Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for helping us. Thank You for watching over us. Lord, You alone know and understand what is best. Our world has changed in a very short time and things are uncertain. Lord, there is so much that we don’t understand nor can we. Jesus, please help us to look to You in all of this. Please help us to walk forward into Your will and be unafraid. Lord, please let the hearts of mankind become soft and turn to You. Let this plague cause us to surrender every part and piece of our lives to You. Lord Jesus, You are good. You are worthy of all praise. You are faithful. Thank You for walking with us through this. Lord, please hold them in Your hands and save many souls. Comfort the hurting. Protect the innocent. Restore the broken. Return the prodigal. Please, let Your name be glorified throughout the whole Earth, Jesus. Amen.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord , Who made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2 NKJV
Since my illness I’ve missed more than I’ve been able to attend.
At first, I was a little down cast.
I love going to church.
Fellowship with other believers.
Worshipping my Lord and Savior through beautiful music.
Being fed from the Word of God.
I took my sad, before the Lord.
Even in this, I have a purpose.
-sigh-
Quiet, with closed eyes, listening…
… letting go.
“Lord, I trust You. What would You have me do this morning?”
And it was a lovely morning.
Time in prayer and writing led to time listening to one of my favorite preachers.
One of the moments which really helped me occurred right after I surrendered my day to Jesus.
A family member, who knew I’d been struggling, had texted asking how I was doing.
I had to be honest and say I was getting weary of feeling poorly, but that I knew God was working.
The response melted my heart.
“It’s ok to be weary. When we are weak His strength shines through. I’m looking forward to hearing how the Lord uses your family to minister to others because of all this.”
Most days, I don’t think, “Wow God, how are You going to use all this to bless others?!”
But that text reminded me that God’s ways are far beyond anything I can see.
I simply couldn’t express how their text had blessed me.
As I listened to a wonderful teaching, God used a friend to bless my heart.
One of the thoughts the enemy tries to discourage me with is: “How are you serving God when you can’t leave the house?”
I know it’s from the enemy and I reject it.
Over and over.
Which means, that somewhere inside my heart, I’m still working on releasing my ideals of serving God.
So, the Lord showed me a new way to look at things.
My friend texted and asked for prayer.
She was going to be doing some ministry. Normally, she is a part of a team, but something happened to leave her on her own.
“Would I pray while she ministered?”
“Absolutely!”
Before the ministry time came, she texted me that another lady had cancelled her engagement so she wouldn’t be alone.
I was thrilled.
And I joined their team in prayer.
Much later she reported how God had touched women and what a blessing it had been.
I was certain my reply couldn’t bring my friend the full understanding of how encouraged I was to be able to join them in ministry.
My heart was so full!
But God wasn’t finished.
When my son brought in the mail today, he handed me an envelope.
“Mom, you got a letter!”
I was surprised to see it wasn’t from any of my normal letter writing friends.
It was a beautiful card, which alone brightened my day.
(The picture is of this card.)
What was written inside did far more.
It spoke of God’s amazing ways.
How He has used circumstances to bless, encourage, and deepen the walk of my friend who had sent me the card.
Her words were filled with beauty and touched me in such an unexpected way.
She had sent to let me know how my blogs have given her blessing.
I didn’t even know she was a regular reader.
It came as a complete surprise to read what God is doing in her life.
And I wondered.
“How do I tell these three people how You have used them to touch me, Lord?”
Why not write a blog.
Smiling, eyes closed.
“Perfect.”
Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for Your incredible ways. Thank You for showing me, again, just how wonderful and faithful You truly are. Thank You for reminding me that I can’t truly see how You are working, I just need to rest in Your love and joyfully do the task at hand. Thank You for these three people and so many more. Thank You for my wonderful husband and children, and family who support and love me so much. Thank You for friends who feel like family, who pray and support all of us. Lord, I humbly ask that You use all of this for Your glory. That more may find peace through You, Jesus.
Psalm 34:8 NKJV — Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
God is good.
His goodness is seen throughout the whole Earth.
It doesn’t take long to find, if one’s heart is open to understanding.
Who feeds the birds?
Who is there when the deer gives birth?
Who provides the sea creatures their food?
From the greatest beasts to the smallest insects we can see God’s goodness.
But it doesn’t take long to notice the opposite as well.
A short viewing of the World news and evil is evident.
Infact, very young children will harm others without the slightest hint of remorse.
Therefore we must diligently seek God’s goodness and keep our eyes lifted to His character.
Our lives can be filled with God’s goodness, but it takes training, correction, and discipline to learn how to walk in God’s standards. It’s an effort to do good, because evil comes naturally due to our sinful nature.
3 John 1:11 NKJV — Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
Keeping ourselves focused upon His goodness, helps us to self evaluate.
God’s goodness is so abundant and incredible, we can take it for granted.
Did I eat today?
Praise God! It was through His provision I did.
Have I slept?
Praise God, for true rest comes from God.
Is the sun shining? Is the rain watering the ground?
Praise God! His creation is incredible!
Am I breathing?
Indeed, yes!
Praise the Lord! Every breath is a gift from our Wonderful Lord.
But it’s even more than that.
God has such incredible love, that He is my daily Guide and Mentor.
God speaks to me.
He listens to me.
He provides for things I don’t understand.
His hands are always ready to hold me up, especially when I have nothing.
He’s kind, compassionate, caring, and strong.
His goodness is where I find rest from striving, freedom from worry.
God truly is good.
1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV — Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
I didn’t know why God was calling us to move there.
I didn’t know why He called us to be there so short a time.
I didn’t know why we were called back to Oregon.
Yet, I know our one year in Manchester changed us permanently.
It was God’s tool to grow us, hone us, draw us closer to Him, and closer to each other.
It amazes me how God does things, especially when I’m resting fully in His arms.
As we were driving to the airport last week for my husband’s flight it came to light that his connecting flight was at an airport he habitually gets sick upon touch down.
His comment: “Honey, I get so sick every time I fly in and out of that airport. Please don’t ever schedule my flights to connect there again. The best way to go is into Amsterdam and then into Manchester. Next time, schedule it that way. That’s my favorite flight.”
I responded that I’d be praying for him not to get sick this time.
Then I prayed for him and all his fly time.
Much later I dropped him at the airport.
Due to circumstances he asked that I leave him at the curb, so when he got in touch with me later to relate that his flight was delayed 6 hours my first emotion was concern.
He reassured me quickly.
“Honey, they’re putting me on another flight, Amsterdam to Manchester. ”
–ahhh–
My response: “I guess God is just blessing you.”
His smile audible, “I thought the same thing.”
No, I don’t think God caused the delay.
Yes, I do think He used it.
“Dear God,
Thank You for all the things You have done in our lives and family. Thank You for teaching me how faithful You are.You have never left us. You have never forsaken us. You have given us so much: mercy, truth, faith, kindness, grace, love,…the list has no end. Thank You!”
patientlyhopeful 