Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts

And ALL the time GOD IS GOOD!!

We say that so often, that many times, when we hear someone else start to quote it, we finish it for them. We say it, but do we truly believe it? Do we truly believe that our God is good ALL the time? What about when...

• We are hurting?
  
• We see a friend hurting, or losing a job, or going through a divorce?
• We lose a friend, due to moving away, or a disagreement of some kind?
• Our spouse is under persecution at work?
• Our children are hurting or struggling and we can't 'fix' it?
  
• When someone we love dies and we ache to see them just once more?

Is God TRULY good during those times? I say YES, not just a tiny, little yes, but a gigantic, huge, resounding YES! Now, I wouldn't have said 'Yes!' 9 years ago, or 5 years ago, or 4 years ago when I was going through some very, very tough things in my life at each of those times. But God is so good to keep loving and guiding us even when we are so foolish and even when we are so angry at HIM for messes we created or for situations that simply hurt us. He amazes me, that God of ours,... His patience, love, grace, mercy, and sovereignty over us and for us! It is quite UNREAL! No, really it is!!

This week, He has shown me that He works ALL things together for GOOD for those who are called according to His purpose and His will. Even though we see things as hard or heart breaking or down right terrible, He is working all around us to bring those events, heart aches, moments of anger, tears, even death to GOOD for those who love HIM!! I saw that today and this week in more ways than one...

• I saw an answer to a prayer that Joe and I have been praying for almost 3 years now. He answered it TODAY right before my very eyes!
• I saw a broken friendship beginning to be reconciled and healed in a way no one would have seen coming! And, this too, happened right before my very eyes!
  
• I saw words spoken, put on a human heart by a powerful God, bring down walls that had been built so high that I wasn't sure they could come down!
  
• I saw a co-worker blessed beyond words at a ministry that I take for granted in my work place.
  
• I saw a friend's heart open up to hear the gospel and listen for the first time ever, right before my very eyes!!
  

You see, I saw Him, our BIG, HUGE GOD, that we try to put in a small, teeny, tiny box work things together for GOOD!!!! Do you hear me my sweet friends? Now, I am not saying, that over the coming years ahead, I won't falter, and I won't question, and I won't cry and ask why! I am SURE I will do all of those things. BUT, you see He showed me today, on November 14, 2008 that there is a reason we call Him....

• El Shaddai - "God all sufficient" or "God Almighty"
  
• Adonai - "Master"
• Elohim - "Creator, Preserver, Transcendent, Mighty & Strong"
• Jehovah- "I am who I am"
• Jehovah-Ropha- "The Lord who heals"
• Jehova-Jireh- "The Lord will provide"

Those are fitting, amazing names for our Almighty Heavenly Father, but the one He most likes to hear, I believe, is 'Daddy'. We are like little children in His eyes. And, today, my Daddy, your Daddy, showed me how BIG He is and how much He loves me and how He has been attending to all of these circumstances all of this time and I didn't even know it!

So, the next time you hear someone start out saying 'God is good....' finish it for them, with them, with much joy and excitement in your voice and then remember this, that's your Daddy they're talking about!!

God is good ALL THE TIME and all the time, GOD IS GOOD!!!

So, the 4 of us were having some great family time last night before bed. We were reading some books and then each talking about our day and playing our 'worst/best' game... (we talk about the worst part of our day and the best part of our day. It is OK to not have a worst part of your day.) It is great... you should try it at home one evening if you haven't ever done this!

Anyway, my son proceeds to tell me about the worst part of his day and he says he has had a bad day and it just wasn't a good day at school and he seems rather intense about it. So, I ask him a few more questions, to dig a little deeper you know, and to see what happened at school and finally we get to the root of the problem:

"Well, mom, my brain just hurts from all this thinkin' that I've been doing for almost 1 and a half years now in school!'

Did you read that?? HIS brain hurts??!! We couldn't laugh out loud just yet (didn't want to squash the child in him that still tells his mom & dad everything), but I was thinking, 'Come on! Are you kidding me!?? YOUR brain is tired??!! Think about how mom and dad feel!' So, I kept those thoughts to myself, like any good mom should, and I said simply, 'Son, you have a GREAT young brain and you are good in school. Are you telling me that your brain hurts from thinking so hard in school every day?' He says, 'Yes, mom, that about sums it up! My brain hurts from all this thinkin'!'

At this point, I did laugh, we all 4 did, as I hugged my youngest child, and told him that he needed to get used to this "thinkin'" thing, because he is good at it and he will be doing it for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time, like his dad and I have been doing! At this point, my oldest child chimed in and added, "Yeah, look at mommy. She has had to think for 29 whole years now!"

THIS is the moment when I realized I am SO proud of my babies! My son is one analytical thinker and my daughter is a GENIUS at math!! ;) Friends, haven't I TOLD you what a wonderful school my children attend!!?? They have fabulous teachers at that place!

Here's to all of this "thinkin'" all of us moms (& dads) have to do on a regular basis! And, here is my prayer...

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for filling our lives SO FULL of BLESSINGS that we get to THINK about a lot of STUFF each and every day!! But, God, can you help us out when our brains hurt from all of the thinkin' we do, especially those of us who are moms? Give us the courage we need to lean on YOU to do some THINKIN' for us when we are out of brain power, so to speak!! THANK YOU for giving us your Holy Spirit to do some of the thinkin' FOR US! Save us from ourselves when we aren't thinkin' straight!!! And finally, Lord, continue to bless the minds, hearts, and spirits of our little ones as they begin to think for themselves and learn and grow in your word! AMEN!

I pray heaping blessings on your heads today my dear friends!! And I pray you find rest from "all of this thinkin'" for your tired brains!

(I have included a few pics below of our cat, Sam. In a couple of these pictures, he looks like I feel after a lot of thinkin'!! I also included a picture of the kids with my niece and nephew- my brother's 2 children.)

I am empty. I am tired. I am discouraged, and I am weary. Those are the facts. That is the reality I am dealing with over the course of the past few weeks. I am not here today to encourage, or discourage, just to be real. I am also not here to gain encouragement from you. Again, I am just trying to be real. I really enjoy this blogging- connecting with friends and family this way. I enjoy writing. I enjoy pictures. I thrive on encouraging others. God created that in me, as part of my nature. But, I have no encouraging words to share or any neat stories to tell you today. I am just sharing that I am weary, tired from walking this walk.

Lately, at every turn, this world seems to be getting darker and more dismal, and I truly wonder what 1 person can do to make a difference. What can 1 mom, 1 wife, 1 daughter, 1 friend, 1 employee do to really and truly make a difference? I am still praying about that and pondering that, in my weary state. I need to be refreshed and rejuvenated. That is hard to do when you are running on empty. I have discovered a new song, as of late, and I think, NO, I know that God placed it in my path at just the right moment, at just the right time. Over the past 3 weeks, I play this song almost daily, many times more than once a day. I sing along with it, crying out to God. I cry to it. I meditate to it. I talk to my God to it. Sometimes, I am quiet and simply listen to it. The song should be playing now, as you read this post. Well, it USED to be playing. I changed the play list to play more upbeat songs. The words are below.....

All That I Can Say
By The David Crowder Band

Lord I'm tired
So tired from walking
And Lord I'm so alone
And Lord the dark
Is creeping in
Creeping up
To swallow me
I think I'll stop
Rest here a while

Chorus:
And this is all that I can say right now
And this is all that I can give
And this is all that I can say right now
And this is all that I can give
That's my everything.

Oh, didn't You see me cryin'?
Oh, and did You hear me call Your name?
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember
Where you sat it down.

Chorus:
And this is all, this is all that I can say right now
I know it's not much
But, this is all that I can give
And that's my everything
This is all that I can say right now, right now
I know it's not much,
This is all that I can give
Yeah, That's my everything.

Bridge:
I didn't notice You were standing here
I didn't know that
That was You holding me
I didn't notice You were cryin' too
I didn't know that
That was You washing my feet

So, here I am saying all I can say is that my Jesus, my Savior, my God is standing right here beside me. He is holding me and He is crying with me.

He is standing beside me, as I try to make a difference in this big, huge, world that seems so lost and off track.

He is holding me as I try to get up each day and face a new day by His grace and with His strength.

He is crying with me when my tears fall and my heart breaks for...

The loss I see around me in precious families that didn't deserve to lose precious babies, precious children.
The dear friends I see waiting to get their babies, whether by nature, or by adoption. They are simply waiting and it is agonizing.
Dear friends I see struggling with life changing decisions and making moves, out of comfort zones, that are very difficult to make.
A world that I see moving further and further away from the One True God.

I spoke to a very dear friend of mine, Shana, today who encouraged me very much with her words. It was over the phone and via email, but those methods work just as well some days. She said to me, 'Faith can change your circumstances, no matter how dark everything around you seems.' She also shared 1 John 5:4-5 with me. It reads:

'For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?'

So, though what my eyes see around me tells me differently, amidst a world that seems to grow darker each day, my Faith tells me that God has overcome and the victory is His, no matter how many battles it looks like we have lost.

And, in the end, this is all that I can say....