There are only a few days left of 2008. These past 16 months have been ones of death, sorrow and grieving for our family. It began with Bud (my father-in-law) being admitted to the hospital shortly before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. He suffered immensely and then died on November 7th, 2007. As you know I was diagnosed with breast cancer and given a death sentence by a doctor if I chose to refuse chemo and radiation. I am sure my oncologist is baffled as to why I am still alive and in remission since I fought cancer with my faith and a healthy lifestyle change. In April my mother died after a heroic and long fought battle with infections resulting from abdominal surgery. That same month our beloved dog Sukie was attacked by a pit bull. Sewell and I tried to save her from being killed and Sewell was severely bitten on his arm and leg, requiring stitches. The wounds became infected and took 3 months to heal. I also lost a coaching job that I dearly loved and Cori did not finish her senior year throwing for our track team. This fall Sewell was transferred to a new school and I was moved to primarily being a Junior High teacher in order to teach 4 classes of girls 7th and 8th grade Bible, which were new subjects for me. At the same time 2 of my best friends and supporters through my cancer battle left our school. I am still grieving. The year ended with yet another death as I had to have our 14 year old cat put to sleep. Needless to say, we have kept the Kleenex company in business this year.
When I look back I know this has been the hardest time of our lives and yet it has been the one where we have grown the most. We have had to cling to God each and every moment for His guidance, strength and wisdom. I did not possess the human strength to walk through cancer. God had to give it to me as I sat in silence before Him each morning and as I clung to the promises in his word.
When our children were little I used to sing a song to them when I rocked them to sleep at night. One of the stanzas said, "Lord, I am willing, do what you must do, to make me like you Lord, make me like you." In my own life I have been made most like Christ when I have gone through tremendous suffering. Suffering has a way of stripping away the non-essentials of life. As I look forward to 2009 I would like it to be one without so much pain and yet my goal is to submit to God's will. Ravi Zacharias writes about submitting to God's will in his book The Grand Weaver. He says, "So where does it begin? With self-crucifixion. In effect, we go to our own funeral and bury the self-will so that God's will can reign supremely in our hearts. Our will has no power to do God's will until it first dies to its own desires and the Holy Spirit brings a fresh power within us."
My goal for 2009 is death of my will so Christ can live abundantly in and through me. This is the only type of death that we can rejoice about. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Paul suffered immensely. The daily "crucifixions" he endured enabled Christ to powerfully live in him.
I hope your New Years Resolutions go deeper than losing weight or changing some bad habits. I pray they will be about dying to self and living to Christ. My hope is that you will embrace God's will for your life no matter how hard and painful it might be. It is only when all of your self has died can all of Him live in and through you to touch the world around you. God is not ultimately concerned about your happiness but your holiness. May this be a year of complete and total surrender to the work and will of God in your life.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Learning to Trust The Master
I read this devotional by Max Lucado this morning during my quiet time. It is titled, "Learning to Trust The Master". I hope you enjoy it.
A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it's only a car wash.
Never occurred to him--ahem, to me--that the car wash would scare my dog. But it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with brushes. Duck! We're under attack.
"Don't panic. The car wash was my idea." "I've done this before." "It's for our own good." Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She just did what dogs do; she wailed.
Actually, she did what we do. Don't we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what's happening, we react as if he's speaking Yalunka. We don't understand a word he says.
Is your world wet and wild?
God's greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary.
Jerusalem's collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.
Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies. Label it the dog-in-the-passenger-seat view.
The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in--especially in--death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion.
Can't he do the same for you? Can't he turn your Friday into a Sunday?
Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.
He's smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children's book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, "To Amy ..."
She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, "How did you know how to spell my name?"
She was awed. You aren't. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling "Amy" to him. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9).
I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She's howling less. I don't think she understands the machinery. She's just learning to trust her master. Maybe we'll learn the same.
No matter what troubles were held in yesterday's grip, how heavy the load is today or how bleak the future looks, remind yourself that God can turn your Friday into a Sunday. Your greatest blessing may come costumed as a disaster. Keep your Vertical Vision. If your eyes are focused on the giant, you will stumble. If your eyes are focused on God, your giant will tumble.
A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it's only a car wash.
Never occurred to him--ahem, to me--that the car wash would scare my dog. But it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with brushes. Duck! We're under attack.
"Don't panic. The car wash was my idea." "I've done this before." "It's for our own good." Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She just did what dogs do; she wailed.
Actually, she did what we do. Don't we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what's happening, we react as if he's speaking Yalunka. We don't understand a word he says.
Is your world wet and wild?
God's greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary.
Jerusalem's collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.
Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies. Label it the dog-in-the-passenger-seat view.
The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in--especially in--death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion.
Can't he do the same for you? Can't he turn your Friday into a Sunday?
Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.
He's smarter than we are. He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children's book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, "To Amy ..."
She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, "How did you know how to spell my name?"
She was awed. You aren't. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling "Amy" to him. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9).
I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She's howling less. I don't think she understands the machinery. She's just learning to trust her master. Maybe we'll learn the same.
No matter what troubles were held in yesterday's grip, how heavy the load is today or how bleak the future looks, remind yourself that God can turn your Friday into a Sunday. Your greatest blessing may come costumed as a disaster. Keep your Vertical Vision. If your eyes are focused on the giant, you will stumble. If your eyes are focused on God, your giant will tumble.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Roots of Character
Today in my devotions I read this, "Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer for the roots of character. The great objective of this life is character, for it is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. And gaining as much of the highest character possible is the purpose of our trials." Austin Phelps
My hobby of gardening has been pushed aside this past year. Because I have not been able to be out there to tend to my flowers I noticed they are struggling. They are in need of some water, fertilizer and attention from the only gardener in the family-ME. I have neglected my garden because I have been under the care of the Master Gardener this past year. He has been pruning things out of my life that do not bring Him glory or reflect his image. He has been fertilizing me with pain and suffering so that I can show His beauty through my life. He has showered affliction upon me so my roots will grow deeper into His word.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 17:7, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him, He will be like a tree planted by the water that send out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
I pray you will trust God no matter how much heat and drought comes your way. Put your confidence in God, not your circumstances. Don't worry about your future, God isn't. Bear fruit each and every day. Let God use all your trials to build character into your life. Drink deeply of His word. Let His life sustain yours. The Master Gardener is at work.
My hobby of gardening has been pushed aside this past year. Because I have not been able to be out there to tend to my flowers I noticed they are struggling. They are in need of some water, fertilizer and attention from the only gardener in the family-ME. I have neglected my garden because I have been under the care of the Master Gardener this past year. He has been pruning things out of my life that do not bring Him glory or reflect his image. He has been fertilizing me with pain and suffering so that I can show His beauty through my life. He has showered affliction upon me so my roots will grow deeper into His word.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 17:7, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him, He will be like a tree planted by the water that send out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
I pray you will trust God no matter how much heat and drought comes your way. Put your confidence in God, not your circumstances. Don't worry about your future, God isn't. Bear fruit each and every day. Let God use all your trials to build character into your life. Drink deeply of His word. Let His life sustain yours. The Master Gardener is at work.
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