"It Was Good for Me to be Afflicted"

 

"It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees.  The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold," (Psalm 119:71-72)  Really, Lord, it is good to be afflicted?  How does that work, Lord?  Perhaps you as a reader join me at times in the sentiments I just expressed.  Trials and challenges are never pleasant.

So how can afflictions ever be good?  I think the Scripture passage begins to give us an answer to that question.  Afflictions makes God's Word more precious to us.  In times of challenge we run to God's Word for comfort and direction, and His Word becomes more precious to us than gold or anything else in this life in the process.  If one clings to the Lord in times like these, one's faith and relationship with Him aso becomes so much sweeter.  It is also a time when we begin to learn sweet surrender to the Lord's perfect timing and will.  This in turn leads to His peace.

How do I know this?  I know this because I have experienced this myself in my life in many ways.  I begin to experience this when my first husband developed a neurological disease which grandually made him more and more physically disabled until finally he became totally dependent on me and a wheel chair and lift.  I experienced it when I also developed breast cancer during that same time period and endured eight months of treatment.  I experienced it when my first husband died after four and a half years of decline, and I became a widow.  God's promises in His Word and His presence in my life were so very precious during those years of caring for my husband, and they still are in the years since.

I am also experiencing all these blessings, now as I face more pronounced ongoing back issues.  It is further something I am experiencing now as my second husband has been diagnosed with a different kind of neurological disease.  Does this mean that I always feel joyful all the time about the circumstances?  No, sometimes it is a struggle and a cause for sadness.  Becoming a  family caregiver a second time never was something I wanted to do.  

Yet thesse struggles have once again laid on my heart the need for sweet surrender to the Lord and the need to NOT try to "fix" things" in my own way and on my own terms.  It has impressed on me the need to surrender to the Lord and to trust His way and timing.  I fall so far short in this surrender to the Lord, but God is working on me.

I think afflictions and trials can also make us more thankful for all the wonderful gifts we have in our life like sunrises and sunsets, the changing of the seasons, and a host of other things.  It further opens our eyes to how God is using our difficult circumstances to help others and encourge others and for them to encourage us.  I saw that in my experiences with my first husband, and I am seeing it now in my present situation.  Finally, lessons learned in times of affliction and wilderness tend to be remembered the best and the longest.  So yes, as difficult as it can be at times, it is good to be afflicted.

Pray, Wait, Trust

Pray, wait, trust.  Such are the words that I found on a small plaque that I purchased a few mouths back.  Then I found these same words on a gratitude journal I recently purchased.  These are three simple words.  They are simple words yet often difficult to live, or we make them difficult to live by not surrendering all our worries and problems to the Lord.

Pray, just talk to the Lord when afraid.  The Lord invites us to do so.  I Peter 5:7 says,  "Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you."  Yet we so often try all own resources first before turning to the Lord and before surrendering to Him.  The Lord does not want us running around fretting and trying to come up with human solutions.  God tells us instead to "not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanskgiving present your requests to God  And the peace of God which transcends all understanidng will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 4:6-7)  Barb Roose says this in her book, Surrendered, "When Fear tempts me to flee, fix, or force my way, I will choose to stop and pray."

Sometimes when we pray God does not give us exactly what we want.  He is much wiser than us.  So sometimes He may say, "No." to our prayers.  He also may say, "Wait."  If there is something of value for us to to learn by not answering our prayers immediately, God will make us wait.  This can be a difficult but valuable time of learning to depend on the Lord and grow spiritually.  "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put put my hope."  (Psalm130:5)

Pray, wait, and the third word is trust. The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament says this, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  (Priverbs 3:5-6)  Trusting in God's leading and following His leading will bring joy and blessing in our lives.  Life may have may obtacles and trials, but leaning on the Lord for direction and strength is always the way to blessing and a life of purpose. Psalm 29:7 says, "The Lord is my stregth and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him with song."

PRAY.  WAIT.  TRUST.

Do Not Fear

Being a caregiver for my first husband, Wayne, waltching him decline in health over a four and a half year period, losing him to death in the end, and my own battle against breast cancer during that time were difficult trials in my past life.  Current very difficult trials are also a challenge.  Knowing I can trust that God loved and loves me and was and is in control in the midst of the confusion and grief of it all made and continues to make all the difference in the world.

God is sovereign and in control. Nothing happens to a Christian or his or her loved ones that is not filtered through His love. This is true even in the most difficult and heartbreaking events of life. This is a difficult truth to accept. When this truth is accepted, however, it a soft place to land when one is overwhelmed with life’s difficulties.

God is good. Circumstances may be bad, but God is good. God is the very definition and essence of goodness. He proved that by sending His son on the cross. He can help Christians who are struggling to keep emotional and spiritual equilibrium in the midst of the heartaches of life.   He can also slowly emotionally heal Christians, when life has handed them the unthinkable.

Joy can coexist in the midst of the deep heartaches and grief of life. This is because joy is not based on circumstances which are favorable or perfect  Sometimes life's trials involve a process that takes much time and deep crying out to the Lord and depending on Him.   At times there is a scar that never goes completely away. Yet, the Lord's faithfulness will be with us all the way, and the joy of the Lord will  always return. Do not live in fear of the future, dear Christian. Never forget that the Lord loves you, and He is good. He is in control.

Unexpected Storms

About five years ago our area was inundated with an unexpected storm.  Television reports and the blowing of the sirens alerted us to it's imminent arrival.  Yet the intensity of the winds and the torrential downpour of rain left me in awe.  I should have been in the basement, as the weather reporters advised.  Yet then I would have missed seeing the power of this storm.

As it turns out this storm uprooted some big old trees and broke off many, many big branches in our village. (I posted one picture of an uprooted tree by the village park below.)   It caused many people to lose electrical power-some for thirty-six hours or more.  I never lost power, but I lost internet and phone service for awhile.  Evidence of the storm were still evident on my village streets a few days later, although some towns and counties around us fared worse because of the storm.

Life is filled with other kinds of storms as well.  I remember the storm of caring for my first husband and watching as his body became more and more disabled over a period of about four and a half years.  The care-giving storm is a difficult storm.  I remember the storm of grief after losing my husband and becoming a widow.  I remember the storm of all the secondary losses as well, and of having to build an entirely new life.

I also remember other storms since those days and I am currently facing storms in my current life.  Sometimes the storms have been very intense and painful emotionally and physically.  Sometimes they have been minor storms which can collectively wear on an individual.  Storms of one degree of intensity or another continue to seem to come.

 Nancy Guthrie from her book, The One Year Book of HOPE., said this in one of her devotions, "Perhaps you find yourself watching the storm clouds gather in the distance, or maybe you are swirling in the center of a storm.  Or perhaps the storm has come and gone and you are picking up the pieces of your life.  God often speaks to us through the storms of our lives.---if we listen, in the midst of the most violent storm we can detect the still, small voice of God, calling us to greater faith in Him."

Often it takes a storm for us to see our need for the Lord and to cry out to Him.  It is often in the storms that our complacency is replaced with a sense of His presence. We then hear His still small voice.  We recognize that He is with us in the storm.  Having the Lord with us in the storm makes all the difference, no matter how tumultuous the storm.

When I was watching that storm of a few years ago from my living room window I felt remarkably calm in the moment.  I was relatively safe in the "ark" of my home.  Imagine how Noah in the Old Testament of the Bible felt when he was in that ark in the great flood, however.  Imagine how fearful the disciples in the New Testament felt when they were in their boat in very stormy weather.  Yet the Lord Jesus is our ark of safety in all the kinds of storms that God allows in our lives.  We may not like the storms, but He is always our place of safety.

Sometimes it is easy to tire of the storms that keep coming and to dread the next one which perhaps can not yet be seen on the horizon.  It is easy to also imagine storms that never will occur.  That only uses up emotional energy unnecessarily.  Instead of looking at the waves in current storms, reliving regrets about past storms, or imagining future storms; the Lord wants us to look to Him.  He wants us to focus on Him and embrace Him, and when storms do come he wants us to step out faith.  He wants us to trust His sustaining power and love.

The only way we can prepare for unexpected storms in our lives is by living close to the Lord and by immersing God's Word into our lives.  We need to obediently build our lives on the foundation of obedience to God's Word and on His precious promises to always be with us.  Yes, we will falter and become afraid at times, but the Lord and the promises of His Word will see us through.

Never Separated From His Love

Sometimes the future can seem so uncertain and fearful. As children of God, however, we have victory in Christ Jesus, our Lord! We need to fear nothing, for the Lord is on our side! Nothing can separate us from the love of God! What an awesome thought, and what an awesome promise! In light of all this there can be overflowing joy in our hearts!

We are secure in Christ for time and for eternity. Sometimes we may feel as if everything is against us, but the Word of God teaches us that the great God of the universe is always for us and is always with us! (Romans 8:31-32) God proved His love for us by sending His only Son to die for our sins. Surely we can trust Him to provide us with everything we need for time and eternity. In the uncertainties of life Christians can rest in the Lord. They have the Lord God on their side, and they are victors in Him!

Nothing will happen to us that is not in God's plan for our lives, so we need not fear.  In fact, Christ is always interceding for His children before God the Father! He is interceding for you also, dear Christian! He knows your heartaches, your challenges, and your fears; and He is praying for you! What a blessed promise!

In light of all this, what set of circumstances can ever separate you from the love of Christ, dear, Christian? (Romans 8:35a) The answer is that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ! No matter what hardship, trials or heartaches you or I may be experiencing in our lives at the moment; we are never separated from the love of Christ.

In fact, trials in our lives are part of God's plan and purpose for our lives to mold us to become more like Jesus in our character and attitudes. We are not separated from God’s love by the heartaches of life. Rather, the Lord is with us in a special way guiding and comforting us.

What is more Romans 8:37 teaches us that we are more than a conqueror! One becomes a conqueror through the trials of life by patiently enduring these trials and by being submissive to the Lord's will. One becomes more than a conqueror by using these experiences to grow in our love and service for the Lord.

God always see us through difficult times and brings us to ultimate victory. Victory is always assured for the Christian-if not in this life, then in eternity.  There will be ultimate victory for you too, dear Christian.  At times you may feel as if your life has been shattered in a million pieces, but God will bring ultimate victory and peace for you.

Absolutely nothing will ever separate us from the love of God and the victory we have in the Lord Jesus Christ! (Romans 8:38-39) Praise the name of the Lord for our victory in Him!

(There will not be a new blog post next week. Use this time to reread some of my older posts. https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/

The Tapestry of our Lives

Romans 8:28 in the Bible promises us that in both the pleasant circumstances and in the tragic circumstances of life, God is working for our good.  It is a blessed promise.  We can rest in that promise and trust in it when the world around us seems to be falling apart, but it is also a promise with which we may at times struggle.

I remember first struggling with the promise of Romans 8:28 when my dad was suffering the excruciating pain of cancer and radiation. I wondered how "all things" could possibly be working for good in this case?  It is also something I pondered when my first husband was diagnosed with a devastating neurological disease. It was something I thought about when I was struggling with the challenges of care-giving, and I saw the effects my husband’s disease was having on his body. It was something I was confused about when my husband passed away four and a half years later.  It is still something I wonder about as I go through some very difficult trials in my present life.

The key to understanding this verse is to realize that not all things are good in themselves. Sin has wracked havoc with our world, and there are many experiences in this world that are not good or pleasant in themselves. God, however, works both the "good" and the "bad" events of our lives together for our ultimate good.  We also must remember that even though God is sovereign and the victor through Jesus's death and resurrection, the final victory when all creation will be made perfect and whole again has not yet occurred.

It has been said that life is like a tapestry. When you look at the backside of a tapestry it does not look beautiful. There are knotted-off ends and threads that seem to have no meaning or beauty. When one turns the tapestry over, however, one sees a beautiful picture or design.

Dear reader, when you see the difficulties and heartaches of your life, you are seeing only the backside of the tapestry of life. God, however, is bringing all the threads or events of our lives together-both the good and bad, into a beautiful tapestry. The Lord already sees the top part of our tapestry of life. The Lord already sees the beautiful end result of what He is accomplishing in our lives. When we do not understand the reason for the difficult circumstances in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones, we must simply trust that the Lord is working out all things in our lives for His glory and to accomplish His plan. He is also working out all things for our ultimate spiritual good.

The ultimate spiritual good that the Lord God is seeking to accomplish in our lives is that we might become more like Jesus in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions (Romans 8:29). In order for this to happen, there must be a conforming process taking place in our lives. This conforming process often can only occur during times of trial and difficulty in our lives. Gelatin is only able to be conformed or shaped to the mold into which it is placed after it has been dissolved in hot water. So we often have to go through the heat of trials and difficulties to become more conformed to the likeness of Jesus. 

God has the pattern for our lives all figured out. He knows and understands the beautiful tapestry that He is weaving for our lives. He knows the beginning from the end. We must trust the Lord to do His beautiful work in our lives, even in times when life's events and circumstances seem very difficult and overwhelming!

If you missed last week's blog post, "His Grace will Lead Us Through"  you can read it bt clicking on the following link:   https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2023/09/his-grace-will-lead-us-through.html

His Grace Will Lead us Through

 

I have been going through some issues and trials lately that makes me realize that I need to depend on God's grace and strength alone.  He alone is sufficient.  Through a book I'm reading and in other formats I have been reminded that I need to depend on the Lord to work His plan whatever it may be.  I need to surrender to Him; and I need to let go of  all my fears, anxieties, and my tendency to try to fix things and control things.  That only wears one down to a frazzle.  I further need to put my arms up with open hands each day and surrender to Him anew each day.  He alone can fill me with His living waters of comfort, satisfaction, strength, and joy.  His grace alone can carry me through this life with all it's trials and challenges.

Below is the words to a song we are practicing in our church choir.  I think it says it all.  

"Though the trials come, though the road seems long, it is in the valley His arms are strong.  When we lean on Jesus in all that we do, His grace will lead us through!  His grace is sufficient; He's merciful and true. Till all have heard, we will stand on His Word!  His grace will lead us through,  God's grace will lead us through.

Come with grateful hearts to the throne of grace and see our Savior face to face!  Our help through the ages; our hope to come; His grace will lead us through.  His grace is sufficient; He's merciful and true.  Till all have heard, we will stand on His Word!  His grace will lead us through.

O-grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; O grace, grace, infinite grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.   Till all have heard, we will stand on His Word!  His grace will lead us through, God's grace will lead us through,  God's grace!"  (words and music by Mary McDonald)

You can hear the the song above by clicking on the following link.  On this link it is sung by a group of young people (not our church choir).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11gxFTlKWw0