Thankful in the Storm

I have not written any posts these last couple of weeks, not because I haven’t had anything to say, or because I haven’t had time. The fact is I have had a lot of opinions I would have liked to express, and one of the repercussions of COVID-19 is that I have lots of free time on my hands as it brought to an abrupt end a very busy period in ministry.  However, just because I have something to say doesn’t mean I should say it.  I have found there have been a lot of misinformation and falsehoods being disseminated through not only social media, but also mainstream media.  It is an irresponsible practice to publish all that comes our way, even those that may look godly as they may not be of God.  So, during this period let us pray for discernment and take the time to wait on God to know what to say, when to say it, how to say it and to whom to say it. In addition, another important question to ask ourselves is, “Why are we saying it?”  God is very much concerned about the motives of our heart. Therefore, let us make sure that the attitude of our heart is one that God would be pleased with.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I will get on with what God would have me say at this time.  Last week, I had a dream that I had my own house and there were a lot of people over moving around.  I stood on my front porch beside one of my guests and as we looked at an orange tree in my yard I complained that I could not get any oranges now as they were all green.  The person showed me a fruit that was almost ripe near the top of the tree, and then another that was fully ripe above that.  I had not looked up and I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have someone to point me in the right direction of the fruit that I longed for that were there ready to be picked.   Sometimes we miss the blessings that are in our midst, and we may need someone to direct our attention to the good work that the Lord is doing in our lives.  Our focus should not be on what we do not have, but rather we need to shift our perspective to see clearly that we are being blessed even in this chapter of uncertainty, which is sure to make the history books. God did not stop driving home this point to me. It was either that day or the next, I am not remembering which now, I was packing lunch bags to bring to my children since there is no gathering at church right now and I had the food for their snacks for church. Plus, I wanted to check in on them and give a couple families groceries, but I had no fruit to put in the lunch bags.  I decided I shouldn't worry about it as I couldn’t get any fruit at that time.  While packing the bags, the phone rang.  It was a neighbor who said the Lord had clearly told her to buy oranges for me while at the supermarket. I thanked her, explaining that I started rationing oranges just that day.  But, on hanging up the phone, I realized the oranges were not for me, instead God had supplied the fruit for my children’s lunch bags.  God had provided in my lack, and the next day when I brought groceries to one of the families in need, the grandmother gave me more than half a dozen oranges.  My Heavenly Father is not a God of lack, but of abundance and does the impossible by making a way when there seems to be no way.  Consequently, we can trust Him to take the wheel and navigate us safely as we journey down this challenging road that COVID-19 has put us on.  

The whole world is going through a major crisis, yet we now have the opportunity to step back and see God at work, making a wonderful message out of a mess.  If you are not seeing God’s goodness, then you may be too focused on the storm because His mighty deeds are right in front of you. There are treasures in darkness and riches in secret places for you at this time. (See Isaiah 45:3).   Even as I am writing this post, my internet has given out.  By all indications, it should be working.  As I go to my offline Bible to verify the verse I am writing, this pops up as the verse of the day - When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.  Psalm 94:19 NASB.   I do admit to having a bit of anxiety at the thought of losing internet since it is my primary connection to the world as I am at home like many people who are trying to be socially responsible, practicing social distancing by not going out to socialize in order to decrease the rapid spread of the coronavirus.  Yet, even in my anxious thoughts God has comforted me with the fact that I have electricity, so I can continue writing and not lose my train of thought.  I recognize I need to focus on what He is doing right now and what He is speaking to my heart.  So, losing internet at the moment is a good thing, because it offers another training ground for God to teach me to rely on Him and look to Him alone in moments of doubt, fear and anxiety. 

The internet is now back up, and the craziest thing is that WhatsApp was working, but I couldn’t get on to any other website or app on my phone or computer.  I got a call from a friend on on the app, so I spent most of the time writing this post or talking while the internet was down.  God cares about the littlest detail, therefore He even gave me activities to keep me occupied when I couldn’t get fully online.  We don’t want to miss that He is giving us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61: 3 NIV

With so much time being spent at home, it is a period to build broken families, to rest in Christ so He can restore our hearts, and to strengthen our relationship with Him.  God wants to fill us up with Himself, but in order to do this we can’t be full of ourselves.  We need to get rid of our hurts, fears, anger, pride, unforgiveness, and all that would block us from being filled up and running over with His Spirit and love. 

Let us take this time to reflect on the goodness of God, in spite of all that is going on around us and to give Him thanks in this storm, while not taking our eyes off Him and His amazing deeds.  I pray that if you cannot find the blessings by yourself, that God will send persons to you to help you see your blessings, so you can do as the song says and count your blessings to see what the Lord has done. As a result, you will definitely want to give Him thanks in this storm.

Is My Tomorrow Here Today?

They have told me to hold on

But, I don’t know what to hold on to

Or, why to keep on holding on

So many bridges have been crossed

And, too many bridges have been burnt

A number of sunsets have gone by

While my anger burns in the darkness

Who says this is not how it is supposed to be?

It becomes cliché

The sun will come out tomorrow

But, tomorrow never comes

And, the silver lining on the cloud looks gray

As droplets of rain make a gloomy day

No singing for me

The drops falling on my head roll down my face

Streaming into my tears

My weeping endures for the night

Will my joy come in the morning?

Who will turn my mourning into dancing?

As I lift up my eyes, I wonder

Where will my help come from?

There in the clouds I see a rainbow

Is my tomorrow here today?

By Love's Merciful Grace

How God Sees Us

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
   there is no flaw in you." Solomon 4:7

Many of us do not understand how much God loves us, how He thinks of us and how He sees us. Since we don’t see ourselves from God’s perspective, we can easily be lied to and manipulated by the enemy. We are robbed of our joy - the joy which we need to give to those around us who have no joy.  When our joy is taken from us, our strength also goes.  

God created each of us for a specific purpose that only we can do. He has brought us through paths that we did not want to go through, but we needed to go through to see His glory and to share His glory with others.  They were never meant to rob us of our joy. Our trials can become triumphant, if we have God guide us through them. Troubles are not without reason, they are intended to bring us to a new level in Christ.  We should not define ourselves by our troubles, but we should learn from them to redirect our thinking on the truths of God.  Then, we will be able to recognize the lies of the enemy and come into an understanding of how much God loves each of us. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  He loves us even when we don't love ourselves.

The love of God builds us and gives us joy.  We need to be careful that we are not ministering to people with our feelings of being lost and lonely.  Sometimes we help people out of our need to feel better about ourselves in order to have temporary happiness. It is our pride and our wanting to boost our self-worth that serve as an impetus for us to go out to serve those in need. Right action, but wrong motive.   

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 2 Thessalonians 1:11

The difficult situations in our lives aids us in identifying with hurting people as we can empathize with them.  However, sometimes we are helping out of our own personal hurt, instead of our healing and our faith. We may look like we are spiritually strong because we can quote the right Bible verses, but we are actually weak because we don't live these scriptures.  Our strength is a façade to hide our weakness. 

There are many reasons we are weak - the negative words spoken over us; our need to be "someone" in our own eyes and the eyes of others; our good deeds that are not in God's will; our unforgiveness of ourselves and others; and our lack of eternal joy as we seek out temporary happiness.  We lack faith as we block the work of the Holy Spirit to empower us to fulfill the purposes of God.

We really need to know how loved and beautiful we are. We need to see ourselves from God's perspective. God sees us as worthy, not because of our works, but because of the work of His Son on the cross.  When we truly get this, then we can show others how much God loves them. They need to know.  God wants them to know and that will bring about a new level of healing and restoration in their lives. Then, they in turn will be able to go out and minister to others in a more powerful way.

But, first it begins with us. God must transform our minds and give us a new vision of ourselves and those around us.  We need to know the wonderful truths about us - How God sees us, so that He can use us to tell others how He sees them.  The truth is we are His joy and He delights in us, and He needs to be our joy and we need to delight in Him, that is the source of our strength.