Snapshots

At my work, we sometimes take "snapshots" of the data from which we can learn a great deal. This post is simply a snapshot of recent days.

Snapshot 1 - Legacy
This spring, I had the great opportunity to assist my parents in a move to a senior apartment. As you can imagine, it was not an easy move as we sifted through a lifetime of memories and accumulated possessions. As Mom and Dad lovingly gave away what they knew we could use or would be most meaningful to each of us, I thought of their legacy. The legacy was not in these things, but in the faith and character which has been handed down from them. 

On Memorial Day, my oldest brother and I took over the cemetery flowers. We both came away in awe at the legacy of faith that God has given. A brief search into our ancestry showed that that legacy of faith went back to the Plymouth plantation and back to Geoffrey Chaucer... yes... Geoffrey Chaucer! :) My siblings and I were in awe and thought of Hebrews 12:1-2 and the great crowd of witnesses! We were inspired to continue to carry the torch of faith!

Snapshot 2 - Contentment
Through all the changes and duties, my health continued to be difficult. Those others with chronic illnesses know the challenge of pushing knowing that it will cost a couple days of recovery for each time pushed, the smile you put on trying to hide the pain, weakness, and fatigue, and that even small service means giving your all which is sometimes not enough for people. 

In this, God taught me to be content not only in the limitations and pain, but in peoples' misunderstandings.

Snapshot 3 - Longsuffering
The fatigue, weakness, and pain became insidious. I begged God for help to glorify Him. I begged God for relief and for strength to push through another day, to make food, to clean, to know priorities in helping others. And yet, it seemed He was silent. It was at those times that I knew I simply had to trust His Word and His love for me. He was teaching me the longsuffering from the fruit of the Spirit.

Snapshot 4 - New Creature
This past week, my doctor started a treatment on me as a trial basis to see if it would resolve the worsening symptoms. With in 24 hours I had my life back so to speak! I am still in the trial period to see if this will work longterm. It is in God's hands.

As I go through the day, I find myself responding as if I still have the profound weakness, falling, fatigue instead of returning strength. It reminded me of God's declaration that we are a new creature and that God says, "... such were some of you, but..." It hit me that sometimes in my life I am living as if God hasn't restored my relationship with Him through Jesus, as if I am not a new creature. Ouch!

Snapshot 5 - If we win we praise Him, and if we lose we praise Him." ~Facing the Giants
I am enjoying day two of renewed energy even after pushing myself yesterday. I praise God for this strength! Yet, I have no guarantee of strength tomorrow. My heart cry is that if He takes away the strength tomorrow, I still praise Him! As Job said, "...The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Life is full of snapshots. What collage do the snapshots of your life make?

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Shingles... again... the second time in two months, sixth or seventh time in six years. I must admit that I would not choose this. In fact, for years before my first bout, I was fearful of the shingles. I mean... the pain that people described sounded unbearable. Yet, God can prevail even in shingles. :)

I was reminded to continue to be zealous with the ability and strength God has given during this time. Listen to Romans 12: 9-13.

"9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."

For my friends in chronic illnesses, please be encouraged. God can use you. :)Even while weak with our chronic illnesses, these things are all possible in God's grace. :) What a blessing!

Today, I joined a new church to which God had led me. It was hard to request membership but have to tell them that I was not able to be active except in prayer at this time. Prayer is important, but I know there are physical needs as well. :) I was humbled to realize that even in my current weakness, God can use me in His Church. :) I was brought to tears by the love of this new church as several people even offered to help and do whatever is needed. WOW! 

It is incredible what God teaches us in progressive sanctification through the weakness. It is humbling and amazing to see that God does use weak vessels. :)

My shingles (and chronic illnesses) have taught me much. May my focus remain on Him! :) May I be patient in tribulation! :) Here is my post from when I first had shingles. It was good to go back and review the lessons learned. I hope they are an encouragement to you as well! :) 

Shingles - Building my Faith

June 14, 2009 in Bible Lessons, Encouragement | No comments

The past few weeks, God has given me the privilege of having the dreaded shingles. It has not been an easy road. Admittedly, I have faltered, but God has been teaching me much and has been there to purge, comfort, strengthen. Perhaps you are facing insurmountable mountains today…maybe even shingles. Here are some of the things God taught me – in no particular order.

Numbers 15:38-41 “38Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them ; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. 41I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.” I wanted to seek after my own heart, my own eyes. I wanted good health and a freedom from pain. Yet, I was reminded to do God’s commandments - no whining and complaining. Then, I was reminded that God is my God. He is mighty to save, strong to deliver. Without the trials, how would I know His strength?

Ephesians 2:1-4 ” 1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,” Before I trusted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I followed the wrong things - fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind. Now, however, God in His rich mercy has saved and changed me. How can I continue in my sin?

Proverbs 16:3 “3Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” To be honest, I really struggled with my thoughts. I was discouraged, singing the blues, having a royal pity party and wallowing in self-pity. God was right there whispering in my ear…Philippians 2:5 andPhilippians 4:8. But, I didn’t feel like rejoicing or having the mind of Christ or thinking on the right things. Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Proverbs 16:3. Rejoice in Him anyway. Act like you know you should. Commit your ways to God. He will then establish your thoughts. And, He did. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

1 Kings 8:61 “61Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.” My heart attitude needed an adjustment!

Deuteronomy 4:29 “29But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” The reason I wasn’t having spiritual victory was that I wasn’t seeking God through this!

Matthew 16:8-12 ” 8Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” This Scripture leaped off the page at me. Right now, I’m struggling with daily needs - even basic ones. There is no strength to make meals, clean, sometimes even to eat. Yet, God has promised to supply all my needs. This Scripture shows the disciples getting confused by what Christ is saying about leaven - forgetting that God had just fed the five thousand and then the four thousand. The disciples are worried about physical needs. Christ is concerned and warning them about spiritual needs. Oh, that I would leave the physical needs to Him and simply focus on spiritual things!

Jeremiah 12:5 “5If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” Recently, I had been praying that God would help me grow, that I would see His power in my life, and that I would learn to trust Him more. Then, here comes this little trial and I fell flat. God brought this verse to mind. If I can’t be victorious with the footmen, how can I contend with the horses?

Judges 8:4 “4And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.” Yes, I am weak right now physically and am fighting a spiritual battle. Yet, by God’s grace and strength, I am faint, yet pursuing.

God used His Word to challenge, convict, and comfort my heart. His lessons through this have challenged me to continue struggling and studying in His Word. It will not return void, but will come back to help at just the right time! Thank you, God, for your precious Word!

Currently, I’m still in the middle of the shingles. I know that God has more lessons for me. God is bringing me to the place of being thankful for this trial, of trusting Him completely through it. I cannot do this on my own, but God will give strength! He is still faithful to deliver and mighty to save!

Celebrating 40 Years

This year marks 40 years since my life changed.

First, it has been 40 years since I had my first stroke. I know, I know, it is a bit difficult to be that long when I am only "29" years old, but it really has been 40 years since my life changed! My parents were told to be thankful for every day I lived. 40 years later, God still has me on this old earth. :)

More importantly, it was the year that my relationship with God was restored through my acceptance of Christ's gift of salvation. My relationship with Him changes my life not just here, but for eternity.

How has my life changed?

The stroke changes are obvious. I became "disabled" or, more accurately, "Him-abled." My life became more difficult in many ways. I have to work a bit harder than some at simple things like walking and playing piano and dressing and ... you get the picture. But in another sense, it became easier as each day I see my need of Him. I also am grateful for all that I am able to do. He has a plan for my life. His plan for others sometimes seems so much more difficult than His story for mine.

My relationship with Him gave me abundant life. No matter what comes, I have life abundant... joy in Him... peace... comfort. He speaks to me through His Word and longs to commune with me in prayer. I am His child. He loves me. He uses my weaknesses to display His strength and grants grace sufficient. Amazing.

40 years...40 years. So much has happened. So much has changed. Yet, one thing remains the same: God's faithfulness! Great is His faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. :)

Seasons

Saturday, it was absolutely gorgeous outside... sunny, in the 70's, completely blue sky. As my cousin's son said, "You just don't get these kind of days very often!"

As I enjoyed it on the deck, my thoughts went from the changing seasons of the weather to changing seasons of life. For months, I have been "benched" from active service as my body struggled to regain strength. These seasons are not easy for me as I have a people-pleaser, serve, problem solving personality. Slowly, God is bringing me to a place of enjoying this time and learning to encourage others from this view while learning to simply "be" with God.

My contemplation led me to think about why God would have so many of us with chronic illnesses in this place. Yes, there is the purpose of being prayer warriors for Him. I do not diminish that purpose. Yet, my mind went back to the garden of Eden. In the beginning, they simply enjoyed fellowship with God. They weren't frantically running around serving Him. They walked with Him through what the day brought. He enjoyed a relationship with them enough that when it was broken He sent His Son to take our punishment in order to enjoy the relationship again. I was in awe again at His love for us, for me!

The word "fellowship" appears throughout His Word and seems to be a rich study. I am astounded that the God of the Universe longs for fellowship with me! Could He have brought me to this season specifically to teach me the importance of fellowship with Him and to thus change my focus as I draw close to Him? What an amazing thing!

Many of you may also be confined to your "sick bed." How would our perspective change if we saw our sick beds, our chronic illnesses as our Garden of Eden for this season?

100 mb or 2 gb of Grace?

The customer service rep was "You only use an average of 100 mb of data on your 2 gb plan! I wish my family did that!" I smiled at the success of staying within my data limit.

It hit me later. How many times am I satisfied with 100 mb of God's grace when I don't just have 2 gb, but the unlimited plan. (Not misusing grace by choosing to sin, but His grace that is immeasurable for my sin and my needs. John 1:14-17 Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 1:4-6; James 4:6-8; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Not using even close to the full data also made me realize how often I forget the power of His resurrection in my everyday life.

Then, there is Ephesians 3:14-21. He is able  exceedingly abundantly above all I could ever ask or think - unlimited data!

While staying under the limit is great for phone plans, it is not so great with grace!

Traffic Signals

On the way to work a few weeks ago, I had all green lights. (Of course, that was on a day that I was running early for work. :) ) Having all green lights meant a very easy commute.

It struck me that in life I long to have all green lights. Comfort. Convenience. Ease. Efficiency. I want smooth sailing. Yet, the last few months have been more yellow and red lights of pain, difficulty and rest.

Looking back, I see that these yellow and red lights are needful. Just as the traffic signals are for the benefit of all in the city, so are the "traffic" lights in my life. God uses them to shape me and allow me to show His love to others.

The following verse came to my mind: Matthew 9:37-38; Philippians 1:12-14; 1 Peter 1:7; and 2 Corinthians 1:3-6.

And so, I am still learning to patiently accept traffic signals - both in traffic and life! :)

Jesus looks cute on you.

This morning, a cashier asked me about my had which has the "Jesus Saves" logo on it. (My brother works at the mission.) When I explained the logo to her, she said, "That looks cute on you." 

My heart began to ponder what she said. Am I "wearing" Jesus in my life in my actions, reactions, love of others, and speech? Am I His ambassador? Am I allowing Him to shine through me? 

It gave me pause to think about how I can wear Jesus each day. Philippians 2 is a great start. The greatest privilege we have is to live Christ. May they see Him and not me! :)