Rough Week?

I prayed I could post, "Thank you for praying for me and my daughter ("bear").  Everything is great now." (You may need to read my last post if you have no idea what I'm talking about).  Well, not yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  Please keep praying.  But in the midst of chaos, God reminded me of a few thoughts about trials for followers of Jesus.

1)       Recall God’s faithfulness to Hold. 

God is always with you.  And like a parent comforting a hurting child, He holds us through the tough times.   Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (emphasis mine)

2)       Rely on God’s faithfulness to Help.

God wants us to call to Him for help.  I love the promise of Psalm 46:1.  “God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.” (emphasis mine)

3)      Rejoice in God’s faithfulness to Hope

God wants us to rejoice.  Rejoice.  Really?  Paul says in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”  I think Paul knew what he was talking about when he wrote this from prison.  Paul also gave us the “how to hope” later in verses 6-7.

  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.   And the peace of God, which surpasses all, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

May God grow us all in our trials this week.

The Clean Up

I’m sure some of you are wondering how to clean up a pond of liquid detergent.  I’m sorry to say (and happy to say) I’ve got experience in this.  I failed to tell you in my last blog that this happened one other time (slow learner, I know).  It happened about five years ago.  My initial response: “Are you kidding me!”  Of course five years ago, I had three little girls (ages 5, 3, and 1) helping me with the clean up.  I did the best I could to return the liquid to its original container and then made the biggest mistake of my life (I wish this was the biggest mistake of my life).  I added water.  Do you know what water does to a pond of detergent?  Of course you do.  What was I thinking!

The next day sitting at the breakfast table with my girls, I hear a “Pfsssss” coming from my utility room.  That is never a good sound.  I ran to see what was going on.  To my surprise a plastic two liter of Coke had spontaneously busted.  Really?  Didn’t know that could happen.  I had to laugh, or I would cry. (Maybe I did cry first).  One day after cleaning bubbles!  Can you believe it?  The Coke wiped right up!  The thin layer of detergent left the day before, neutralized the stickiness.

So, my clean up this time:  Used my hands to get most of the liquid back into the container, wiped the floor with paper towels, and then, yes, I used  7up to neutralize the slick film of soap left behind.

My thoughts:  Sometimes God gives us (followers of Jesus) trials to prepare us for the next.   God prepared my floor with soap, knowing the Coke would come the next day.  Some of our “little trials” are preparing us for others, and sometimes bigger trials.  I know you’re asking, “And that is supposed to encourage me?”   Depends on how you look at it.  Now that I’ve had a trial of spilled soap twice, I thought of some conclusions about trials.

God uses trials for us to:

1)       Prepare us to Remember.

 Remember the times God has been faithful in the past.  Write it down.  Because of His faithfulness in other trials, we can trust Him now. 

Psalm 36:5 says, “Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Also, remember the trials you “passed” and take good notes.   Remember the trials you “failed” and learn from them (Do not add water to soap!).  It’s ok to share how you’ve failed.  It also shows you are “real”.

2)       Prepare us to Relate.

God sometimes uses our trials to allow us to relate to others that have gone through a similar test.   God uses our stories to create bridges to share hope.  Hopefully, we learn from our trials and can encourage others.   

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

3)       Prepare us for Reward.

For those who are followers of Christ, earth is not our home.  God is in the process of refining us for heaven (not that we have to earn our way).  He uses every trial to make us more like Christ (if we will let Him). 

Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

It’s taken me a few days to get this post together.  The day after my clean up, my van was hit (no one in it, thankfully), and I struggled with a strong willed child at school, resulting in school counselor intervention.  God’s given me plenty of opportunities to practice these scriptures J.