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I have returned...
I have returned...
10 lepers were cleansed of their leprosy by the healing touch of the Lord Jesus Christ. If memory serves, only two returned to personally thank the Lord for His touch. I want to be one of those two.
As some here may know, this has been THE most difficult year of my life. I won't go into detail, but, well, life has sure taken a turn over the past year. And, things continue to change. Some things are good, and I thank God for all He has done in my life this year. Some things, well... not so good. But, I hold to the promise that "All things work for the good...". While life over the past few months has been an emotional (and physical) roller coaster, I just want to stop amongst all the negative threads, the personal conflicts, the doctrinal (and political) squabblings, and just say I thank the Lord He has sustained me thus far. It is the Lord who has helped me to stay focused on life, such as it is. I have found myself in a situation I have never been in before... never thought I'd ever be in this position before. But I am, and if I thought for one minute I was alone, I don't think I could handle it. I know I couldn't.
But I am not alone. I have a promise of the Lord's abiding Presence. No.... scratch that. Its not a Promise... I HAVE His abiding Presence. He has made His Presence very real many times... most often in the form of a word from someone here on AFF. A word they may not have thought a lot about, maybe a word that, to them, didn't mean alot. But, because it was "a word spoken in due season" it was a Word from the Lord to me.
I look back over this year and I am well aware of the problems and crisis' in peoples life's, and I compare those to mine, and I feel ashamed at times. ( Kind of like, "I complained that I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet".) While my situation has been rough, I can't imagine what our sister went thru when she lost her children (temporarily, as it turns out, thank the Lord). The brother who lost his dad at the same time my crisis was unfolding. Sickness. death, problems of all sorts. But the same God who has stood with me (even though, I'll be the first to admit, I am far from deserving), stands with them. No, He doesn't always make the problems go away, but He does give us the grace to endure. And for that I am thankful.
Endure. What a word. Kind of an ugly word. But, at the same time, a word of hope. I can make it. I am going thru. For 40 years the children of Israel endured the wilderness. There was a reason. 3 Hebrew children endured a red-hot furnace. There was a reason. Jesus endured the cross for a reason. And, we endure for a reason. Why? Why do we have to endure hardships? If I could come up with a good answer, I'd rank right up there with Einstein. I don't have a good answer. Except to say this: We suffer because He who knew no sin suffered. And we can endure because He did.
So... this morning, while I prepare to "endure" another day of work, I just wanted to return to say "Thank you, Lord, for all your blessing on me". I don't know what today holds, nor do I know what tomorrow holds. But I do know Who holds today. And I know Who holds tomorrow. And with that little bit of knowledge, I will endure.
And. BTW, Pennycostul, thank you for the window of opportunity to testify of God's goodness He has shown to me.
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"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...." -Psa. 37:7
Waiting for the Lord is easy... Waiting patiently? Not so much.
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