“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3,4
I heard a wise believer once say; “God is either using you now - or preparing to use you. Those are your only two conditions.” I think about that statement a lot.
In the last two months God has shaken me awake. Honestly, I had allowed my own selfish resentment to dull my mind and my awareness of just how brutally my family was being attacked by the enemy. Severe damage was being done...a little more each passing day... and I could not feel the pain. There were a few signs, but I was stubbornly refusing to pay attention for reasons that seem so insignificant now. It seemed like the battle had been lost. I was almost certain there was no way to recover.
I shudder now to think about what might have been if God had not intervened at the very moment things were slipping away. As the protector of the home, I had hardened my heart and let my guard down. My sense of “Christian Duty” was even being deceived and, while God used what I was intentionally doing for His glory outside the home, I came to learn that my REAL ministry was a complete failure. My family was a total, dismal, wreck.
GOD's GRACE IS REAL. There is NO other explanation for how your mother and I have rediscovered His purpose for our marriage. I am more in Love with the Master now then I have ever been in my whole life…and, by His mysterious Grace; I have been able to share this love with my wife. We have both grown so much closer.
So, why did this happen? Did it have to happen just so? I can’t really say. My vantage point is too pedestrian too see around the corner much less three blocks away. I do have much more confidence in the fact that God is with me. He goes ahead of me and prepares my way before I get there. I know He asks me to endure some very hard things…and I know He always empowers me to do them...just in time. Faith is a mystery.
I feel like my own emotional calluses have been worn completely away and my feelings are raw and often close to the surface. Doubts try to creep in every day to steal my joy and new-found confidence. Every time that happens I can see it as an opportunity to speak to the Father concerning my constant need for Him. I seem stronger and yet more dependent. It is a strange paradox.
The God we serve is SO much bigger than we can understand. He does not need us…but he LOVES to see us willing to be used for His purposes.
I can be sure this has happened for a reason…and so I should be looking for either how I am being used - or how I might be prepared to serve God in a new way.
I love you guys.
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3,4
I heard a wise believer once say; “God is either using you now - or preparing to use you. Those are your only two conditions.” I think about that statement a lot.
In the last two months God has shaken me awake. Honestly, I had allowed my own selfish resentment to dull my mind and my awareness of just how brutally my family was being attacked by the enemy. Severe damage was being done...a little more each passing day... and I could not feel the pain. There were a few signs, but I was stubbornly refusing to pay attention for reasons that seem so insignificant now. It seemed like the battle had been lost. I was almost certain there was no way to recover.
I shudder now to think about what might have been if God had not intervened at the very moment things were slipping away. As the protector of the home, I had hardened my heart and let my guard down. My sense of “Christian Duty” was even being deceived and, while God used what I was intentionally doing for His glory outside the home, I came to learn that my REAL ministry was a complete failure. My family was a total, dismal, wreck.
GOD's GRACE IS REAL. There is NO other explanation for how your mother and I have rediscovered His purpose for our marriage. I am more in Love with the Master now then I have ever been in my whole life…and, by His mysterious Grace; I have been able to share this love with my wife. We have both grown so much closer.
So, why did this happen? Did it have to happen just so? I can’t really say. My vantage point is too pedestrian too see around the corner much less three blocks away. I do have much more confidence in the fact that God is with me. He goes ahead of me and prepares my way before I get there. I know He asks me to endure some very hard things…and I know He always empowers me to do them...just in time. Faith is a mystery.
I feel like my own emotional calluses have been worn completely away and my feelings are raw and often close to the surface. Doubts try to creep in every day to steal my joy and new-found confidence. Every time that happens I can see it as an opportunity to speak to the Father concerning my constant need for Him. I seem stronger and yet more dependent. It is a strange paradox.
The God we serve is SO much bigger than we can understand. He does not need us…but he LOVES to see us willing to be used for His purposes.
I can be sure this has happened for a reason…and so I should be looking for either how I am being used - or how I might be prepared to serve God in a new way.
I love you guys.
Posts
Proverbs 25:4
ReplyDelete"Remove impurities from the silver
and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice"
Zechariah 13:9
"I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.' "
My prayer is that we will praise Him and say "The LORD is our God".