Tag: #God’sLove

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Out, On the Other Side

This is a continuation of He Means It! If you haven’t already, you can catch it here. All caught up? Let’s pick up where we left off . . .

As God works perseverance in me, He has been training me to share my feelings with Him rather than throw accusations at Him. So, whereas before I would say “how could you allow this to happen?” Or “have I not been faithful to You?” Other times I would repeat His own words to Him: “Have you said to seek You in vain?” (Isaiah 45:19)

Now my accusatory tone is gradually fading and giving way to a softer tone. So nowadays I say to Him: “It really hurts me to know that You can answer this prayer in a flash, but You choose not to.” Or, “I don’t understand why it has to play out this way, but I choose to trust that You are good and Your plans for me are good. I may not see it now, but perhaps one day I will understand.”  

And you know what? When I share my feelings with Him in this way, I feel the pain lift. I sense His presence and deep love for me. His peace comes over my mind. In that moment, I’m still in the valley but aware that He is with me, and I am protected.

Then the wait becomes bearable.

Two years ago I would hear Isaiah 43:1–2 and declare “no rivers or fires for me!” Ha! But today, I totally get that He means what He says. 

So, should you find yourself in a death-dark valley, or a river that’s threatening to sweep you over, or a blazing fire, you can trust that He is right there with you. Yes, you’ll see the darkness, flames or river. But, He is in it with You.

If you choose to go through it with the Lord as your confidant, He will use the storm to reveal to you the depths of His love for you. The situation will not break you. He will bring you out on the other side.

Stronger.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."
1 Peter 5:10 (NIV) 

Do you believe this? Comment “amen” if you do.

If you don’t already have a relationship with God –through Jesus– and you would like to know where to start let’s chat here.

 




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Here to Testify

The other day I was reminded of something that God did for me many years ago . . . But before I tell you what He did, let me give you some context.

There was a time in my life when I was in and out of the doctor’s over seemingly regular symptoms. The symptoms got worse in my thirties, and I eventually discovered I had an autoimmune disease. I didn’t think much of it because I figured I could manage it by avoiding certain foods. What I didn’t know is that the “thing” poisoning my body was found in almost every food, and extremely difficult to avoid. 

A few days after my 39th birthday, I got much sicker than usual, and drove to the emergency room at night. I told the doctors about the autoimmune condition but they didn’t know much about it. It’s one of those diseases that is generally uncommon here in Africa. I was given a one-month prescription to address the symptoms, and I began the treatment immediately. On the second day, I started to get worse. A bit of research led me to discover that the “thing” poisoning my body was an ingredient in the prescribed medicine. I made this discovery on a Saturday night. I was completely baffled about what to do!

The following day—Sunday—I woke up feeling worse than before I went to hospital. As I prayed that morning, I told God that this disease was going to kill me. Then I went on to tell Him that despite how I was feeling, I would drag myself to church expecting that He would turn the Sunday service into a healing service. 

I got to church and in the middle of the service, the Senior Pastor (who wasn’t leading the service that day) got up and said, ” I hear God say that today is a healing day. If you have an incurable disease, please stand up.” I still remember his exact words! At first I wasn’t sure I had heard the right thing so I stayed seated. He repeated it and this time I stood up. Two other people in the congregation also responded.

He told the people seating next to us to lay their hands on us. Adding that God would use their hands to heal. The Senior Pastor said a prayer and we sat down. As the service went on, I heard a gentle voice say that I shouldn’t take my medicine any more. I went home and didn’t tell anyone what had happened. But I stopped taking the medicine.

A couple of months later I told God that I would start eating the food that poisoned me before. And I added that this would be a test of whether the condition was really gone. (Where was my faith?) After months of testing, I found that those things did not trouble my body any more. That was over ten years ago.

If I did not have a friendship with Jesus in which I was free to boldly ask for healing, I would either be long dead or spending a majority of my time and money in hospital. But because of God’s mercy and grace towards me, I am here today to testify!

To God be the glory!