It's Not About Us.......

I had the opportunity to be in the Word tonight and I was reading in "The Message" and I never cease to be amazed by the forthrightness of this translation. There were many verses that struck me but in particular, Romans 5:6-8 really touched my heart. I am not going to write it all but please feel free to read it yourself, it will only make it more meaningful for you.

Speaking of Jesus....."He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. ......But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." And along the same lines, verse 2 says, "We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us."

I don't know about you but with regularity I still feel like I am "no use whatever to him". And yet, if I allow His Word to be my anchor instead of my feelings, this scripture offers much comfort. The truth is that I don't have to be "of use" to Him to have His love. As a matter of fact, I think this scripture makes it very clear that the gift of His love has nothing whatsoever to do with ME. It is all about Him. All I have to do is open the door! As I have said before, faith, ie:trust does not come easy for us...but that is not required to open the door. Think about it literally, do you have to believe that someone is on the other side of the door that wants to come in for you to open it? NO. All you have to want is some fresh air......but once you open it, then it is a lot easier for someone to walk thru it, isn't it? He understands our frightened little girls heart and so all He asks is that we open the door. He will do the rest. He promises to.

By the way.......He also understands our not flinging it open as far as it will go. Just a crack will do! :-)

The Suffering Won't Last Forever.....

As I sit here, I am overwhelmed by the emotions whirling around in my heart. Over the last 6+ months, other than constant financial problems, things have been going pretty well in my life. NOW, a new season has come and with it.....stress, fear and pain in a variety of different areas in my life. So as I began to pray and open the Word to see what "Daddy" might want me to share, I opened to 1 Peter 5:10,11 in The Message:

"So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ-eternal and glorious plans they are!-will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does."

Now, quite a few entries back, I highlighted this verse but not with the same heart as today. This scripture has tears in my eyes and a heaviness in my heart because I want it to be true.....RIGHT NOW!!!!! It seems like there has been so much more pain in my life than "glorious plans", you know? Of course you do! We are His hurt little girls....we know what pain is. But, my dearest sisters-kindred spirits in pain....take comfort with me in these verses. The wording itself shows that He knew when He inspired the Bible to be written that we would feel like the suffering WAS going to last forever! He knew that we would not be "in one piece and on our feet"! I find comfort in that truth.

We are told in the beginning of verse 10 to, "Keep a firm grip on the faith." This is not easy for us because faith is just another word for trust and we were taught VERY WELL by our abuse NOT to trust and even more specifically, NOT to trust our father. I know that we can take refuge in the fact that our Daddy knows our hearts and understands why our faith/trust suffers. "The suffering won't last forever." So I can tell you what I am going to do as I go into this new week with a very heavy heart. I am going to take it one step at a time, one day at a time and when things seem like just too much.....one hour at a time. And I am going to let His word be my anchor when my trust is weak, if I do that.... THEN I can have confidence that there IS more and that the "more" is "eternal and glorious".
I pray that as you struggle with the various tests and trials that, no doubt, this new week will bring, that you also let these verses anchor you through the storm and to the other side where He kneels with open arms to draw us in to His unfathonable love.