Chased By the Storms

            Do you ever feel like you are being chased by life’s storms? The other night when I was heading to my music rehearsal, I found myself in the middle of a horrible storm. The rain was so heavy I could hardly see to drive. The ditches overflowed across the roads. It was a treacherous drive. When I got a couple of miles down the road, the sun was shining and it was beautiful! I got stopped by a traffic light and had to sit for a minute. By the time the light turned green, the storm had caught up with me! I had to stop at three or four more lights before I reached my final destination. As I reached each light, I managed to get a little ahead of the storm and see the sun for just a moment, but every time, before I pulled off from the light, the storm had chased me and caught up with me! It was crazy! By the time I reached the church there was no hope of getting inside without getting drenched, so I just went for it. I just could not outrun the storm.

 

            Sometimes it seems like life is like that too. Sometimes the storms of life chase us and it seems we cannot get away from them. They just pour down challenges one after the other. There are so many folks that I know right now who are being literally pounded by the storms of life. Some seem to be in a large hurricane of difficulties that just will not stop. I have one close friend who is walking through cancer. She keeps her chin up most of the time, and I admire her greatly for that, but she has lots of very rough days too. I have another friend who lost her precious husband after a horrible bout of cancer. Her faith and strength amaze me, though I know she sheds many tears as well. I could go on and on about the number of folks that I know who are facing what seems like insurmountable challenges right now. My heart aches deeply for them and I pray constantly for them. I do not have words for them, I cannot take away their pain, but I do my best to love them and pray for them. Though I cannot relieve their pain and suffering, I do Someone Who can. I know where my friend gets her strength. I know how she faces her husband’s empty chair each day and yet keeps walking forward one step at a time. She depends on the Lord. She clings to Him when her kids go off to school and she is alone in the house. I know how my other friend faces week after week of chemo and miserable sickness. They both believe that even in such suffering, God has a plan.

            The other night, as I tried to stay ahead of the storms, I was reminded of these dear friends who are hurting so deeply. I went to sleep with them on my mind and heart. I got up the next morning and searched the Scriptures for hope and for peace over these heart wrenching situations. There is no way that our human brains can fully comprehend this kind of pain. I will never understand how folks walk through these kinds of life storms without faith. I guess some attempt to. I am not walking directly in my friends shoes so I cannot say that I truly understand, however, I feel enough hurt for them that it causes me to run to God’s Word for help. Of course, there will be some things that we will not understand until we see Jesus face to face, but I did find some comfort in the Scriptures as I searched them.

            One of the Scriptures I landed on was Isaiah 43:2. It says this, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” I never like to take Scripture out of context, I always try to read a verse within the entire passage, and I did, but this one verse really comforted my heart. This was a promise to God’s children. He was so faithful to them, even in their trials and tribulations He showed them great mercy and love. He is the same way with us. He shows us great mercy. It may not always feel like it when we are being hammered by the strong storms of life, but He is always with us. I believe that He is also with my friends who are suffering so greatly.

            Another verse that I found was Deuteronomy 31:8. “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Another incredible promise from God, we can be encouraged even in our pain because He will not abandon us, EVER. One final verse that really grabbed my heart and is one of my favorites is Isaiah 41:10. It says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Wow! The God of the Universe will give us strength and uphold us by His own hand! I really want that thought to penetrate my heart deeply and stick with me. I pray this for my hurting friends. I pray it for all who are lost, lonely, sick, depressed, struggling or afraid. God is so faithful. He is so good. I know from personal experience, that it is difficult to see His hand when things turn dark and stormy, but I believe it with all of my heart and I want to live it out in my life.

            I am reading a few different books right now and I didn’t realize it when I purchased them, but two of the books deal with the same subject - choosing and finding joy, even in difficult circumstances. Both books were written by women who have had their share of suffering and yet have found joy and abundant life in the midst of that suffering. I desire strongly to live that way, choosing joy no matter what storms come my way. I want to have faith like my friend. Even as I type this, I’m thinking to myself…please Lord…not suffering. I don't want to suffer and I don't want to see my loved ones suffer, but I do want to learn to trust Him even in suffering. The older I get the more I see just how quickly life changes and passes. We are not guaranteed the next five minutes and I want to live my life trusting that God will see me through whatever storm heads my way. I do not want to allow the storm clouds of life to darken my joy and rob me of the peace that God offers and promises to His children. I pray that as I study His Word and as I encounter His presence, that He will transform me completely and that I will choose joy. Then, I pray that I can share that joy with someone who may need it. May God bless you today with His grace, peace and joy. Thanks for reading!!

All Scripture from ESV or NIV1984 Bible

My Glaring Weaknesses

 

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV1984)

            Last night I was at a music rehearsal for a women’s conference that is coming up at our church soon. As we rehearsed I was reminded again of my own musical weaknesses. I am not formally trained in music, but I’ve been involved in our worship ministry for more than 20 years, I’ve learned so much in those years, and I’m so thankful for those who have taught me so well.

I have to spend a good amount of time to learn a new song or to learn a harmony part to a song that I already know. I do not play an instrument, but I can “pluck out” my own part on a piano to help me learn it. All of the songs that we were working on last night are familiar except one, but since it was a singing group of only women, we were all learning some new parts to the songs. It always makes me a bit nervous when I’m asked to sight read on the spot. But, I’ve learned to just be honest and request a little help to learn it or just ask if I can stick with the melody until I can learn the part on my own time. It has always been a dream of mine to play the piano or to learn music theory well enough to sight read better, and I would still love to do that, but I’ve also learned that my main instrument is my voice. I would not want to forsake worshiping with my voice in order to play an instrument. I have always LOVED to sing and I am especially and extremely passionate about worship. Music that worships our Lord takes me to a place where I can experience a little taste of Heaven on earth!

            Well, back to my story...at this rehearsal last night I was surrounded by folks with varying levels of music ability, some who I would call brilliant musicians (you know who you are!), and others with more or less limited music skills than me. I started to realize just how inadequate I feel when it comes to sight reading music. Almost immediately, I let Satan get a foothold in my head and I started thinking about how inadequate I am in many other areas of my life. My head begin to spin with thoughts about things I never accomplished, about dreams that had died, about things that I started but never finished, and about how God could ever use “someone like me” to further His kingdom work. I was immediately bit by the bug of “not-enoughness” (yes, I know that is not really a word, but hey, it’s my blog right??) I let my mind continue to wander deeper into the dark woods of self-doubt. That’s not a happy place by the way! I really do not like wandering into the tall trees of insecurity. I lingered in those dark woods long enough and something snapped me back into the Light. Funny how all it takes to step out of the darkness is to take one tiny step into the light!

We had a little break while the pianist and worship leader discussed some details so I took that opportunity to sit down for a moment and rest. While sitting, God gently and lovingly reminded me that while I do have plenty of weaknesses and inadequacies, He is fully sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9) He reminded me of the MANY times when I have felt and actually have been unequipped on my own to accomplish anything, yet, He is always able to give us all we need to complete anything that He sets before us. That has been the case throughout my faith walk, over and over again. I could write full books on the times that He has done that in my life! If He calls us to it, He’ll give us what I need to do it!

            Don’t get me wrong, I want to do all that I can to equip myself for God’s work, and to always work at growing in my gifts and abilities. I never want to stop learning. I love learning! (I still hope to learn more about music theory someday and I hope that maybe someone will help me with that J) But, I do not have to worry about being the strong one or the smarter one or about being the most brilliant musician in the room. What I do need to be concerned with is my heart, my motives and that I am doing all that I can do to offer the Lord my very best. That is what worship is – giving all we have, right where we are as an offering to Him, for His glory alone. He doesn’t want flowery gifts or fancy sacrifices, He just wants us and the best we have to offer, whatever that is. I do believe that I did that at last night’s rehearsal. I went prepared and I worshiped Him as we sang through each song and talked through the details. I feel so honored to have been asked to sing for this special event at our church and I pray that God will use me and my voice for His glory. I pray that others will be drawn to Him through genuine worship offered up by this small group of ladies and musicians.

I thought I had learned a long time ago not to compare myself to others. There is only one of me and only one of you and we are all special creations in God’s eyes. He made all of us uniquely and beautifully. We are His “workmanship”, created for a special purpose and His special work. (Ephesians 2:10) It is never a good idea to compare ourselves to someone else. It is also not a good idea to get caught up in the self-doubt game. Life is way too short for that kind of junk. We are a treasure in His eyes and there are so many out there who do not know Him. We need to get busy spreading the Good News. I find that when I am doing what I absolutely love, doing His work, that whether it is singing, coordinating our worship ministry details, taking care of my family, doing laundry, loving on someone who is hurting, working in our gardens, taking care of church business or dressing up like a nerdette for our youth group at church, I am always most fulfilled when I am doing it for His glory and purpose. Serving the Lord in my favorite areas brings me great joy! I pray that as I receive that blessing of joy in serving, that I will also be useful for His purposes. So, in closing, I want to say a couple more things. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you know that God loves you and has wonderful purposes for your life? Are you connected with a local church where you can use the gifts and talents that He has given you? I hope so. J If not, please get connected now so that you can learn about the beautiful plans God has for you. So long insecurity, so long self. It’s time to press on in the work God has for us with confidence! (Confidence in Him that is!!) God bless you and thanks for reading!

 

Look Up, Rejoice and Be Thankful!

Philippians 4:4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (NIV 1984)

            This morning I went outside on the deck to spend an extended time with the Lord. This week has been a bit challenging and unfortunately my quiet time has suffered. I’ve only found brief times here and there to get into God’s Word. I’ve spent lots of time praying, but not a lot of time listening and not nearly enough time in His Word. My heart is feeling the results of this. The last couple of days I’ve been “anxious” about many things. Forgive me for my honesty. It’s just who I am. Last night when I lay in bed asking God to give me a Scripture, or some word of encouragement, there was silence. So, I quietly clicked on my phone and went to my Scripture memory app and looked at this week’s verse. I read it over and over, but it didn’t seem to replace the anxious thoughts in my mind. I put down my phone and thankfully, after praying, God’s peace washed over me enough that I was able to drift off to sleep.

            This morning, when I awoke, I asked Him again for His peace and for some word of encouragement. I headed outside and sat down to study. It was peaceful and quiet. The tadpoles swam quietly next to me in the green, slimy pond on our deck, the humming birds fluttered by to the feeder and four o’clocks, and the beautiful butterflies busily worked each bloom of the colorful Lantana. But in spite of the peacefulness around me, my heart remained anxious. I was not sure where to start, so I started with two of my favorite devotions. (Praying God’s Word Daily, by Beth Moore and Jesus Calling by Sarah Young) That was a good place to start, but I needed more. I hungered to hear from my Father. I was starving for His Words to my heart.

            As I opened my electronic Bible, I was reminded of some of my favorite life verses. I use to read these particular verses every single day. But it had been a while. I did not even need to read them, they are written on my heart. But I did. There on the screen the Holy Spirit reminded me once again to cast my anxious thoughts to the Lord, not be anxious, but rather to be thankful, to take my every concern, hurt and joy to Him, the One who cares the most about me and those I care about. These verses also reminded me to think about  what is noble, right, true, pure, praiseworthy..., and finally to put into practice what I have seen, heard and learned. Wow! All of that in just six little verses!

           Well, there is one more thing that really blessed me this morning from these verses. I believe that it is a promise from our loving God. Right in the middle of these wonderful words, it says that if we bring our concerns to the Lord, “with thanksgiving”, that His peace will come to us. And not only will His peace be with us, but it “will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Well, I don’t know about you, but I needed that reminder this morning. Although none of the things I am anxious about have changed, one thing has, my mindset. I can get up from my time with the Lord and know that if I take these concerns to Him with a thankful heart, He will allow His peace to wash over me and guard my heart and mind. I need that desperately today. I AM thankful. I pray that as I try to relax in Him now, that my thoughts will focus more on Him and less on my worries and concerns. I pray that trust will displace anxiety in my heart and mind. I pray that my heart will remain thankful throughout today and every day. I pray that rather than dwell on my own worries, I will entrust them to Him and spend that time praying for others instead. He will be faithful to hear my concerns and answer them I know. He will do the same for you. I hope that somehow these words have encouraged you. God bless you and thanks for reading!