I had another weird breakdown yesterday on the way home. Just burst into tears over things weighing upon my mind and bawled in the car for a while. There have been quite a number of negative events occurring to people around me and I've just been emotionally affected by them, which is pretty ironic considering I'm not the one going through the pain and so should be God's messenger of hope, joy and peace. But I was a wreck after speaking with a friend who had just lost someone precious to her. She admitted to her raw emotions but was quick to claim God's goodness and find the positives. She is clinging to her faith in God and believes God is going to use this trial to make her stronger and enable her to identify with others who are hurting because of a similar experience. That kind of faith, that kind of decision to keep trusting is amazing. She even prayed with me, can you imagine! What an encourager! A great example of a godly woman.
I think I just feel overwhelmed by everything that is happening. I feel like I can't pray fast enough or hard enough to cover everyone and everything. I think I've been trying to carry burdens or responsibilities that are not mine to bear. I should be giving everyone and everything to God, not trying to shoulder their grief and make their pain go away. I can't. Only God can.
This morning as I stepped into the bathroom, a Sunday School song popped into my head and I clapped my hands and uttered, "be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you. Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you. I am not afraid. No, no, no, I am not dismayed. I'm gonna walk in faith and victory, come on and walk in faith and victory, for the Lord your God is with you!" If you know the tune, sing along with me! I had forgotten this for so long. It was good to just remind myself. I should be making the main thing the main thing. I must not lose sight of Christ. His redemptive work on the cross. He died that there would always be enough for us.
Father, please be with every single one of my friends who are hurting. Please bring healing and comfort. Please flood their hearts and minds with Your truth, Your peace, Your joy to be their strength. Some of them have family members who have recently been diagnosed with cancer, or a family member who has had a stroke, or a terrible car accident that has caused much bleeding and damage in the brain. Others are being physically abused by their husbands but cannot get out because the situation has become so complicated and little ones need to be protected in the midst of all this. Father, please make a way out for them. There has been great loss and physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual trauma. Lord, only You can lift them up, cause their spirits to be able to praise You even in the midst of these difficult times. Only You Lord can bring complete restoration and give them such hope for what is to come. Only You make our uncertain future sure with Your plans that proper us, not harm us. Lord, please speak into their broken hearts and mend their weary bodies. May they always feel Your presence to know they are not abandoned to their circumstances, but have a Father who is very lovingly watching over them. A Father who is in control of everything and is able and wants to bring the best to His children. Thank You for being such a Father to us. May we always place our lives in Your hands. We give You our minds, our hearts, our hands. We give all of us that You may bring about Your good, perfect and pleasing will and purpose.
(Deuteronomy 6)
I think I just feel overwhelmed by everything that is happening. I feel like I can't pray fast enough or hard enough to cover everyone and everything. I think I've been trying to carry burdens or responsibilities that are not mine to bear. I should be giving everyone and everything to God, not trying to shoulder their grief and make their pain go away. I can't. Only God can.
This morning as I stepped into the bathroom, a Sunday School song popped into my head and I clapped my hands and uttered, "be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you. Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you. I am not afraid. No, no, no, I am not dismayed. I'm gonna walk in faith and victory, come on and walk in faith and victory, for the Lord your God is with you!" If you know the tune, sing along with me! I had forgotten this for so long. It was good to just remind myself. I should be making the main thing the main thing. I must not lose sight of Christ. His redemptive work on the cross. He died that there would always be enough for us.
Father, please be with every single one of my friends who are hurting. Please bring healing and comfort. Please flood their hearts and minds with Your truth, Your peace, Your joy to be their strength. Some of them have family members who have recently been diagnosed with cancer, or a family member who has had a stroke, or a terrible car accident that has caused much bleeding and damage in the brain. Others are being physically abused by their husbands but cannot get out because the situation has become so complicated and little ones need to be protected in the midst of all this. Father, please make a way out for them. There has been great loss and physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual trauma. Lord, only You can lift them up, cause their spirits to be able to praise You even in the midst of these difficult times. Only You Lord can bring complete restoration and give them such hope for what is to come. Only You make our uncertain future sure with Your plans that proper us, not harm us. Lord, please speak into their broken hearts and mend their weary bodies. May they always feel Your presence to know they are not abandoned to their circumstances, but have a Father who is very lovingly watching over them. A Father who is in control of everything and is able and wants to bring the best to His children. Thank You for being such a Father to us. May we always place our lives in Your hands. We give You our minds, our hearts, our hands. We give all of us that You may bring about Your good, perfect and pleasing will and purpose.
(Deuteronomy 6)
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Jos, I'm leaving you an excerpt from the book I'm reading. It's my Sat. morning bible study. It's been awesome. I know I've told you that before, but it really is amazingly filled with incredible truths of our capable, loving and unbelievable God.
"Loving God with All Your Mind" by, Elizabeth George
Here it goes:
Chap. 19
"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:28
The women from our church were crowded into a large conference room for our annual retreat. We were meeting at the headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ which, at the time, was in Arrowhead Spring, CA. Our speaker was Ney Bailey from their staff, and I still remember the story she told that first evening--a story that I read again later in her book, Faith Is Not A Feeling...
One quiet summer day, Ney was meeting in gthe Colorado Rocky Mts. with 35 other women leaders from Campus Crusade. Suddenly sirens broke the peaceful stillness and megaphones barked, 'Evacuate immediately! Flashflood coming! Evacuate immediately!'
The women immediately got into their cars and left. As they crossed over a bridge, the realized the urgency of the situation when the raging waters cascading down the mountain washed away the bridge they had just driven over! Continuing on, the women traveled to a fork in the road, got out of their cars, asked for directions, jumped back into the cars, and drove on.
Ney Bailey's care went one way, and another care went a different way. Tragically, the seven women in the other car drowned. Not knowing of her friends' deaths, Ney and her companions huddled together in prayer once their car reached higher ground. With the authority of Scripture undergirding her, she began praying, "Lord, Your Word says, 'In everything give thanks, because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us.' So while we are in this, we choose with our wills to thank You.
"And Lord, Your Word says, 'All things'--including this--'work together for good to those who love You'--and we do--'and are called according to Your purpose'--and we are.
"You have also said that heaven and earth will pass away before Your Word passes away. So Your Word is truer than anything we are feeling or experiencing right now."
Faith is not a feeling, and Ney lived out that truth in the situation I just described. Despite whatever she was feeling--panic, fear, worry--Ney chose to put her faith in God and the truths of His Word and not in her feelings. As her prayer reveals, she turned to God and clung to the promises found in His Word when her feelings and thoughts might have run wild. Ney Bailey's prayer taught me 3 lessons I have tried to apply in my own Christian life.
1. Pray "Your Word says..."--Ney showed me how to pray using the authority of Scripture. I saw right away the value of praying "Your Word says...," of letting God's truth guide my petitions. Now, whenever I counsel a woman who needs help praying about difficult issues, I share Ney's prayer with her and tell her to pray God's Word.
2. Pray the truth of Rom. 8:28--Ney's prayer taught me how to use the truth of Rom. 8:28 concerning my life. Following her model, I now prayer, "God, Your Word says 'all things'--including this____________________ (and I fill in the blank, naming my present problem)--'work together for good.'" The simple exercise of "filling in the blank" forces me to acknowledge God's involvement in my life and reminds me that He is the source of my strength and hope.
3. Pray to be faith oriented--This prayer taught me that I can never view my life through the lens of feelings. They are too varied and unstable! No, I must be faith oriented rather than feeling oriented. Faith is not a feeling. Faith looks to God and trusts Him to work out the present difficulty for His purposes and my good. I must look to God and to His Word--and to Rom. 8:28!--and I must remember that He will indeed work all things for my good!
As we're continuing to learn, God is in complete control of every aspect of our lives. Furthermore, He promises to work "all things" for our good and His purposes. We can definitely have hope in Him and put our God-given faith in Him.
That's it! I know it's loooong, so if you choose not to post it, that's totally fine.
Hope it helps you see things differently and bring you hope and encouragement.
Love, Lisa
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