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By Posted on Posted in suffering 3 Comments Tagged with

My heart is so heavy.  I have a friend that is going through some really tough things.  We talked today, and the pain that she is experiencing is like nothing I’ve seen in my adult life.  The bummer is that she’s suffering at the hand of another person.

A significant part of the pain in this situation is the utter powerlessness that she feels.  She has not chosen this.  She cannot control it. There appears to be no solution on the horizon.  Depression sets in as she imagines what the future may hold.

I prayed with her on the phone, and continued praying after we hung up.   Driving in the car to pick up my kids, the Lord stirred in me.  This distinct truth popped into my head:

The future belongs to God.

I was overwhelmed with joy and relief.  I think that I was getting lost in my friend’s pain and grief.  Why do we forget this absolute truth?  The future is like a blank canvas that ONLY God can paint on.  The future is like a song that ONLY He can write.  Others may betray us, wound us, steal from us, or leave us, but that does not mean that they are in control of our future.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”   Proverbs 19:21

“I know that you (Lord) can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.”  Job 42:2

“The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.   But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”   Psalm 33:10-11

“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.”   Jeremiah 29:11

There is no need to fear the future.  There is no need to fear what a person can do to you. God is in control and He is guarding the canvas of your future with His life!   How blessed you will be when He reveals the glorious masterpiece of your future.

By Posted on Posted in contentment 3 Comments

I have to come clean.  Sometimes, I get really annoyed by verses I read in the bible.  Occasionally, I read one that makes me want to stick my tongue out and whack the writer on the back of the head. (Then I remember that what is written in the bible was inspired by God, and I wouldn’t dare whack Him in the back of the head.)

I’ll give you an example.  I have always been quite annoyed with Paul’s claim in this verse:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.   Philippians 4:11

I often think, in my most irritated, sarcastic voice, “Well, good for you, Paul.”   Clearly, the man has not faced the kinds of things that I have faced.   He has no idea how hard it is to be content in my life today.  (In case you are inclined to agree with my wayward thinking… Paul was regularly harassed, beaten, and jailed for doing God’s will.  He endured a shipwreck, a poisonous snake bite, a stoning that nearly killed him and many other terrible experiences.)

So why the ongoing annoyance with this verse?  I tried out this verse, tested it, and failed it.  I couldn’t figure out how to be content in every circumstance in my life.   Even the encouragement that comes two verses later started to seem like a fairy tale because I couldn’t manage the contentment thing:

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:13

All things? Then why not contentment?

This weekend, at a Joyce Meyer conference, the frustration with this verse came to a screeching halt.  Joyce was talking about “change” all weekend.   In the last session, she was talking about how to do what you CAN do, and then wait for God to do what you CAN’T do.   Not just wait for Him, but actually enjoy the time while you’re waiting.    She reminded us that we are being transformed from “glory to glory.”  (2 Corinthians 4:18)    We just have no idea how much time will elapse between one glory and the next.   The breakthroughs, the victories, the provisions often come in God’s timing (not ours) and we have to wait for each glory to come.   We should have peace, joy, security in the waiting.   We can be content between glories.

This is where Philippians 4:11 came in.   She explained the verse in a way that I’ve never considered before.

First of all, Paul says that he “learned” how to live in contentment.  He didn’t get it right the first time, and probably not the second or third time.   Learning is a long process that takes time.    It takes God’s grace and power to be achieved.

The greatest insight came to me when Joyce explained that Paul wasn’t talking about being content in his rotten circumstances because God had left him there to suffer and he should make the best of it.   His contentment didn’t mean that he accepted the tremendous hardships that he was facing as the end result.

With God, glory is always the end result.

Paul was content knowing that God would come and deliver him to his next glory at the right time.  He did not accept his suffering as a permanent state.   He recognized that God always has an amazing plan to save us, teach us, transform us, and use us to display His glory.

I can have peace and still not have any clue what’s happening or what God is doing right now.   I can have peace even when my tough circumstances aren’t budging.  I can be content, knowing that God is working on my next glory and it will come at just the right time.

I’ll keep trusting Him and praising Him until it gets here.

By Posted on Posted in abiding in Christ 1 Comment Tagged with ,

I’ve been asked this question quite a bit lately.  It seems that my protruding baby-belly is a sign to people that I should stick to breathing and let them do the rest. Wow, do I sound irritated?  I guess I’m just an independent kind of gal.

The baggers at the grocery store have been after me for weeks to carry my groceries out. I  know, I should let them. But as long as I can do it, I’m going to continue in my self-sufficient ways. Today at the Costo gas station, the sweet employee came over and asked if he could help me pump my gas.  I declined very nicely and chuckled to myself. It’s nice to see that courtesy hasn’t left the planet completely.

As I was driving out of the gas station, I heard the question again. “Can I help you with that?”  This time it was the Lord.

I had been crying and worrying most of the morning about my little nut (my second grader).  She is struggling in school.  No doubt…. she is bright, funny, compassionate, creative, expressive in every way, and a great cook at only 8 years old.  Just not a natural-born student.  At least, not in the traditional teacher-in-front-of-thirty-kids classroom.  She is an excellent student in LIFE… whatever is hands-on and whatever involves people.  Just a little oblivious to the details.  Today, she’s not interested in our colonial history or the trivialities of math word problems.  Give her a real life problem, and she will jump at the chance to console, to help, to rescue.

I’ve been trying to help my little nut on my own.  However, my independence has not proved helpful. I’ve tried everything that I know how to do, and I think I’ve hit the wall. This morning, I realized that I haven’t reached out to the teacher as much as I should. ( I have authority issues, too.  I fear the red pen and I let it have the final word.)  I also realized that I’ve kept my hubby out of this as well.  Most of all, I haven’t been asking the Lord to help me.

I see that my independence has led to nothing good.  It’s time to open my heart.  Let go of the fears.  Let God shed His light on this situation.  Get some proper perspective.  Let Him draw my husband and my daughter’s teacher in to work on this together. Let Him carry us through this.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.            2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJ)

He is watching all the time, to see how He can help me.  How can my heart be loyal to Him, when I am rejecting His help all the time?  Am I really abiding in Him if I’m trying to do all the work?

There are no points to be earned for doing it myself.  Only heartache.

I have so much to learn!