I'm so thankful for this post! I've had a lot of "life" going on, sort of a continuation from Saturday (read about it here). Due to the enormous deluge of rain we've had in Texas the last couple of days which we so desperately need, we've been dealing with drainage and flooding issues at our house, including up and into first floor!
It seems God's blessings are going to drown us!
Not really. We are fine and He continues to speak and act and work in our situation. Not in dramatic ways, but through His still, small, quiet (and patient) voice, guiding us to resolution of our issues.
Yesterday, in the book Take Another Look at Guidance, Bob Mumford challenged me with these words: The life of dependence (on God) is humbling, and to deal with self-sufficiency, God keeps us in a slight state of crisis most of the time.
More than noted - that sentence is double-underlined and starred. It may go on my wall above my computer. It is a sacred truth and is working itself out in my life as well as the life of my friend Kathryn Smith. Kathryn is a b.e.l.i.e.v.e.r. This woman is razor's edge smart and successful both in her personal, professional and spiritual life. She is my best friend's mentor and I've sat at her feet to learn as well. She loves the Lord and is of constant use to Him because she keeps surrender in the forefront of her mind.
I asked her if she would provide me a #WOW post because I knew she had some. The one she wrote up below is the most recent. It is a challenging reminder to me to operate not as the world does, but as Christ - to have His mind about my circumstances and to receive what He has to say, rather than listen to what everyone else is telling me.
It happened just 2 or 3 weeks ago! You will be hearing from her again because she has more to share. But until then, you will see she is an example of Isaiah 26:3, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
To God be the glory, Amen!
It seems God's blessings are going to drown us!
Not really. We are fine and He continues to speak and act and work in our situation. Not in dramatic ways, but through His still, small, quiet (and patient) voice, guiding us to resolution of our issues.
Yesterday, in the book Take Another Look at Guidance, Bob Mumford challenged me with these words: The life of dependence (on God) is humbling, and to deal with self-sufficiency, God keeps us in a slight state of crisis most of the time.
More than noted - that sentence is double-underlined and starred. It may go on my wall above my computer. It is a sacred truth and is working itself out in my life as well as the life of my friend Kathryn Smith. Kathryn is a b.e.l.i.e.v.e.r. This woman is razor's edge smart and successful both in her personal, professional and spiritual life. She is my best friend's mentor and I've sat at her feet to learn as well. She loves the Lord and is of constant use to Him because she keeps surrender in the forefront of her mind.
I asked her if she would provide me a #WOW post because I knew she had some. The one she wrote up below is the most recent. It is a challenging reminder to me to operate not as the world does, but as Christ - to have His mind about my circumstances and to receive what He has to say, rather than listen to what everyone else is telling me.
It happened just 2 or 3 weeks ago! You will be hearing from her again because she has more to share. But until then, you will see she is an example of Isaiah 26:3, You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
Now, onto this week's WONDER-filled testimony!
We live in a fallen world. Calamity comes to the Christian and non-Christian alike; however, as Christians we live differently. We don’t live fearing the unknown, but we live with a hope and an assurance that when the trials of life do come (and they will), our God will be faithful to take care of us; to deliver us from or through the circumstance. It’s important for us to find scripture(s) to stand on, scripture(s) to believe. These are promises from God and God doesn’t break his promises. When the trials and bad reports come, rather than reacting in fear, we stand in faith and reject the predicted bad outcome. This isn't denial. We live recognizing from the natural world we have a bad circumstance, but from the supernatural we have a Deliverer! When we go quickly to the Word to see what He says, we can deal with from a faith-filled kingdom perspective.
A scripture I stand on for my family comes from Psalm 34:17-20, "When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."
Recently my 11 year old daughter was leaning on a table at school. She says she was just leaning. She denies the possibility that she was putting her full weight on the table trying a gymnastics maneuver. The top of the table was not secured to its base. The tabletop came up and smacked her in the face, slightly chipping her front tooth. She fell with her full weight on her right thumb. The tabletop came down on top of her back. She screamed out of shock and pain. She was hysterical and taken to the school nurse. The school called to tell me that I needed to come pick her up, that she may have a broken thumb. Later I was told that the school counselor covered her with a blanket and held her to keep her from going into shock. By the time I arrived, 3 members of the school administration and the headmaster’s wife were there to greet me. They advised that her thumb looked dislocated and probably broken. It was swollen and causing my daughter much pain.
A scripture I stand on for my family comes from Psalm 34:17-20, "When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."
Recently my 11 year old daughter was leaning on a table at school. She says she was just leaning. She denies the possibility that she was putting her full weight on the table trying a gymnastics maneuver. The top of the table was not secured to its base. The tabletop came up and smacked her in the face, slightly chipping her front tooth. She fell with her full weight on her right thumb. The tabletop came down on top of her back. She screamed out of shock and pain. She was hysterical and taken to the school nurse. The school called to tell me that I needed to come pick her up, that she may have a broken thumb. Later I was told that the school counselor covered her with a blanket and held her to keep her from going into shock. By the time I arrived, 3 members of the school administration and the headmaster’s wife were there to greet me. They advised that her thumb looked dislocated and probably broken. It was swollen and causing my daughter much pain.
While I was concerned, I didn’t lose peace. I started praying and remembering my confession of faith from Psalm 34: no broken bones in my household. I made a pediatrician appointment for that evening. In the meantime, I reached out to a friend who had a wonderful suggestion that I let one of the gymnastics coaches take a look at the thumb because they are used to looking at hand and finger injuries. The experienced Eastern European coach looked at it, said it was dislocated and asked if I want her to fix it. Naively, I said yes, so the coach worked the thumb back into place. This was very good because this action immediately reduced the pain. She also thought that the first joint of the thumb might have a little fracture.
The pediatrician saw us at 8:00 pm and said, “It is a bad sprain. Fortunately the thumb is not dislocated. Take a pain reliever, put it on ice, and come back in a few days at a convenient time for the x-ray, as that department is closed for the day. I’m pretty sure there is a little fracture in that first joint. A fracture is the same thing as a break. If there is a fracture, then we will need to talk about next steps based upon the x-ray results.”
I knew the thumb had previously been dislocated, but that God ordered our steps and the gymnastics coach was used by the Lord. The doctor put my daughter’s hand in a temporary splint. Deep down, I believed the coach’s and doctor’s assessment was right, that there was a little fracture in the thumb at the time of the injury, but I also believed that God was healing the thumb and that it would prove out to only be a sprain and no break.
I also had a sense not to hurry in the next morning. There was a miracle in the works. During this time, I did not confess a break. I knew I was standing on the promise of Psalm 34. I took my daughter to church on Wednesday night for our pastor to pray. Our pastor agreed with the prayers that had been offered for healing. The thumb continued to get better.
Friday morning I took my daughter in for the confirmation x-ray. That’s exactly what it was - a confirmation! The x-ray proved that there was no fracture.
If we had received that broken thumb, that's what we would have had; then we would be faced with an entirely different summer of life with an injury. Instead, now there will be no disruption to the summer. It will not just getting by, but the best the Lord has for us.
Instead of receiving what comes to us in the natural, we trusted God’s Word and gave him room to do His supernatural work that He is fully capable to give, or rather we needed room to cooperate with His will.
To God be the glory, Amen!
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