To gain a full understanding of the impact of this story, I
ask you to first read two of my previous stories: “The Journey Is Important”
and “The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength” (written just yesterday). All three, including this present story, are
based on my personal life experience.
Together, they could be viewed as a part of a daily spiritual journal,
rather like a daily diary, except the focus is meant to be on God and not on self. Come join with me once again and let us
experience together the reality of the scripture, “O taste and see that the
Lord is good!”
I’m sure that all of us would agree that God is so good all
the time. Yet, sometimes I know I get so
boggled down in the daily routine of just living life that it seems as though I
am much more aware of “me” than I am of the greatness of “Him” in my life. I can’t express the utter wonder, excitement,
and amazement that stirs within my soul when moments occur which seem as though
He has just walked in the door of my heart for a personal one on one
visit. He softly shuts the door behind
Him, closing the two of us off from the distractions of the world outside. It’s not as though He wasn’t there all along,
but somehow I am more aware of His presence.
He pulls up a chair right in front of me making it comfortable for us to
look into each others eyes. He’s so
close that our knees are almost touching, and from time to time He reaches out
to hold my hand and speak even more intently to my heart. He’s so real and near that nothing else
exists. It’s as if He’s saying, “Come on
Honey, let’s sit over here together and just you and I have a little time
together.”
I’m sure you too have experienced such moments. In a past story, I spoke of a time when I was
sitting on the bedside of my oldest son when he was only about eight years
old. We held hands as we joined in
prayer together. Just moments into our
prayer, my son had a smile on his face and he began to giggle. I stopped praying for a moment to ask him
what was funny. He said, “You’re talking
like He’s really standing right there.”
It was one of those precious moments when I actually did ‘feel’ His
presence so near, and the way I spoke had conveyed that feeling to the tender
heart of my young son.
This morning was another one of those precious moments,
except that I wasn’t aware of it until our conversation was practically ended,
and then it happened. I had intended to
do more studying to prepare for continuing a paper I had previously started on
the subject of “What Manner of Man Am I.”
As I delved into II Corinthians, a scripture seemed to leap out of the
page and into my heart, as if it just burst into life. It wasn’t as though I
hadn’t read it before. In fact, it had
already been highlighted in some previous time.
I’m sure it must have spoken a message to my heart more than once
before. This time however, it was used
to give to me a more personal message, for He was using it to show me how His
word had been used once again in my own stories, and I had not even realized it
until the day after I had written the story.
I don’t know, maybe it won’t seem like such a big thing to others. Maybe it’s just one of those personal moments
meant only to have significance between the Lord and me. Yet, knowing the reality of the phrase, “what
He’s done for others, He’ll do for you,” I take the opportunity to share this
story with you.
I now digress to tell you of how this had already happened
at least once before. My brother was
used of the Lord to reveal this to me.
This past Feb. my brothers and sisters came down for our annual
gathering. My older brother and his wife
were housed in our youngest son’s camper or the castle as they call it, which
is parked in our back yard. Most every
morning, my brother would sit on the back porch with my husband, and they would
have a glorious time searching and ‘arguing’ the scriptures together. This kind of arguing is not the kind
ordinarily thought of, but rather is an exercise in rooting out the meaning and
understanding of the deeper morsels, intricacies, and tidbits of knowledge
found in the scriptures. For some this
might have been perceived to be too tedious or maybe even a bit contentious at
times, but for them it is a search for greater enlightenment, not just for head
knowledge but for the joy of learning from the Lord. I’ve seen that excited look on each of their
faces, as each has come to me with a smile on their face and a little giggle on
their lips saying, “Look what I have found!”
It’s so neat to see what it does to others when they too have been
sitting alongside Jesus to “spend a little time with Him.”
My brother was presently involved in the study of the book
of Hebrews for the purpose of preparing lessons to teach to his Sunday school
class. During such times, he often
finds it useful to bounce his findings off the ears of others. Knowing how we all look forward to being
recipients of his teaching, he held a daily Sunday school class, inviting all
interested persons to come and take part.
Under his tutelage, we were not just to be vessels to receive, but were
expected to be contributors during the lesson, submitting our own questions and
thoughts as we may have personally gleaned from the scriptures. Oh that we all
lived closer together so we could indulge in such glorious times more
often. Through this group study, Jimmy
imparted to us the overview of Hebrews as a book which teaches about the growth
of each believer as we seek to become more mature in the Lord. The maturation process doesn’t take place by
accident, but takes place over a lifetime as we learn to submit our will and
spirit to the will of God, through the transforming power of the word by the
power of the Holy Spirit. In other
words, it’s the communing of our spirit with the Spirit of God as He works
within us to continue to complete the good work that He began in us when we
were born again. As a result of one of our study times together, for some reason, I
shared with them one of my previous writings, “The Journey Is Important.” After reading it, my brother said, “Ginger,
this is your own personal life story exemplifying the process of maturing in
the Lord as taught in the book of Hebrews.”
He added that this process is not
completed on earth, but rather when we are with the Lord when He gives unto us
a glorified body. This insight that he
shared about my writing, and its relationship to the working out of the word in
my life, was like a special gift from the Lord.
It wasn’t a thing that I perceived to be as flattery to me, but rather
as a ray of sunlight meant to glorify God and His wondrous work. It is one of those times in which He shows
His mighty love towards each and every one of us. Isn’t it wonderful to know
that we serve such a great and mighty God, and yet He takes the time to show
His care and concern for each and every one of His children, as if you or I
were His only child? His love is so
great that it can not be taken in and understood all at once. Sometimes, due to the limits of my own
humanity, I catch a little glimpse of His all consuming love. Then there are other moments, like this
insight from my brother and then again today, His love seems to come gushing
into my life with the power of the rushing water of a mighty waterfall,
overwhelming my heart with joy unspeakable.
My excitement is so great, I feel like his joy is going to start pouring
out of every pore of my body, creating its own minute waterfall. In my excitement, I want to shout, “Look
everyone, did you see what God just did?”
You don’t want to hide this wonderful Lord. It makes you feel just like a little kid who
rushes up to anyone and everyone, expressing what he thinks is the greatest
news ever, assuming that all are going to be just as excited as he is when they
too hear such fantastic news. It reminds of the song that repeats over and over
again, “I Gotta Tell Somebody” referring to the good news of Jesus Christ and
His wonderful love.
Okay, what happened this morning? Well, for you to fully understand, I do hope
you were able to read the other two stories I referred to previously. However, if not, perhaps the Holy Spirit will
tie it all together for you. The story I
wrote yesterday, reflected on how I have come to understand through personal
experience that God is greater than any affliction or suffering than either you
or I could ever experience. Our focus, when we do endure such times, should be
on God and how He provides for us here and now, and the even greater future
that He has stored up for us in eternity.
My story yesterday extended over the space of about seven or eight
pages. Yet today, in referring to the
afflictions and sufferings of this world in comparison to all that He has in
store for us in eternity, He showed me a scripture that summed up the whole
meaning of that previous story in one brief paragraph:
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while
we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:
for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen
are eternal. (II Corinthians 4: 16 –
18)
We are to hold fast to our faith in the Lord and trust that
what He is doing within us is giving us strength for today and greater hope for
tomorrow. In not allowing the intensity
of whatever pain, suffering, disability, affliction, or trials and tribulation
to take total rule and dominion over us in this temporal life, we learn to live
each day that we are given to the glory of God that we may not be robbed of the
greater joy of the Lord. I don’t mean
that we try to deny the existence of such things in our life, for that would be
an exercise in futility and dishonesty.
However, when we look at the lives of such people as Joni Erickson
Tada, how can we deny the power of God
as we see His strength shining out so brightly and unmistakably even in the
midst of her weakness and daily suffering?
She has been a quadriplegic since about the age of eighteen. One might look at her and be tempted to say,
“Oh poor thing. How could a loving God
allow such a thing to happen to her?”
Sure, she has said that there are plenty of times in her life that she would
have yearned for God to heal her. That
is only human. Yet, she has endured
where others have given up. She has
overcome the temptation to wallow in bitterness, self pity, and hopelessness
with the greater determination and commitment through the power of the Holy
Spirit to put her trust in God. She has
touched more lives than many able bodied persons have; to God be the
glory. Where others have used
disabilities and afflictions as an excuse to get angry with God and turn their
back on Him, she has determined to live out her life day by day with a purpose
to glorify God in the strength of the Lord in spite of her situation and
condition. She has made the Lord her
daily companion, and He is faithful to carry her through all the afflictions in
her life, teaching her to value eternal things that she may not be consumed by
the temporal afflictions of this present life.
You can imagine there may have been many a day when she might wake up
and tell Him, “God, I just can’t do this; it’s just too much.” He comes to her
side to tell her, “Honey, you don’t have to do it; Here, take my hand and we’ll
do it together.” God has ingenious ways
to help us when we think we have reached the end of our rope. Remember, in our weakness He is strong.
Let not the sufferings, trials, or afflictions of this life
rob you of the joy of the Lord. Instead,
let us learn to be content in the Lord, whether we have little or much, whether
we are blessed with good health or endure sufferings. With God’s help we can
make the most of what we are given and live out life day by day, doing all that
we do as unto the Lord. Be determined to
learn not to live a life based on “feelings.” Happiness is fickle and only lasts for the
moment as it is created or disappears with every happenstance, or change of
conditions and situations in your life.
What a shallow life we lead when we base everything we do, feel, or
believe upon whether it seems to make us happy or not! Don’t give up your rewards in eternity(that
which is not seen) for the sake of running after the fickle things that seem to
represent success, happiness, and prosperity in the present (that which can be
seen), but will definitely fade and will surely come to a final and lasting end
one day.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God Egypt
With God nothing is impossible. Nick Vujicic is a young Christian man who was
born with no arms and no legs. Yet he
has become one of the most powerful speakers in the world, being used of God to
spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you haven’t seen or heard this man speak,
I recommend that you Google him. I look
at what God has done in Him and it humbles me to my very core.
I’m
reminded once again of the words God spoke to my heart years ago in a time of
my life which seemed to be flowing along in a rather peaceful manner. He told me then, “If you lose your home and
everything in it, God will still be God.”
I didn’t know what He meant then; I simply acknowledged that I realized
that it was Him speaking to me. Over the
years, He has revealed to me little by little the truth of the words that He
had spoken to my heart. I am still learning
what He means: In the pain, am I still
not God; In the valley of depression, am I still not God; In the midst of
losing a child, am I still not God; In the midst of loosing a job, am I still
not God; In the midst of a heart attack, am I still not God? There is nothing that we could ever
experience in life that God is not more than able to carry us through it, not
even death? There is nothing in this
life that God can not or will not help you and I through IF we will always hold
on to our faith in Him; trust and believe that He is always in control and will
never leave us nor forsake us. His word
is always and forever at work in our life, even when we are not aware of
it. Draw near to Him and He will meet
your every need. Let Him pull up a chair
next to you, and begin to pore out your heart to Him. Don’t presume that He is always going to tell
you what you want to hear; trust that He will always tell you what you need to
hear. As we seek and trust Him, He will
reveal that He doesn’t give up on us, but is faithful to continue to do that
good work in us until we reach our eternal home to then be housed in our new
and glorified bodies. Let us not depend
on fickle happiness, but rather on the joy of the Lord to be our strength even
when we are weak. As we do, we can all
join in unison in the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord and shout with every ounce
of our being: “I can’t explain it, but I can say, Glory Hallelujah, Great
Things He Has Done!”
We are taught of the Lord by the power of His word even in
and through the trials and tribulations of our life. Take every challenge in life as an
opportunity to learn and be taught of the Lord that we might become better
equipped to stand even in the face of adversity. Trust in the Lord and wait patiently upon Him
as you ask; “Okay Lord, what would you have me do and learn even in and through
this?”
“Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God. And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience,
experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5: 1-5)
Sit with the Lord, and listen to His sweet voice as He
tenderly teaches you and me from His word.
Let us sing this refrain unto Him: ** “Open our eyes Lord. We want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch
Him and say that we love Him.” “Oh taste
and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34: 8) “And His word is sweeter than honey.”
(Psalm 119: 103)
**Hymn: “Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus” Author;
Robert Cull
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