“Surely then you will count my steps, but not keep track of my sin.” Job 14:16
Jesus was born…God became flesh. His parents held Him and loved Him and cherished the things He did. He came to this world knowing that He came to die, but He came anyway. And loved us….enough to die in our place.
Thank you Father for Jesus. Thank you for sending your only begotten Son… because of your love for us…so that we could know Him, obey Him and be with You forever.
8 Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:8-12 NIV)
We talked about this particular section of verses today. I am not sure that I had ever noticed them before. I know I had never really HEARD them before. Praise God! He put us in prison and laid burdens on our backs! Really? We don’t think like this do we? Praise God for the hardship? I’ve been told to praise God in spite of the hardship, through the hardship, after deliverance from the hardship. But to praise God for the hardship…I’m not sure I know how to do that just yet.
When I have found myself imprisoned by something, (my own bad choices) praising God was not anywhere near the top of the “to-do” list. On the contrary, I have tended to lose hope and even give up on God when I have gone through trials. Too often I say “If God loved me He wouldn’t let this sort of thing happen to me”. I am so wrong in thinking like that! God refines us like silver…by fire…so that we can reflect Him.
On Saturday mornings, we have been studying about Joseph. Every time something went wrong in his life, he acknowledged God. His life was a roller coaster of good and bad, but he never failed to acknowledge God in the events that unfolded. Sold into slavery…promoted to Potiphar’s top guy…where he was pursued by Potiphar’s wife…and thrown into prison when he resisted her advances…where he interpreted dreams…and was forgotten by the man he helped. He eventually tells his brothers (the very ones that sold him as a slave) “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good”. Joseph knew how to praise God for the refining fire.
I guess James is trying to teach us this same concept when he says:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4 NIV)
Trials do not feel like a gift from God do they? James says trials develop perseverance and perseverance will make us complete…not lacking in anything. I don’t want to be found lacking. I want to be effective for God and if trials and hardships make me more effective for Him…if people will see Him when they look at me…then I want to learn to praise Him for that. Not just endure the trial with gritted teeth and clinched fists…but to be like Joseph and acknowledge God and to realize that even through hard times, God is in control and working to make me better prepared to serve Him.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever. (Psalms 107:1)
Today I am thankful for God’s love, patience and mercy. He saved me, waited patiently for me to come to my senses and had mercy on me when I finally called out to Him. He saved me again. And put wonderful friends in my life to keep me safe and to make me feel loved. I thank Him for each of you. Travel safely. Feel God’s loving hand on you.
The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
I saw this verse circled in my Bible tonight as I was flipping through pages to get to the passage we were going to study. The powerful imagery of it struck me again. First of all, I love that phrase “He is mighty to save”. Yeah! I love that. Like someone said tonight, “Jesus is the absolute best super-hero!” But then I see a loving Father singing to His child in order to soothe and comfort. A lullaby. That is what I want!! I want to have that safety…that comfort…that peace. I want to sit in the Father’s lap and hear His lullaby and rest forever in that peace.
What do you think God would want to say to you in His lullaby? I’d love to hear from you.
Waaay back in the ’80’s I had a little baby boy. He was bright-eyed and curious. He had such a logical intellect that he would out-think me somedays…most days probably! But that little guy turned 20 last week. I cannot believe that I have a 20 year old child. I don’t feel much over 20 most of the time myself!! How does this sort of thing happen?
Another “stab in the heart” kind of moment came last month when I took my BABY daughter to middle school. I managed to hold it together until I got back in the car after making sure she got to the right waiting place and after I made sure she had lunch money on account. When I got to the car, I cried a little bit and one thought kept going thru my head “I just left my baby girl with a bunch of junior high boys!!” AAACKKK!
I know that the whole point of having kids is to raise them to be good adults…but wow it just seems to be happening so fast! It honestly doesn’t seem like that long ago when I held them each in my arms for the very first time. Tiny little helpless things, snuggling against me as I held them. My boys are now both taller than me. ( I know, I know. That’s really not saying much) But I’ve still got a couple of inches on my daughter.
I thank God for each of my three kids. They are the reason I am still alive. They make me laugh. They take care of the things they should (for the most part). They are good kids. Thank you Father for each of them…so different from one another…so much a part of me.
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one’s youth.
(Psalms 127 NIV)
Let’s eat, Grampa.
Let’s eat Grampa.
Grammar saves lives.
This summer has been so busy at work I haven’t had my usual amount of blogging time. I apologize to the three people who read my blog! 
I was tired of looking at the same post so I thought I would put up a few more of the funny one-liners I had previously stolen from another blog.
**I used to be schizophrenic, but we’re okay now.
**The more you complain, the longer God makes you live.
**What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
**Help stamp out and abolish redundancy.
**The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
I hope that you all have a great, relaxing weekend!!
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
It’s hard to think of “trials” and “pure joy” in the same sentence, but James tells us to do just that if we want to become mature and complete. I want to have everything I need to be effective for the Lord.
I want wisdom to deal with situations that arise daily. James tells me to ask for it because God gives without finding fault.
These words were bouncing around in my head today so I had to let them out somewhere! Don’t be surprised if you come back and I’ve added some more thoughts to this post. Thoughts are brewing in my head and they are not completely sorted out yet…Thanks for reading~
EDIT: How is it possible to face a trial and consider it pure joy? I have had to face trials I would have just as soon walked away from. But I decided that to make my life more in line with what God expected from me and what God intended for me, I had to clinch my fist, grit my teeth and face the trial. Did I consider it joyful? Not at the time. But looking back it was such a relief to get that poison out of my life…to make the changes that would ultimately bring peace to my life and to my heart. Now I thank God for my time of trial. I am closer to Him, more in awe of Him and more in love with Him than I could have imagined. I guess I need to learn to look for the God-things during the time of trial. I want to be able to face the trial knowing that God is teaching me something…that God is working something…trusting that He will get me through it and good will come from it. I have seen it over and over in my own life as well as in others. God disciplines those He loves and my hardest times came as consequences for my poor choices. But I think God built my faith in ways that helped me learn about Him…and helped me learn about myself.
This weekend we were studying from Genesis. And we got to chapter 24 and read “Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.” Paige was teaching and she encouraged us to make a list of the ways God had blessed us. Then, to pick one and share it.
Throughout the past few years, I have thought of many ways that the Lord has blessed me: In all the ways He delivered me from the pit of my bad choices. In the way He crossed my path with just the right people at just the right time. In the way He brought a group of prodigals together to create a place where I could feel at home. I have told the stories and thanked God for His infinite mercy.
But Saturday I thought of something that I really had not appreciated the way that I should have. And I chose to talk about it Saturday because it was probably the least emotional thing on my list..OR SO I THOUGHT! I started telling the story and when I started talking, the providence of God and His goodness struck me..and so I couldn’t tell the story without crying.
Way back when I was just a freshman in college, I needed a job. I had no work experience other than six weeks of receptionist work at a teeny tiny rural hospital. I applied a few places but had heard nothing. One day a long-time family friend called me up. He was working as a computer repair technician and had been on a service call to a small credit union. He found out they were needing a part time worker. He had called his sister first, but the hours were not compatible with her schedule so she passed on the job. So he called me. Now…let me just add…I had not talked to this friend for several years and he had no way to know that I was looking for a job. I don’t really know why he thought of me. This may be a part of the story I need to find out from him some day!
Anyhow, I went to interview, got the job, worked part-time through the rest of my college career and after 26 years, I am still working at that credit union! I’ve worked my way up from receptionist a bit though, I’ve been the manager for about 11 years now I guess.
I know that doesn’t sound all that impressive in the big scheme of things, but bear with me a little bit here. When I needed to get out of my marriage, I had to move my children and myself to a new house as the ex wanted to keep the house and land we had shared. So I had to qualify for a mortgage loan on my own with the chunk of debt I had agreed to take on (just so the divorce could be finished quicker…I was at the point where I would have gnawed off my own foot to get away). I was not worried about whether I could afford a house, because I have a fantastic job and I am paid pretty well for what I do. I was worried whether or not everything would happen when it needed to happen, but the financial side of it was far down on my worry list.
I guess some could say that is a nice little story and hard work and persistance paid off. That I reaped the rewards of my education and happened to be in the right place at the right time. That I was lucky. That it was very fortunate that I had a friend that referred me to a job that just happened to turn out well. Ahhh, but I don’t believe in luck, or good fortune. I know better. I know that my Father God has been at work all of my life. And it was God taking care of me by providing this job through a friend to the 19 year old version of myself.
The Lord has taken care of me…seen into my future…provided for my needs long before I knew I needed something. Could there be anything more amazing?? As God reveals His love to me, layer by layer, unfolding my life story before me…my love for Him just continues to grow…as does my amazement at His love.
Tell me a way that God has blessed you, if you can.
I will confess that I found these on another blog one day and I did not write down the source, so I apologize for borrowing them without acknowledgement! There were a lot of them…but these were my favorites:
My mother is a travel agent for guilt trips.
In dog years, I’m dead.
If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving isn’t for you.
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
My husband keeps complaining I never listen to him…or something like that.
Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch.
He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless dead.
I feel like I’m diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
Gravity…it’s not just a good idea…it’s the law.
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