Thursday, December 30, 2010

A neck in Irons

"His neck was put in Irons" Psalm 105:18

I read a devotion the other day centered around this verse. It was exactly what I needed. The funny thing is it was for the 27th but the day I was reading was actually the 29th. It's like God wanted me to get my dates mixed up so He could speak so profoundly. Thanks Lord. 
  This is what it said, " Never run from suffering, but bear it silently, patiently, and submissively, with the assurance that it is Gods way of instilling iron into your spiritual life. The world is looking for iron leaders, iron armies, iron tendons, and muscles of steel. But God is looking for iron saints, and since there is no way to impart iron into his peoples moral nature except by letting them suffer, He allows them to suffer." - Streams in the Desert
  And early this morning, I received a phone call with devastating news. My nephews mom who had just had an emergency C-section called to say that her brand new baby boy didn't make it. Jesus called him home. There were health problems along the way and he was born 11 weeks early, but we were really feeling optimistic that he was going to pull through. And now we are left with broken hearts and no words to say to comfort a grieving mother. I turned back to this verse in Psalms and just prayed. Sometimes not saying anything, sometimes saying everything I could think of. But I am realizing that in the midst of this heart break, God is doing something greater. God is preparing a family for something. And my new prayer is that they can find that purpose and run towards it. Lord, give them the goal so they can focus on it.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Running in the Streets

  Last night at the Response, Daniel and I shared from James 5. This is the verse that struck my heart, " My dear friends, if you know people who have wondered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."

  Whoa. Just soak that in for a minute..... It reminded me of a quote I heard a while ago, " If we actually believed in hell the way The Bible describes it, then we would be running in the streets trying to get people saved." So why is it that I am not running in the streets? I think it is a mixture of things. I'm worried what people will think of me, I don't think they would respond well to a crazy lady yelling at them, and the big one is I don't know if they really want to hear what I have to say. I think I have been letting that last one be my driving force. "I know that they don't want to listen to me, so I won't even try." But in reality, I think that is just a cop out. I think I am too afraid of being rejected or finding myself in a confrontation that I don't try.
   My insecurities are keeping me from reaching out to people. I think it may be time to get over myself and start talking to people. So maybe I wont be running down the street yelling it at people, but if I can at least start a conversation with someone in line that's a start. You never know what interaction could lead into another interaction which could lead into a friendship and then ultimately lead into salvation. So hears my goal: Start talking to strangers. Sounds silly, yes. But is it effective, maybe. I guess I will just have to see.


 - Grace & Peace









**** Photo Courtesy of Bostonbiker.org
Thanks for checking out my blog. The writings found on these pages are just sincere thoughts, questions, and feelings I have about life, God, and banana slugs.