It’s been quite a year. Heartache and joy. We’ve (my sister Micki and I) made the decision to celebrate everything. Yes anguish, fear, pain, grief can paralyze and hold your soul captive but don’t get stuck there. If you look back at your life and see how many times God has answered the call, “Help, I need You!” you can use those experiences to press through whatever it is you are needing of Him now.
2 Timothy 1:6-7 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
I’ve learned that the little knee scrapes and goofs prepare you for the catastrophic events that knock you to your knees or the blindsided blow for the knock out.
Thanks to Beth Moore in her Bible Study Esther she goes through a scenario of If _____ Then God. Meaning there is nothing you can go through that God isn’t the answer. I have used this to get me through the darkest days. No matter what, I have God and I have seen Him provide and stabilize my entire life.
I’ve been spending time reading about Jesus, spending time reading in the book of Luke about His life here on earth. Over and over again we see how he changed lives. See, He came to change us not to leave us the same. Our times of mourning and tragedy can be used as times of change. Please don’t think I am calloused, I do hurt and mourn over the death of my sister or a move that has taken me thousands of miles away from my family and all that is familiar. Know this. Philippians 1:20:21 whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. “Then God”.
Everything is …. Then God. He is our refuge. Try Him. Oh believe me, it really has always been “A Matter of Trust”. How to trust Him to make things right, or to heal the hurt that weighs so heavy on our hearts, or put just the right person at the right time in my life to walk along the way?
As we walk into a season where the river has risen, all of the memories of Mary’s tragic death come flying to the surface. I have to choose Life or Death. I will choose life.
Psalm 71 is so beautiful, reading it guides us from the time we saw God in our need so we can lean on Him again through this time.
Verses 1-5
In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth.
Then God,
Susi