I love reading Streams in the Desert. I often feel in the desert and these wonderful devotions are a reminder of Paul teaching us to be "content in every situation." I pray for this often.
Enjoy a new devotional every day here: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/
Songs of Praise Rise From Affliction
"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3).
The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:
"At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,
"'Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?'
"These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart.
"For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.
"'What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.'
"Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,
"'It comes from the log on the fire!' The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak's inmost heart!
"Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. 'Ah,' thought I, 'when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!'
"Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will.
"'As I mused the fire burned,' and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me.
"Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before."
I was having a bad day this past week. Feeling sorry for myself, grumbling out loud to myself in the car. Then I drove by a man with no legs sitting in a wheel chair. I felt convicted and the Lord brought this verse to mind:
Philippians 4:12 (New International Version)
12I know what it is
to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the
secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Some people are type A and some people are type B. I want to be type J - Jesus focused.
Lord forgive me when I do not trust in you completely. You have always been there for me and my family. Let me always remember the man with no legs and learn to be like Paul, content in all things. I know I must seek you first above all things.
I am one of those people who is always looking for a lesson or a "moral to the story" in everything. I always see lessons I can learn through simple things.
For example, I received a $25 Starbucks card for my birthday. I gave up my regular trips to Starbucks a long time ago so it is always a treat to get one. On the way home from church today we stopped at Starbucks and I bought the largest coffee Frappucino they make and shared it with my husband and daughter. (I really didn't want to share but felt guilty being the only one with a drink, LOL).
I thought about God's grace and when we receive a lot of it, we spend a lot of it. I was lavish in buying a $4.15 drink because I had plenty to spend. When we have a lot of love, we give a lot of love. But what about those times when things are tough, we tend to tighten up our finances and not spend as much. We eat at home all the time, skip the trips to Starbucks and get stingy with our money because we have be careful and make it last.
I think many times we get stingy with sharing our faith, sharing God's grace and sharing God's love and forgiveness. It is easy to share it when we have plenty but much harder when we don't receive a lot of it. I am challenging myself to always give freely as I have received from God and not ration based on what I receive from man.
Today I took my girls to the pool for a girls afternoon out. My youngest does not swim so I was holding on to her. She was having a great time but knew I would never let any harm come to her. She knew I was her lifeline but was secure.
God used this simple picture to remind me that he loves me and when I am swimming in the deep end, there are still times of joy and that He will never let me go. When my other two girls were swimming, they would swim on their own but always say, "mommy, make sure you don't go to far so we can grab on to you." Again, God reminded me He is always there to hang on to and his presence is always close.
God is teaching me deep, profound things in simple ways as I press on to be the best wife, mother and friend I can be.
Do You Have Faith?
This is a question I have been asking myself. I have been a Christian for a long time, but at times I come to expect the worst. I realize that all of the negative things going on in our country are from a country who has forsaken God and his Word.
Yes, there are Christians but so many have compromised. So we expect the worst and it happens.
The Lord has been lovingly convicting me of my lack of faith. So many times I expect bad things to happen.
Recently I was reminded of the story of Nehemiah. He left the comfortable life with a king and went back to Jerusalem to rebuild it. One man made a difference. One man made a difference.
So many times I think I have to convince people to do things in my own strength vs. trusting God to do his supernatural work in men's heart.
God has challenged me to go deeper with him, worship him, pray to him, read his word and trust him. I truly believe God is able but I often say, "I know he can, but will he?"
I believe that answer is YES, he will hear our prayers, save our nation. But it starts with one prayer, mine and yours. What if we dared to trust? What if we dared to believe?
Do not forget that a few people on the day of Pentecost had waited for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. A handful of people said, "I trust you Lord." It was the beginning of the church!!!! 3000 were saved at once in one place.
I AM GOING TO BOLD AND SAY, "I TRUST YOU LORD." I WILL PRAY AND THE LORD WILL DO THE REST!
