Laced With Grace

For the past 2 years, my husband and I have been embroiled in a complicated and frustrating battle regarding a real estate issue. It’s truly a current day David and Goliath scenario, and we’re little David. Day by day, it’s up and down emotionally as the lawyers go back and forth.

So we decided that whenever our minds drift into the “what if’s” and the figuring out, we would turn our thoughts to scripture, specifically Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

This discipline has kept our minds fixed on truth instead of faulty thinking. Last week, we received a call from our lawyer saying that we were at a dead-end. I felt my stomach flop, but my husband (normally the worry-er) was strangely at peace. Then he shared with me an email he read moments before the lawyer’s phone call. It was from our friend, Pastor Chuck:

“‘What do you mean, “If I can”?’ Jesus asked. ‘Anything is possible if a person believes.’” (Mark 9:23 NLT)

 God will build your faith by planting a dream within you. But that dream will require a decision of faith, and then God will stretch your faith as you face delays, difficulties, and dead ends.

It is then that God comes in and delivers. God does a miracle. God provides a solution. For instance:

·   In Moses’ case, God parted the Red Sea. 

·   In Abraham’s case, he and Sarah miraculously conceived a child. 

·   In Joseph’s case, all of a sudden his dream came true, and he found himself no longer imprisoned in a dungeon; instead, he was the second in command in Egypt. 

 And Jesus was resurrected! God can even turn a crucifixion into resurrection, and that means he has the power to transform your dead ends into deliverance. He builds your faith through delays, difficulties, and dead ends, so that when he delivers you, God gets all the credit!

 When faced with a dead end, the best response is to expect God to act. What are you expecting God to do in your life? Jesus says, “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29b NIV).

 When you wait for deliverance, then God gets the credit. And you can look back to see how God led you through a path of faith, expanding and increasing your trust of him with every step. Your faith is stronger, and now you can say with confidence, “I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me …” (Psalm 27:13 LB).

Reading that email moments before the phone call gave my husband the wisdom to know how to respond. We’ll wait for the Lord, and we’ll wait with the expectation that He will be glorified when this issue is resolved. Already, we have seen God work, and soon the lawyers and town officials and many others will too.

Are you facing a difficult circumstance? One which seems impossible? Leave a comment so I can pray for you, and you can pray for me too. Together we will see God do the impossible! 

Susan

www.eternitycafe.blogspot.com

www.susanpanzica.com

Last week we came across an interesting documentary on the LIFETIME channel that followed the story of an overweight woman. Now, when I say overweight, I am not meaning by 10 or 20 pounds. This particular woman weighed in at 650 pounds! For most of us we think an additional 10-20 pounds weighs us down, but can you imagine what life would be like for such a person weighing over 600 pounds?

This woman was just like most of us. She made her home with her husband. She had dreams. She had plans. She had God-given abilities. But unlike you and me, she was a prisoner in her own home. She was completely and totally dependent on her husband and others to be her caretaker. She could not get up out of the bed by herself. She could not go outside. She could not bear children. She could not get a job.  She was totally incapacitated by her excess weight.

Her story unraveled as we continued to watch this program. The first step to her weight reduction was  having a gastric bypass which was followed by a couple more surgeries, as she shed weight, to remove excess skin. In one surgery, removing the excess skin took off over 60 pounds! We were able to follow her story for a period of over 6 years and were absolutely amazed that in the end she got down to 190 pounds!

Shedding 460 pounds is amazing by itself. But what truly amazed me was the difference the weight loss made in this woman’s life. No longer did she need help in daily activities, and one of the greatest thrills for her was stepping outside for the first time by herself. She finally could make some of her dreams come true. She not only could walk outside now, but she could mow the yard. She finally had a baby. And she got a job, working for the same surgeon who helped her. She now was helping and motivating others that were just like she once was.

Truly a remarkable story.

Some of you may ask the same question that many of us would ask…how does a person get that overweight in the first place? I don’t know the answer to that but I would guess it has something to do with slow fade. After the first couple hundred of pounds, it doesn’t get noticeable until one day it is just too much!

I don’t really see much difference in her story and the story of the one who refuses to unload their burdens to the Lord. I hear so many Christians talk about how stressed they are or how they worry about everything. All you have to do is scroll down your news feed on your facebook account to see that Christians and unbelievers alike carry so much excess weight on their shoulders.

Job security. Finances. Relationship problems. Sickness. Death. Unemployment. Divorce. Loneliness. Depression. Anxiety.

It almost seems like one leads to another. If each burden weighed in at 100 pounds, can you see how easily it would be to gain an excess 400 pounds?

If you struggle with holding onto your burdens, you may be experiencing some problems that go along with weight gain. When we carry too much weight on our shoulders, we become isolated, imprisoned and not able to do all that God has called us to do. But like the woman in the documentary, we need to do whatever it takes to shed some weight …

” …lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.” HEBREWS 12:1

Think about what the writer of Hebrews is saying…”lay aside” or in other words, “put down” or “get rid of”. If only we I could learn that when I pick my burdens back up, it is only weighing me down. Today is a good day to allow God to take control of our weight issues…

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for the promise that You would never leave me nor forsake me. Help me to trust You in everything. In good times and bad. In difficulty, I pray that I would turn my burdens over to You. I am weak but You are strong. You can carry the weight easier than me, I ask You now to remove this excess weight that binds me. In Your name, AMEN.

PSALM 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.”

You can visit my blog for more daily devotions … http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com

Recently my husband and I received an unusual envelope. It was addressed to Mr. & Mrs. George Mueller. Yes, our last name is Mueller, but my husband is most definitely not George. He is, in fact, Greg. I laughed at the obvious mistake, realizing immediately that the sender must have come from a Christian circle. But my husband, who is relatively new to Evangelical circles did not get it. I began to explain to him who George Mueller was, and the significance that he played in the history of Christianity. I quickly laughed off the incident, but the envelope has come back to my mind several times over the weeks since we received it.

Soon afterwards, I relapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. For the past month, I have not been able to leave bed, and I have found myself frequently frustrated. One night I found myself asking God what good I was doing Him when I was stuck in a bed with no end in sight. I even dared to ask when He had ever used anyone else when they were this debilitated. Service is supposed to be active. Not sitting in a bed. Who could possibly ever be used that way?

Again, the envelope came to mind. Having nothing better to do at the moment, I decided to do a little reading on Mr. George Mueller. I came across a blog specifically about George Mueller and began to read in fascination. I had often heard stories of his faith, his hours spent in prayer, and his refusal to ask anyone for money. As I sat there reading, I began to wonder what had inspired that kind of faith. You see, I’ve known a lot of Christians, and there have been a lot more that I’ve never known; but very few have ever had the reputation that Mr. Mueller had. I have also been around enough to know that this kind of faith does not come by accident, and it doesn’t come easy.

As I continued reading, I began to learn what had developed his faith so greatly. On two different occasions early in his ministry, George Mueller had developed severe illnesses that required him to be confined to bed. On both occasions, doctors were doubtful that he would live, and confident that he would lead a confined life. During those times of confinement, George Mueller decided to make wise use of his time. He decided that if he could do nothing else, he would read his Bible and pray. So, for over a year at time, he committed himself to reading nothing other than the Holy Scriptures, meditating on them, and communing with God.

Upon his healing, George knew that his life would never be the same. He committed for the rest of his life that he would live simply by the Scriptures no matter what the world did around him. He would not depend on others to provide his needs, but he would trust that His Father would provide his needs so long as Mr. Mueller asked God for the provision. He was faithful to ask for everything that he needed; and God would consistently provide for him, usually at the last possible moment.

As I read this, I was humbled and troubled. Here I have sat for the better part of two years in my bed. I have read books, watched lots of meaningless television, and played quite a few video games. I’ve definitely read my Bible more than I did in the past, and I’ve developed a prayer life that I never had before. But it made me wonder how much more I could have done if I had committed to only spending time with my Savior.

Could I have been healed sooner? Would I be out ministering? Or is my deepest fear true: will I never leave this bed and be able to minister to others in the way my heart desires?

But there again, God brought me comfort. After facing two illnesses early in his ministry, Mr. Mueller went on to run his orphanages until he was over 70 years old. At that point, he stopped only because he and his wife felt called to missions. For the next 17 years, George and Susannah traveled the world (reportedly over 3,000 miles) reaching everyone that they could for Christ, still without asking one cent from anyone for their needs.

If God could heal him and allow him to serve for that long throughout the world, then there is still hope that God can use me too.

How about you?

Have you ever been at a place where you felt like you were being put on the shelf? Are you there now? What did you learn while you were there?

Are you at a cross-roads in your life? Do you think that perhaps there is something a little more out there, but the path is unknown and you are not sure of your next step?

God has promised us that He will guide us each step of the way.

Isaiah 30:21 tell us, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

Have you taken the time to be still and learn to recognize that voice? I encourage you today to take a few extra minutes. Find a quiet place, and be still. Open your heart and mind to that still, small voice; and be prepared to listen. I promise that if you do, your life will be changed. Probably not in an instant, but one step at a time.

My sweet Jesus, thank you today for the precious sisters that you have brought together filled with desire to know more about you. Perhaps there are some reading today who have no idea how they got here; but once they started reading, they knew they had to continue. Perhaps there are others who have been seeking for answers. Whisper in their ears even now. Spirit, comfort and soothe each of us today. Bring us quiet and peace in the midst of the storms that we will face. Father, you have said that you will direct our paths. Lead us today one step closer to Your glory. In Jesus’ precious name we ask, amen.