I like this. A great reminder when we get caught up in being ‘religulous’ ;). God cares about the silly things you think don’t matter to Him. Great news? You bet.
Beware of thinking that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained by God; they’re as much of God as the profound. -Oswald Chambers
A wild question…
Can we idolize our trials? Suffering… pain? Can we look more to the storms of life, storms we’ve barely survived, to determine what we’re made of?
Suffering and trials can take our mind off our Creator. They can replace what we believe with doubts, fears and enough anxiety for five people. Trials can make us believe that life will never improve, our pain will never subside, our burdens will never be lifted. We can carry our suffering like baggage, carting it from one life experience to the next, opening it at various times to remind ourselves of our “lot in life”. It can kill our hope. It can skew the lens through which we see the world.
Trials need to be put in their place: they are but a deeply challenging and effective tool to ‘bind us to our Creator’ (thank you Charles Spurgeon!). Without them, many – if not all - of us would be led astray after the pleasures and cares of this world.
Hard to believe when we’re experiencing them, but God woos us in our deep pain, in our devastation, in our delayed hopes and dashed dreams. He even woos us through the abuse and hatred we unjustly receive. Still more He woos us when we are faced with the reality of who we truly are: a reality so hard to accept most run far away!
We must not look to these trials as our idol, the “god” in our life telling us simply to expect more of the same. We must look beyond… to the Hand allowing these trials. And we must praise Him. He is showing me that praise is how we overcome trials. It is not merely something to do ‘in the meantime’ while we nurse our wounds. It is the key to victory :)
Suffering, you are not my master. Jesus is. Thank You Lord for showing us this, each & every child of Yours!!
I’ll leave you with wonderful words from my mentor Patti:
Dig a well, and dig a well of worship, praise, thanksgiving!! That He will do what He says He will do!!
This is probably the sweetest Valentine I’ve ever had… check out this email I got February 14th!!
Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 7:14 AM
Subj: Please be my ValentineHey Sweetie,
Happy Valentines Day!
I don’t think your mother will mind in this case if I ask you to be my Valentine.
I’ve always told you “you are full of sweetness”, remember me telling you that as a kid?
I guess I was a Prophet at a young age, because the “sweetness” has become a reality ( and I don’t mean just lately ).
If you won’t be my Valentine I will become a (crab).
And it will make me feel like (crying).
And it will give me a (broken heart).
Can’t wait for you to come home on Thursday.
I Love You,
Dad
all she’s known
are hands that take
a body desired
a body hidden
disguised
greedy eyes
wantin the prize
without diggin for the gold
they come a callin
for a faraway girl
chasin a dream, unseen
a lady who runs
into the sun!
to freedom there
no grasping
or lapsing
safely held
by a Man that dwells
in thee
doesn’t leave
doesn’t flee the scene
‘never has enough of me’
doesn’t lust or jeer
He wipes her tear
casts her fear
away
He came to save her from
hands that break
and eyes that probe
He frees her frame
a heart, unchained
open again
raw, real
not a man’s meal
a woman, unhindered
untouched and safe
at last arriving there
free to roam
home
“Dear one, I will bestow beauty upon you
where you have known only devastation.
Joy, in the places of your deep sorrow.”
-Captivating (John + Stasi Eldredge), based on Isa 61:1-3
