Thanks to the amazing Lisa Harper for that description. Being a horse owner, it really hit home for me.
Have you ever heard a sermon and you know down deep in your soul that you were suppose to hear it at that exact moment. I call them, “For such a time as this moments.”
Recently, my husband had to go to the hospital ER for being so sick. I asked for prayer on FB and texted some friends. Of course, many responded immediately with encouragement and prayed. Some said comments like…
- You can’t win for losing.
- When it rains the skies open
- Y’all have been through a lot lately
- The enemy sees y’all as a threat
They are only saying this because, we have seen more than our share of trials with health lately. As I am writing this, I wish I could say I was up and at ’em. I will say, I have good days and then I need a day to recover still. I have felt all they have said and some. I also have learned, feelings are indicators and should not be used as dictators.
The enemy would like to come in during these times and tell you…
God has abandoned you.
If he was a Good Good Father, where is He?
You are not enough!!! Because if you were, these things would not be happening to you and the list goes on.
It is during these times we have to cling to the truth. My identity must be anchored to the TRUTH of who God is and who He is to me. What is truth??? God’s word.
So tell me, where in the Bible does it say when we become Christians that we will not see trials and tribulations? Many times the more closer we walk with Jesus, the more trials we will see. As my Mom always says, ” The devil does not have to work on some people for he knows he already has them.”
We must remind ourselves, the enemy is vicious but he is NOT victorious. I have heard many things. But one thing I know for sure, to think our life is to walk in sunshine all the time and it be a cake walk is not Biblical. James tells us that in his first chapter. If the brother of Jesus is telling us this, Don’t you think we should listen? We have to have the right perspective and learn to find the joy in the midst of it all. Or better way of saying it, we have to learn to find joy in the pit. It is easy to find joy on the mountain top. C. S. Lewis says it best for me.
” We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. “
We do the world a disservice when we “ACT” like we are the perfect Christian. These “ACTS” many times are why we hear so much about the hypocrisy of Christians. Let’s be real, this title has been earned on many of days. Who do we really think we are fooling when we are mean as snakes to people but have those Bible scriptures under our names on FB. Some of the people that have done others wrong would be having the worst temper tantrum and throwing the rattler out of the playpen if they were treated the way they did others.
As Lisa Harper said in her sermon , When Things Fall Apart, ” There are seasons in our life where we feel like, I am not sure I can handle this God. Apart from you carrying me Lord, I am not going to make it to the next season of my life.”
Sometimes God wants to purify us and prune us. Many times it is painful. We have to trust that the pain is going to be an amazing conduit. We have to trust that around the corner, we will produce much fruit and it is for our good. As Lisa said, ” We have to change our perspective about pain.”
I will be the first one to day, I would like to avoid pain. Can I have a free pass to use when needed? My idea, a get out of jail free card like in Monopoly . I love the Walking in Sunshine kind of days. But, we don’t have to read very far in the Bible to understand … this view is not Biblical. The prophets, the difference makers , the ones that God chose, all had curvy paths. Look at Moses, He took 40 years to learn to be a Prince in the palace. 40 years in the desert to be shaped and pruned by God so that he could be used 40 years for his ultimately calling by God.
Lisa speaks about Job. When Job lost everything, He shaved his head, put on his grieving garment, (Both were customs in that day) AND WORSHIPPED. Job was always a worshipper. The first book tells us how he prayed for his family.
We as people think that grief or broken is the opposite end of worship. Go back and look in the Bible at the characters that were down and felt defeated but starting worshipping anyway. Look at King David. Worship during this times is a deeper more sacrificial worship. We are tapping into our power source when we can say, ” I don’t understand. I don’t know what you are doing God, but, I trust you. YOU are a good God and this is going to be used for my good.”
Brokenness and worship … I think sometimes, can’t we have one without the other? But think of the scripture that God is close to the …
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is near the brokenhearted;He saves the contrite in spirit.Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.…
When we bring all of us to all of God, He is with us. Lisa reminds us, Where in the Bible does it say just bring the perky parts to God? Is perky a characteristic of the Holy Spirit anyway? There is no where in scripture that says just bring the good parts of us to him.
We have to KNOW, no matter what we are going through, JESUS IS OUR HOPE. When your heart has been broken. When your faith is running empty, failed you or broken. HE meets you right where you are and sometimes that means the pit.
WE CHANGE, we can waver at times, But our God, he NEVER changes. He is steady. He is a firm foundation. He is steadfast . We need to remember Job, go back and get familiar with his story. Read it again and this time Lord, help us read it with a new lens. See things we did not see before. We have to remember during the not so perky times that as Job says, MY REDEEMER LIVES.
As Laura Story’s song lyrics say, What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise.
Psalm 84:11 New King James Version (NKJV)
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
CountlessWonders 