JEHOVAH-JIREH: God will provide! Praise His Name!

Originally posted April 2008

Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.”

Chronic illnesses sometimes put us in the position of depending on others for our food, raiment, etc. There are many things changing in my life right now. I find it easy to worry about daily living needs especially when the one I have depended on for help is moving. How will I make it? What is going to happen? Will I be okay? Who will help me when I fall? What will I do? You get the idea…

Right now, I have just started over in Genesis and Matthew in my daily time with God. God is showing me things that I have never seen before.

First, I read Matthew 6 - the verses above really stood out. You really need read verses 24-34. God is telling us that He will provide. God provides for the birds and the lilies. God will provide for us. We don’t even have to worry about any of those things. My job is to just seek Him. What a job! What a privilege!

I’ve also been reading about Noah in Genesis chapters 6-8. (That is as far as I’ve gotten right now.) God started to show me things that I had not seen before.

• Noah obeyed God amidst amazing difficulty. The rest of the people on earth were wicked - unlike when Elijah thought that he was the only righteous one, but God said there were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed to Baal. Yet, Noah walked with God. Wow! What a stand! But wait, it gets better.
• Noah and his family were alone in their beliefs. (With my chronic illnesses, I often feel isolated and alone as I’m sure others chronic warriors do.) But, what did they do? They obeyed. Noah kept walking with God. So, how did God reward their faith? He took them out of the situation and gave them all they asked for and all the friends they wanted and a life of luxury, right?
• Not quite. God took Noah into his confidence and told him something that was going to be difficult to understand, that would make his life more difficult, and that would change his life forever. God gave Noah a job - a difficult task. (vv. 13-21) Remember, Noah would not have seen rain before. Noah would be finding out that friends and relatives would be killed. Noah would now be more isolated and resented than ever.
• And, what did Noah do? He obeyed. (v. 22)I don’t know about you, but when I have finally trusted God through a situation and obeyed, then, I expect everything to become easy. God does not see things our way, though (Isaiah 55:9-13). God had a bigger plan in mind. Instead of making life easy after Noah had obeyed all that God commanded him, God “locked” him in the ark for over a year (chapters 7-8). As I thought about this, I realized that they probably heard the screams of friends, loved ones, and neighbors, but were helpless to do anything. Then, would it have been worse when the screams stopped, knowing what that meant?
• After that, the hard part - well, it would have been hard for me. They had to wait where they were for weeks, months. They were dependent upon God for EVERYTHING during this time. All they could do was serve the animals and each other day in and day out. That is where God put them. They had no place else to go. That really made me think. It is so easy for me to get discontent with the waiting, the resting and resting, and did I mention resting, only able to do a little bit for God? But, I need to see it as where God has me right now.
• During this time, they didn’t know what they would find when they got out of the ark. What would their new lives be like? Everything would be different. What was God doing? How often have I been in that place where it seems as if God is changing everything in my life. Psalm 55:19, God is bringing me closer to Him through the changes. Also, Jeremiah 29:11, I must trust that God has my future in His hand and that everything He brings is good.
• So, how did they come out of all these trials in the ark? How did they respond after over a year in the ark? What did they say when the finally saw the destruction? Did they question God, rail against Him? No. They worshiped Him and sacrificed to Him. Genesis 8:20 They still trusted Him. What about me?

What a lot of lessons from this story! Jesus tells me that my job is to seek Him and He will take care of the rest. I must trust Him even when things are hard or aren’t going as I want. Noah exemplifies this concept. God took care of Him through it all - even through the difficult times. Chronic illnesses may bring hard times, but are part of God’s plan for me. He will take care of me through it all and do what I need in the midst of it! Amen!

Lessons From the Life of Christ

Originally posted March 2008

There have been a couple passages of Scripture that have encouraged and blessed my heart the past couple weeks. I just wanted to share a bit of what I have been learning.

First, in John 4:6-8 Jesus was weary and had to rest while his disciples went on ahead to “serve” by getting food. While he was resting, God had a plan for Him to reach someone else. God had a plan for His rest as He then met and witnessed to the woman at the well. Simple, yet profound!

When I shared this with a close friend, she reminded me of the time Jesus was actually sleeping in the boat while the disciples were rowing. As I was looking at those and related verses, I came to the following passages in Mark 6 and Matthew 14. I have heard and read these verses many times, but God really brought out several lessons that helped me when I studies them over the course of many days.

1. Jesus sent them to sea - He sent them into what He knew was going to be a hardship as He knew it was also best for them.
2. Even though He must have been exhausted after ministering to people all day, He went to pray.
3. Jesus saw them toiling on the sea, but didn’t come immediately. He didn’t come until the fourth watch.
4. He would have passed by them. He knew they were ok and that this trial would show them His power. But, when they cried out in fear, He was there for them. We (at least I) want out of trials immediately. God has a greater purpose. Also, He will not give me more than I can bear! (1 Cor 10:13; Psalm 103:14)
5. The disciples were afraid and in the midst of the storm. When Jesus came, at first they didn’t recognize His presence but thought their trial had gotten worse (a spirit on the waters). How often do I not recognize God’s hand of intervention in my life?
6. Jesus took the faith that Peter did show and acted on it. When Peter faltered again, He reached out to him, rebuked his lack of faith, but still helped him - this time immediately. This was a great comfort to me as I struggle on this journey
7. The storm was still raging until Jesus got into the ship.
8. After the storm, the disciples then worshipped, praised, and wondered at who Jesus was.

Will I rest in Christ?

Memorials

Originally posted March 2008

Joshua 4:7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

Through my chronic illnesses and time in God’s Word, I am learning so much. However, my memory is lax on remembering these lessons. A close friend encouraged me to make a memorial of these things that I am learning.

Since our apartment does not have room for a literal pile of rocks, I took her advice and drew my memorial and placed it in my Bible. Just making the memorial was a blessing as I reviewed what God has been teaching me.

Chronic illnesses can seem overwhelming on many days. Now, when I go through the periods of stubbornly denying my physical limitations, being tempted not to love or forgive the people God brings to me, or not trusting God, at a glance I can look at the verses that God has shown me and remember what He has taught me recently. I think that my “memorial rocks” are going to be a big help to me and thought I’d pass on the idea.

Warrior Thoughts

Originally posted March 2008

As I learn what it means to be God’s chronic warrior, I am finding that He is changing my perspective on the difficulties caused by my illnesses. So, I thought I would just share a couple examples of how my thinking is changing.

1. While I am waiting on the floor for help up (sometimes I am down there awhile waiting for my roommate to get home or my brother to come), it reminds me to pray for persecuted believers and refugees who also may be cold and sleeping on the floor.
2. When I have to remain in bed and can’t get things for myself, I pray for those who have much less than I do and still praise Him!
3. When the pain becomes unbearable, it reminds me to pray for those who are being persecuted for their faith.
4. When I’m too weak to make meals, I’m reminded to pray for the many who have not yet heard of the Bread of Life.
5. When I wake in the night, I first ask God who is in need of prayer before trying to immediately go back to sleep. Last week I learned that being a chronic warrior is hard work as many very difficult situations came up. It was spiritual warfare - even through the nights! But, God will give the victory!

These may seem like simple things, but it is exciting to see how God is changing my thinking from self to His Kingdom. I still have a lot of learning to do, but what an awesome God we serve! I’d love to hear how God is working through your illnesses, too!

The Gift of Pain

Originally Posted March 31, 2008

I just finished reading a book by Dr. Brand and Phillip Yancey entitled, The Gift of Pain. It brought an entirely new
perspective on pain. Dr. Brand worked with lepers who feel no pain and studied pain. Dr. Brand explains at length the difficulty caused by not having any pain at all. He spent years with the lepers whose main problem was not the leprosy but the absence of pain even after the leprosy itself was cured. He makes a convincing argument that pain is to be embraced as it protects us from so many things.

As I deal with chronic pain, I was very interested in his perspective on chronic pain. The first thing we must do is find
the cause for pain and, if possible, alleviate it. If you aren’t able to alleviate it, then we must learn to live above it and
work through it. He does not claim that it will be easy, but does show that it is possible.

Throughout his book, Dr. Brand shows how his love for Christ affected his compassion for those less fortunate and
unloved. He and his family embraced the lepers and strove to help them both physically and spiritually. This book encouraged me in my chronic pain in two seemingly opposite ways. 1) I need to pay more attention (something people have told me for a long time) to my pain signals and work hard to prevent them. 2) It is possible to overcome my chronic pain and live victoriously. Then, it was a wonderful example of Christ’s compassion and love in practice.

Christmas

This year, Christmas was different in our family as health problems and other challenges disrupted plans. It would have been easy to give in to the discouragement since things were just so different and we missed spending time with family. We don't know what the future holds and when we will be able to catch up with each other again. Yet, these changes really made me focus on what was important ... CHRIST! 

My brother and I met to workout as usual that morning. I mentioned to him that I had decided that no matter what the day holds, it is going to be a good day. It was going to be a day with Christ at the center. He agreed. He, his family, a friend staying with me for awhile, and I were able to eat and fellowship together. We are used to around 30 people for Christmas. Instead, there were 8 of us. It was very different, to be sure, but it was a precious day! We had and have so much to be grateful for!

Afterwards, it hit me that in the busy-ness of the past months as I've fought to keep working through much personal illness, I've needed Christ more than ever. Current health difficulties have left me feeling empty, weary, and worn as I've fought to keep up with life while feeling like simply giving in to the pain, fatigue, and multiple infections. I need to simply seek Him in this and let Him have His way in my life. Seeking Him will mean that He will be what fills me and He will pour out when I am squeezed by life. Matthew 6:33 says it all, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Jesus came apart often to pray in the midst of much busy-ness. I can do no less!

Plans being disrupted pointed me to Christ. Will I choose daily to look for Him in my life?

Happy Thanksgiving

Welcome to my new blog! :)

This week was much different than I anticipated due to unexpected illness. Yet... God is good all the time! :) He blessed me with good fellowship, friends, and time with Him! He is good!