Never Forsaken: The Blessing in the Trials

 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.”  Exodus 10:1-2

 Today in our reading (Exodus 8-10, yep three whole chapters), we look at the plagues God brought upon Egypt. God is not simple or basic. There is not one reason that He did what He did here, or one reason why He does anything, but one of the reasons He brought the plagues on Egypt was so that the Egyptians would know that He is the LORD.

 Why does God allow trouble to come into our lives? Think about it. When things are going well, when life is easy, how often are you drawn to God? How easy is it for you to recognize your need for Him or His power at work around you? No, it is when life gets hard, when bad things happen, when we are in the emergency room, when we are standing in our yard as the house burns, when we are searching for the item we desperately need, that is when we are most likely to appreciate who God is to us.

 We don’t want to admit it most of the time but, truly, trials are a mercy. I can state this as my testimony. I am glad for the hard, difficult, even the impossible things that have come my way. I am grateful for my EDS, my brain tumor leading to multiple, dangerous surgeries, one of which resulted in the most pain I’d ever experienced in my life that literally made me pass out. I am thankful that God loves me enough to allow these things to come into my life because without them, I wouldn’t begin to grasp the great love and care He has for me, nor my desperate need of Him. It’s not until I face a situation that I can’t fix, that I can’t reason my way through, that I truly turn to Him. And it’s in those moments when I do turn to Him, that I begin to know His love, His power and His grace.

Here’s the Thing: It sounds strange to say that some of the things I am most grateful for in my life are those that have been difficult, even terrible, but it’s true. I am thankful that I have experienced these things because they have drawn me closer to God and taught me about His love, provision and mercy. Who knows where I’d be without them, I don’t want to know!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Hate Begets Hate

Image
 Well, this is a post I never thought I'd be writing! I'm going to start with the backstory, which I didn't get until we were pretty far into this but which I think will help it be clearer for you to understand.  Evidently my nephew who lives in Tennessee has been up to no good. For quite some time he's been driving around baiting people of other races (he's white) with terrible racial slurs and trying to get them to fight him, presumably so he'll feel justified in shooting them. Yeah, that's pretty awful! He's been posting his shenanigans on social media, and while Facebook took his videos down, X has left them up for everyone to see.  As you can imagine, this has caused quite the backlash. People who are offended by his behavior and those that support it, have grouped together and continued the hurt and violence. The group in opposition to him decided that it would benefit them to post his family's names, phone numbers, and addresses on the interne...
Read more

Community First! Village

Image
   This incredible trip has taught me so much, and I feel like I'm just beginning to unpack it. I'm certain that these lessons will overflow into future posts as well, but I wanted to give you an introduction to the  Community First! Village  here in Austin, Texas. As shared on their website: Community First! Village is a master planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. A development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, this transformative residential program exists to love and serve our neighbors who have been living on the streets, while also empowering the surrounding community into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. This is the actual truck originally used in street outreach, now retired as a decorative memorial  This amazing endeavor began over twenty five years ago. As a part of their street outreach,  Alan Graham  and his partne...
Read more

Am I Pretty?

Image
How I look has changed a lot over the last year. Just under a year ago my head was shaved for brain surgery and over the last year my hair has been growing out. I’ve had to do a lot more resting and less exercise and activity so I’ve put on weight. I had arm surgery a couple of months ago which left me with a splint for most of that time and now an arm with 13 scars on it. I look so different. A big part of me has worried so much about how my husband sees me. Does he still find me attractive? You see, he’s not one to voice things like that. Words of affirmation were not used in his home growing up and they are not a part of his standard vocabulary. It’s funny though, as I read today’s verses I realized that he has, in fact, been telling me I’m pretty, just in a different way. Let your beauty not be external - the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes - but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in Go...
Read more