have been a bit crazy at my house. I’m trying to get accustomed to reading through the Bible in a year. Some days have really long chapters that don’t leave me much time to write. I’ll get it figured out though. Just might take a while. 

Let me tell you about some challenges that my family has faced in our walk lately.

Saturday, my daughter had a cheer competition. The team did very, very well – they weren’t perfect or spot on, but very good. Their routine had a high level of difficulty and they executed it fairly well. They received 3rd place with this presentation. Now, that is good, right? Third out of 5 is not too bad. The problem is that the team that won had a much less difficult routine than our girls. And the team that got second didn’t even have a cheer in their routine for a cheerleading competition. Now, walking “worthy of God” in this situation was tough. My daughter felt cheated. She felt betrayed by the judges who were seemingly not looking for the team to challenge themselves. She cried a lot. And at the end of the night, my husband and I declared them champions regardless of what the judges said. But she still kept crying. Then comes the talk. “It’s okay to be sad. You have tonight to be sad. But when tomorrow comes and you wake up, the time has come to move on. You can’t dwell on this and let the devil has his heyday.” And you know what? The next morning my daughter woke up puffy eyed and ready to face the day with a whole new attitude. I am stilll trying to walk “worthy of God” in this situation. It is hard to watch your children go through this kind of thing and lead them in the path of righteousness.

 Yesterday, we sent my son off on his first missions trip – to Haiti. Now, I am super excited for him. I am not worried about him at all. I am so very excited to see what God is going to do in his life. This challenge in our walk comes from not being with him on this journey. We can’t really communicate with him, except via his friend with an international plan. But I don’t need to talk to him everyday to know that God loves and cares for him more than I ever could. I know that God sees him. God knows my heart. He hears my prayers on his behalf. 

So, as you can see, things have been a bit hairy around my house – I’m sure that it is the same way around yours. But that doesn’t give us an excuse to do anything other than “walk worthy”. It is a call to do so through the tough times in life as well as through the less challenging times of life. It is a call to live with God. It is a call to walk with God. Today, as you face your Wednesday and all the fun it holds, “walk worthy” and walk with God. It makes the journey to Heaven that much sweeter.

Christmas cards

1 King 19:11-13a – “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.”

I know, it’s not Wednesday and it isn’t 6 in the morning. But I had to get this out.

Someone stole my Christmas cards out of my mailbox last night. Yep, you read it right. Someone thought they would find a stash of money or something in that stack of 100 and something Christmas cards going out to friends and family all over the place. Boy, were they shocked to find the only thing of value was the unused stamps on the outside of the card. 

Here are my lessons in this situation.

1) Someone needs Jesus. If things in your life are so desperate that you are reduced to committing a federal offense by rummaging through someone’s Christmas cards in the middle of the night, you need Jesus. 

2) I need to forgive. I’m working on this one. I know that in the scope of eternity whether or not I send out Christmas cards is not going to matter. It does, however, matter if I forgive this person that did this. I’m getting there. They have been on my heart heavy these last couple of hours. 

3) I need to listen. Last night as I was putting the cards in the mailbox, I thought “someone could steal these tonight.” Then I thought “no way, no one is going to do that. They are just Christmas cards.” God was speaking to my heart and I just tuned Him out. I can’t tell you how often this has been happening lately. I will hear His whisper across my heart and then blow it off as nonsense. When will I ever listen? And listen consistently?! That Still Small Voice is still active today. He is still whispering across our hearts – warning us, encouraging us – and too often, I know that I don’t listen. I instead listen to the other voice. I listen to the one that tells me that I know best. I listen to the one that says the other Voice is crazy. 

In all of this, I’m upset about the loss of the Christmas cards, the time and money spent on them and the fact that our society has stooped this low. But most of all, I’m upset with myself for not listening. I have asked for forgiveness and I know that I have it. But now I have to forgive myself for being a cotton-headed ninny-muggin (Elf reference) and ignoring God when He speaks to me. 

Christmas is a time of reflection and memories and a time of giving. Well, this will certainly be a memory I look back on and I hope that my giving of the unused stamps will certainly cause someone somewhere to pause and rethink their life. They need Jesus…and so do I.