I was just reminded, as I was logging on, that something that devastated my heart, literally ripping it to shreds, sending pieces into the stratosphere, got me writing again. The reason that outcome seems so miraculous to me is that, for whatever divine reason our loving heavenly Father ordained, writing is the one thing I feel I may have a passing talent for. I had neglected my writing for so many years, because as some of you know, it's easy to run from your calling. There is a whole world of distraction waiting for each of us. Satan absolutely hates for a believer to understand and function, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in his or her calling, following closely in the footsteps of Christ through God's plan for his or her life. Why? Because then we are dangerous to his destructive purposes. We are always feeling full, built-up and strong, and we turn and offer a hand-up to the person behind us. What follows is victory upon victory for the Kingdom of God. So, if he cannot outright intimidate us by placing obstacles and competition in our paths, run us ragged through rejection and defeat, or sideline us with condemnation and guilt, he will offer shiny baubles of distraction designed to keep us from focusing on what God wants us to do. So my miscarriage of last January, a portal of pain I at first felt I would not survive, has served a very, very healing, redemptive purpose in my life. I cannot believe I just wrote that. It goes to show that, indeed, "...we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28, NLT)
I was really struggling the other day with the more mundane aspects of my existence. I was just plain bored with my duties! I pulled into the middle school carline, turned on the radio and there was Steven Curtis Chapman with a song about doing everything, whether caring for babies or flipping burgers, to the glory of God. "Thank you, Lord," I prayed. When you begin to close the gap between yourself and Jesus through conscious awareness of His presence, you begin to realize that a lot of the things you throught were coincidence, or perhaps wouldn't even have noticed before, are actually markers of God's grace in your life and His hand on your path.
Now to the part of this post I could hardly wait to tell you. I struggled against the world, the flesh and the devil all week. I have habits I want to break, and I have new habits I am fairly desperate to adopt. Mostly I just want to draw near to Jesus and empty myself to Him. Just empty me, and take His hand and love on Him. I want knowing Him to be my one chief aim in life. So, I take my depression-prone self on down the winding road to Page Middle one afternoon. It was gray out, and I was under a load. I looked to my right and spotted some jet-black vultures in a ring, feasting on carrion. I shivered inwardly. They appear so vile to me, just sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen to another creature so they can capitalize on it. Just up ahead, at the small methodist church, there was symbolic sight if ever I have seen one. Several black vultures perched on the large cross that crowns the church. The symbol of my redemption rising high into the sky was starkly compromised by the image of those death-seekers weighing it down. It reminded me that the church of Jesus Christ, and that is me and you, believer, is always under spiritual attack. We must ever be at the ready. The good news is that Jesus Christ is not on that cross anymore. He is seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God and He is always interceding for me and for you. He has defeated our foe and all we must do is focus, not on the battle (except that we must keep our armor on), but on Him and all of the wonderful things He is always doing in our lives and in our behalf. The blood of Jesus means that though those demons may perch on my shoulders from time to time, their smelly feathers clouding my thinking, their talons pinching my dreams, they will never weigh me down. Best of all, they can be scattered at the mention of His Name. "And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony..." Rev. 12:11.
I was really struggling the other day with the more mundane aspects of my existence. I was just plain bored with my duties! I pulled into the middle school carline, turned on the radio and there was Steven Curtis Chapman with a song about doing everything, whether caring for babies or flipping burgers, to the glory of God. "Thank you, Lord," I prayed. When you begin to close the gap between yourself and Jesus through conscious awareness of His presence, you begin to realize that a lot of the things you throught were coincidence, or perhaps wouldn't even have noticed before, are actually markers of God's grace in your life and His hand on your path.
Now to the part of this post I could hardly wait to tell you. I struggled against the world, the flesh and the devil all week. I have habits I want to break, and I have new habits I am fairly desperate to adopt. Mostly I just want to draw near to Jesus and empty myself to Him. Just empty me, and take His hand and love on Him. I want knowing Him to be my one chief aim in life. So, I take my depression-prone self on down the winding road to Page Middle one afternoon. It was gray out, and I was under a load. I looked to my right and spotted some jet-black vultures in a ring, feasting on carrion. I shivered inwardly. They appear so vile to me, just sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen to another creature so they can capitalize on it. Just up ahead, at the small methodist church, there was symbolic sight if ever I have seen one. Several black vultures perched on the large cross that crowns the church. The symbol of my redemption rising high into the sky was starkly compromised by the image of those death-seekers weighing it down. It reminded me that the church of Jesus Christ, and that is me and you, believer, is always under spiritual attack. We must ever be at the ready. The good news is that Jesus Christ is not on that cross anymore. He is seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God and He is always interceding for me and for you. He has defeated our foe and all we must do is focus, not on the battle (except that we must keep our armor on), but on Him and all of the wonderful things He is always doing in our lives and in our behalf. The blood of Jesus means that though those demons may perch on my shoulders from time to time, their smelly feathers clouding my thinking, their talons pinching my dreams, they will never weigh me down. Best of all, they can be scattered at the mention of His Name. "And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony..." Rev. 12:11.
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