Tag Archive | Proverbs 3:5-6

Unanswerable questions…

Oct3

Yesterday, for the fourth time in less than a year, I experienced loss. First my mother, then my mother-in-law, then my best friend of over 20 years, then my lifetime best friend. I feel drained of strength. As a Christian, our personal strength is totally inadequate in dealing with such losses. Especially when not enough time for recuperation has transpired among those losses. So, while my personal strength dwindles, as it must, God’s strength can take over.  For when we acknowledge that only God’s strength is sufficient in times such as these, then will we be prepared to deal with loss. 

9 …, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NIV

Then today, in the midst of yet another sorrow over the loss of my lifetime best friend, I get word that a young missionary friend, who is dear to me and my family, was senselessly killed.

What strength I had gained from God in my previous losses, was exploded away when we got word of our friend’s death.  For those losses made sense. Death due to cancer or old age is understandable. But not this loss. How do we understand what is not understandable? 

Our friend, leaves behind a wife and three young daughters, and a vibrant ministry there in the country where he served. What will they do now? What about his parents and siblings? So, what do I do with all my tumultuous thoughts. How can I pray effectively for my friend’s devastated wife and daughters, parents, siblings when I am in such turmoil myself? 

This verse came to my mind from Isaiah 55:8-9

8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
    declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

In my humanness, that part of me that is ruled by my flesh, the above verse just doesn’t cut it. But quietly the voice of God speaks to my spirit, that part of me that is ruled by God’s Holy Spirit, and whispers words to calm the thunder storm raging in my head.  

            Because God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, there are just going to be acts that God allows that we will not have the capacity to understand. Like in this case with the death of my young missionary friend.

To survive these ordeals, we must familiarize ourselves with what we do know about God. Camp down on verses that deal with God providing strength in times of weakness as in the verses of II Corinthians mentioned. Verses that encourage us to, 

“ trust God with all of our heart (especially when tragedy intrudes into our lives) and lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6). “

Receive the truth of verses like Joshua 1:9 as a warm blanket to ward off the cruel coldness of such tragedies.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

            I still don’t understand why this tragedy was allowed to happen. The pain and the horror are still so fresh. My mind revolts against the images of the trauma my young friend’s loved ones are having to endure. How do I pray for them?  I will focus on wording my prayers with what I do understand, what I do know:

I do know that when we need strength, God will provide it. (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)

I do know when we need peace God will provide it. (Philippians 4:6-7)

I do know that He will bring restoration. (Psalm 71:20 NKJV)

I do know that God hears our prayers and gives us what we need in answer to those prayers. (Psalm 34:18)

My prompting from God just now is to focus on what I do know about God and pray that over his family and friends. We must choose to trust God with the unanswerable questions !

Ignorance is not bliss!

Aug31

As I write this blog post, I am in Edinburgh having accompanied my son and his family when they moved here so my son could work on a doctorate at the university. My plan is to hang around to help in any way that I can, then after my stay is completed I will make my solo journey home. (Not looking forward to that!!)

Being a genuine help, especially to my children, is a strong motivator for me. Yet, I struggle with fear that at 75 years of age, I will become limited as to how much help I will continue to be. Every increased ache or pain is taken advantage of by my flesh (that part of me that isn’t willing to be obedient to God’s Spirit in me), tempting me with doubts that I won’t be able to make but this one trip. My son will likely live here four or five years with his wife and two sons. Therefore my desire is to visit them once each year. But my flesh is stubbornly consistent in casting doubts and reeling in the thought that my desires won’t be fulfilled.

I battle constantly it seems with thoughts that my health will play out and prevent me from being the source of help and support I desire to be. When normal movement produces a sudden pain and/or discomfort , my thoughts become cloaked with negativity. Thoughts like, “You won’t last. What if you have to go to a doctor? You will become an inconvenience, not a source of help. That will mess up everything for them and for you.”

This is where my time of testing comes into full play. God has pointed out sources from His word where I can go to steady my thoughts and gain the perspective I need to assist me in recognizing the source of these doubts. The determination to reject them. And the insight to apply the powerful wisdom of these verses to defeat them. For instance: 

Psalm 34:4, ” I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (especially concerning the future of my health) 

God reminded me that my fears are nothing but fiery darts. My fears did not originate with Him. It was not His voice I was hearing. How did I know this? Because Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” 

Besides, Jeremiah 29:11 promises me this, “For I know the plans I have for you says the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. To give you a future and a hope.”

I can defeat the enemy by wielding the weapons God has assigned to me, or the enemy can defeat me by keeping me ignorant of such weapons.

The IF game…

Feb10

Going through a trying time? Not sure where things will lead? Anticipating a variety of outcomes, none of which sets well?

All of us, sooner or later, will find ourselves facing trying times. And the added downer is that trying times are repetitive. (They come and go, then come and go again) During such times decisions must be made and we don’t always have the clarity we feel we need. We find ourselves worrying about what is next. Thoughts of possible troubling outcomes rise up in our thoughts. So we resort to wording our prayers to persuade God to suit our desires for the outcome.

When trying times hit us our human nature insists on knowing how this all will play out. Thus the game board is set in place to play the ‘IF’ game. And as is predictable with human nature, our thoughts move to the negative. As a result, the processing of these negative outcomes puts us in a quandary.

Over the last several years of trying times and even more recently, I have become very familiar with the temptation to try and second guess God? (As if that was even possible!) Here’s how the temptation typically plays out.

A problem takes center stage. We enact auto pilot and react. Then as things progress, we scramble to figure out where to land. And the ‘IF’ game begins. Every card we play presents a negative scenario. It’s a loose/loose situation; it seems!

As a result, I’ve come to recognize the “If” game is a tool of the enemy to create hopelessness and despondency. The enemy is relentless and it’s a strenuous struggle to not give over any ground to him. My only reliable defense is to call upon God. Depending upon the severity of the struggle, it may need to be a day by day exercise. (hour by hour in some cases) I sense that God’s will not my will should be the intent of my prayers. Therefore the following has become my plan of action:

Reject this game and replace it with God’s truth.

God is going to do what God is going to do. Therefore, I must submit to whatever His will is in this matter. Even though I may not know exactly what that is, I do know that I can trust God to work it out for the good.

Therefore I am faced with a choice.

I can play the “If” game and reap the consequences

OR

I can choose to adapt God’s way of thinking and reap the rewards:

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” HCSB Philippines 4:6-7

I choose the reward of peace!

GOD’S REASSURING VOICE

Apr29

Recently God walked me through a time of crises. A coup, in the country where my son and his family lived, had created a threatening environment for them. When the coup started it was uncertain as to whether they were going to leave or ride it out. The day I talked to my son, I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. As his mom, I found this very unsettling. But when the demonstrations began and the gun shots could be heard all around, my son’s advisors urged him to leave as soon as possible. Because they were to fly out on a commercial flight they had to first be tested for covid. Only if their tests were negative, would they be allowed to board the plane. But after this decision was made and he called to tell us of their plan, hearing the determination in his voice settled my mind. Now they had a plan, now they could move forward. They finally were able to board a plane and arrived several hours later, with basic necessities packed, to a safer place.

Worry and fear stood hand in hand poised and ready to defeat me. Therefore, I had a choice to make. I was either going to call upon what I knew to be true about God and His ways or I was going to suffer defeat.

Over time God had been preparing and equipping me for such a time as this. Struggle by struggle over the years, God has been training me to distinguish between His voice, the voice of my sinful nature, and the manipulation and deception of the enemy.

You wouldn’t believe, then maybe you would, how many times the temptation to fear and worry reached out to take control of my thoughts. Yet because of what I had earlier learned, God reminded me that He had not given me the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a strong mind. He whispered to my mind that I was not to worry about anything but in everything through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, I was to make my requests made known to Him. Then the peace that passes all understanding would guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. These truths formed the prayer request I sent out to family and friends.

  • -Pray for safety in getting to the airport (Prov. 29:25)
  • -Pray for freedom from fear so their actions and attitudes proceed from a sound mine. (2 Tim 1:7)
  • -Pray for wisdom for my son and daughter in law as they parent through this ordeal (1 Corinthians 16:13)
  • -Pray no weapon formed against them will prosper. Isaiah 54:17 
  • -Pray for complete trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6

That’s just a sampling of the weapons with which God supplied me as I rejected the thoughts of fear and worry. The choice I had to make was to either believe God or be victimized by the enemy. While I didn’t know the details of God’s plan, I did know that because I was praying (as well as thousands of prayer warriors from all over the world) God was working on it.

I am no super saint, but through years of training on how to connect God’s word to the struggles I faced, His familiar voice was loud and clear as He guided me through this recent crises. There was no fear. There was no worry. Just a sober calmness as I listened to God’s reassuring voice.

Trusting God in the hard times

Dec14

. . . all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 HCSB

But what if God doesn’t work things out in the way we had hoped for? 

Those times are tough! And the fiery darts are merciless. We have a tendency to be mad at God.  We question God. We feel God is ignoring us. Sometimes, the way God works things out breaks our hearts. Peace evades us at times like these. We might even feel like giving up on prayer, after all what good has it done in those difficult times. We experience frustration when we open our bible because nothing seems to speak to our need. We cry out to God, “I just don’t understand what you are doing here God. This isn’t what I prayed for at all!”

We take on an ‘it’s all about me’ perspective. All we can think about is our own feelings. How disappointed we are. How hurt we are.  It’s at times like these, we must remember the following: 

We must trust God.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 think about Him in all your ways,
and He will guide you on the right paths. Proverbs 3:5-7 NIV

You know, God sees the bigger picture. He’s in charge and we have to submit to that.

We must remember that God desires what is best for us

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, Ephesians 3:20 ESV

Because He sees the bigger picture, God knows what needs to be done, so that the plans He has for us can be fulfilled.   Remember, God knows what is best for us. We only think  we do! We need to remember His thoughts are not our thoughts.   

God will sustain us (especially when things get rough)

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalms 55:22 HCSB

God knows we won’t get any relief if we insist on carrying that burden. He lovingly and patiently waits for us to turn it all over to Him. 

God loves us:

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 HCSB

The reason we can calm down and trust God is because His love for us knows no bounds. Will God, who sacrificed His innocent Son for us, ignore us in our time of disappointment and hurt? That doesn’t even make sense. But we are tempted to forget that powerful Truth. The Truth that will set us free from the temptations meant to destroy us.

Sometimes, we just need Mercy!

May16

th-16

     Sometimes we struggle to walk the path that has been set before us. And though we are confident this is the right path, we find ourselves making little progress.(ugh!) This leaves us feeling doubtful and confused. After all, being on the right path should not be fraught with such experiences, right?   Taking our frustrations to God, we earnestly seek God’s wisdom and guidance by faithfully searching His Word, but the verse that would give us the affirmation and/or direction we need continues to elude us. 

When this happens, what should we do?

     I would suggest that we examine the thoughts that are producing the doubt and confusion. And ask ourselves the following question from Chapter Five of my book, Fiery Darts: Satan’s Weapon of Choice.

Does it produce confusion, fear, doubt, anger, inferiority, indecisiveness, jealously, or selfishness, for example? (FD p. 33)

     It’s crazy, I know, but there are times when in spite of our best efforts we seem to be mired down in the mud of our own negative thinking (you know, fiery darts) and progress just doesn’t happen for us.  Therefore, once we examine the thoughts, then we:

Apply the 3 R’s of fighting fiery darts (published 02/17/2014)

1. Recognize

2. Reject

3. Replace

 

So, join me in an exercise of replacement!  

God isn’t listening to me.

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,  Psalm 10:17 

I can’t figure this thing out.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6 (p. 42 FD)

I’m not smart enough to know what to do.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 (p. 42 FD)

I can’t manage this.

 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

It’s just too confusing!

 . . .for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, I Corinthians 13:33

 * * * * * *

     Fill up your mind with the Truth-thoughts from verses such as the ones listed above.  (your own search will produce the verses that apply to your particular fiery darts) This powerful exercise will prevent the fiery darts from overwhelming you and sending you into despair when the answers are slow in coming.  And I have found that Lamentations 3:22-23, is just what’s needed in times such as these. 

Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!