I hate computers!
This is a very frustrating post to write! I am on my friend’s computer (thanks, Melissa!!!), so grateful for her generosity in letting me use it. Otherwise, I would be at the public library trying to figure out their system. I have been without a computer all week- it won’t log on to the Internet. (This explains my absence in bloggyland for those of you who regularly visit my blog.) This has been extremely frustrating because I had been borrowing my husband’s laptop because my laptop power cord died two weeks ago. Yes, I have “blown” two computers in two weeks. God, are you trying to tell me something?
“Why are you so downcast, O my soul?”
Today, I have felt at my breaking point- DESPERATE, ALONE, and DEPRESSED. All week I have prayed and prayed and prayed over the computer and situation. I have pleaded with God to intervene and help. I have rebuked the devil. And, I have been angry with God. Why won’t He answer me? Or why does every door seem to slam closed in my face? I keep trying the computer, believing that God will work a miracle, but the situation is still the same. I mean, if God can part the Red Sea, raise people from the dead, and crumble palace walls with a simple trumpet blow, then a computer is “small potatoes” in comparison! And, yet…..no computer.
I have cried over this computer. Cried over a COMPUTER! A COMPUTER!!!
But, it is not the computer that has me feeling so abandoned. It is that God hasn’t or won’t answer my prayer. It is that I am desperate and I can’t hear Him. It is that I want Him to make it “OK” and He isn’t.
I know it is silly.
There are many who are suffering so much more than I am. I have a sweet friend who SUFFERED with cancer last year….and lost her battle with it. There are at least a dozen families I know who are suffering through a divorce. Two families at my children’s school are suffering with cancer. My friend is a foster parent to a baby who has only half of her brain that has developed. She will never see, walk, or feed herself. She has hundreds of seizures a day. Many families are suffering because of lost income.
And, I am so “down” because of a computer????
But, it is the absence I feel from my God. I know He hasn’t abandoned me. I know He is right here. But, I don’t “feel” Him. Can’t “hear” Him.
It doesn’t matter how “big” or “little” the trial is, or what God uses when He is refining us, it still hurts. I have had my share of “big” trials- child abuse, marriage struggles, moving away from family, two miscarriages…..But, whenever we feel separated from the Father, it is difficult.
Today when I was walking, I listened to the Ginny Owens song, “If You Want Me To” over and over. The words are incredible.
The pathway is broken and the signs are unclear. And I don’t know the reason You brought me here.
Why God? But, because You love me…
I’m gonna walk through the valley if You want me to.
Lord, even though this is painful, I will walk this road.
‘Cause I’m not who I was when I took my first step. And, I’m clinging to the promise You’re not through with me yet.
Thank You, Lord, that You are using this trial to grow me, to refine me, to draw me closer to You….
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You, I will go through the fire if You want me to.
Lord, I don’t want to “waste” this trial….I want to learn what You are trying to teach me. I want to draw closer to You. I am desperate for You.
It may not be the way I would have chosen.
No, Lord! I would not have chosen to have these headaches and disappointments. This is NOT a “good” week- I have three sites I am writing for this week….
You never said it would be easy. You only said I would never go alone.
No matter what it “feels” like, I am not alone. You haven’t left me. You are walking me through.
So, when the whole world turns against me and I’m all by myself, and I can’t hear You answer my cries for help, I remember the suffering Your love put You through and I will go through the valley if You want me to.
So here I am, like Jacob, wrestling with God. And, I have told Him I am not letting go until He blesses me. I am not letting go…until we go through this valley. I am not letting go until He refines me. I am not letting go until I have grown closer to Him. I am not letting go until I hear His voice!
Father, I know in this life, we walk through the fire, we will go through the valley. Jesus tells us that there will be suffering, but to have heart- He has overcome the world! So, I choose to lift my shield of faith and put on my garment of praise. I sing praises to You. And, like Job, I say BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD! In Jesus’ precious Name I pray. Amen.
- Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee…
- Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
God bless you sweetie, I have missed you.
Bless your heart, Tracy! Honestly, I think I’d probably feel the same way.
You go girl! Bless the name of the Lord! Wonderful reminder.
This post could have been written by me. I TOTALLY connect with what you have written, for I too have been having GREAT difficulty with our computer. We just got it back on Monday and I’m still having problems. SIGH…Like you, I too have thought, ‘there are worse things going on around me and here I am crying over this computer’.
Even when I don’t ‘feel’ Him, even when I do not ‘see’ my prayers being answered,,I will,,, WILL continue to praise Him and thank Him. He is BIGGER than anything I am facing, so I will rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Please know I will definitely be praying for you sweetie…
I so understand you, Tracy. Sometimes we are having a hard time, but not matter what – He will get us through any trails. He never said it would be easy walking the road of life, BUT He promises us that He will be there with us…
So awesome to see (read about) a heart seeking Him. Nice devotion.
Prayers your way,
Rosie
What a wonderful post! It has really touched my heart! I do hope that a new computer comes your way… I will pray!
I joined your study two weeks ago. It has been such a blessing and such a challenge. I was really looking forward to this week lesson. nothing there and while I was reading your post… I got a little prompting that I did not answer last week questions. (I wasnt ready to be honest with myself that there are people I need to forgive, myself being on of them.) So while your down I will try to be brave and face things that I have been putting off.
I have frustration from my computer but not because it wont work…I dont know how to do this blog thing and I have a hard time navigating the page. Do you really talk “like im” on tuesdays and Thursdays or is it post? I havent figured out how to read what other people are writing. I have learned that it is in the little things that God teaches us much.
I have missed you Tracy! Thanks.
smooches,
Larie
I just went through the same things with my computer. After four months of crying, praying, pleading, and grumbling it took only ten minutes for my son in law to fix it! My walk with the Lord actually became dearer during that time but it definately was testing my patience. Your ministry has blessed my life and I will continue to pray that the Lord will send a ministering angel to fix it or lead you into another direction. I miss your thoughts and words of wisdom but will patiently wait on the Lord to answer our prayers for your work.
Thank you for sharing your heart today. I can so relate to the feeling of frustration when it seems as if everything is going wrong and God is not stepping in as quickly as we think he should. Praying that your computer problems will be solved soon.
Thanks for sharing from your heart. I recognized this song and had to go listen to it. It is so comforting that God is with us whatever we face.