Every once in awhile we all need the chance to sit and listen; reflect and pray; meditate and wait on the Lord for answers, clarity, insight, and refreshment. I had just that this past weekend. I needed some time to be with My Lord and pray about so many different areas and "things" going on in my life and around me. I think when life gets too busy it can be easy to skip over some minor joys or sorrows and only give yourself time to focus on the immediate needs of that exact moment. Something I'm guilty of doing.
"I wait on the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5
I found myself wrestling with God about my sister Traci and the intense exhaustion she faces daily from the battle she has been fighting for 6 years. I believe that we are given trials and struggles in our lives to build our faith and allow us to grow deeper with God but...I hate to see a loved one suffer with continued pain and emotional loss. This was something I need to pray much about while sitting with God. I find intimacy with God through worship and caught myself a few times singing out loud around strangers as I tapped out the beat on my lounge chair. God meets me in worship and showed me healing through songs of hope and promise. I think of my sister in Selah's song Press On:
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all
In Jesus' name, we press on
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
But, I also think of my dear, sweet friend Sarah and her family as 2013 has brought miracles beyond any medical comprehension and explanation. God literally rose sweet Nina from the dead as I grieved over the text 'pray for life' and REJOICE as Nina just celebrated her 4th birthday with a normal, healthy heart! PRAISE GOD! The Stewart's valley was deep with a mountain that appeared to be to high to climb. But, in Jesus name Nina and her family have pressed on.
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all
In Jesus' name, we press on
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
But, I also think of my dear, sweet friend Sarah and her family as 2013 has brought miracles beyond any medical comprehension and explanation. God literally rose sweet Nina from the dead as I grieved over the text 'pray for life' and REJOICE as Nina just celebrated her 4th birthday with a normal, healthy heart! PRAISE GOD! The Stewart's valley was deep with a mountain that appeared to be to high to climb. But, in Jesus name Nina and her family have pressed on.
{Nina at her 4th birthday party}
I think about a high school classmate who for years now has been striving to find a cure for her adorable, cheek-kissing son who was born with spinal muscular atrophy placing his handsome body in a wheelchair. Taysen has proven what courage in a storm lives like and Melodie has shown what support looks like as she has raised funds and ran for a cause so incredibly personal to her family. I'm truly inspired by the amount of life in this young child!
{Taysen age 7}
I think about the families in our church body who have adopted and are pressing into the very lives God brought into theirs, as they face challenge after challenge of health issues and experiences that no one, or child, should ever face alone. I pray for the wives I've met who are thrown at an emotional cliff filled with betrayal, deceit, agony, and trust that may seem never to be found again. I reflect back four years ago when I was placed at the foot of that mountain as what felt like my life being shattered into a million pieces.
But then, I watched; I waited. And God showed me perspective. The very water that brings life and sustains life is the very water that can destroy if we are not solidly rooted in our faith and foundation in the Bible.
The kids like to sing the song about the wise man who built his house on sand. We probably all sang it in Sunday school at one point but the story can be found in Luke 6:46-49 which says,
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and it's destruction was complete."
As I sat watching one after another massive, powerful wave plow against the lava rock shoreline it reminded me of life. Life is the ocean. I am the rocky shore line. I know that I can stand against whatever opposition life brings me because of my foundation in Christ and the promise in His Word. But, it is also the very crest of the wave that brings oxygen to those in the water. How I face a challenge may very well set an example and bring life to someone standing near as the waves come crashing in one after another. I never want to be the reason why life was never offered to those around me. And let's not forget about the pure beauty of when shear force meets solid ground. The bigger the splash the larger reaction of awe and wonder of God's amazing creation!
"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation."
Psalm 95:1
"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliver; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation...The waves of death swirled around me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me...The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!"
2 Samuel 22:3,5,47
Just as the waves gained speed and strength, so does life. The busier we get the bigger the wave until it reaches shore and can't contain itself as it collides against the very foundation we stand on. The only control we have is the stance we have when life comes with another test; the unforeseen far off in the distance. There is no predicting the height of the wave, the force of the wave, the capacity it may have to knock us on our feet.
I love the words to the old Hymn written back in 1834 by Edward Mote:
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.
When darkness seems to hide His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus' Name.
When darkness seems to hide His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
My prayer for my life is that my foundation stays rooted in the Truth of the Word so that when life surprises me with a ten foot swell, I can stand firm knowing that my faith will see my through. Until then, I stand FIRM in the TRUTH that has set me free and I wait knowing that whatever comes my way God is standing right beside me.
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