Overflowing With Thanksgiving

Colossians 2:7 – “Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.” 

I am overflowing with thanksgiving this week!  For the better part of the last year and a half I have had very intense pain in my back. This year I have had Dr. appointments every 2 to 4 weeks at a pain clinic. Many times I prayed (begged, pleaded with God) to take away the pain - to heal me.  After all of this doctoring we were left with one option. About a month ago I underwent a procedure that burned the nerve roots, so that I would not feel the "pain" that is still there. It worked!  I have been given relief from the pain.  I am SO grateful for this feeling of being pain free.  It is amazing how pain can change your outlook and your "feeling" about life in general. Many times I felt forgotten by God. Many times I wondered where he was and why didn't he "fix it"?  But I can tell you today... God does care. GOD IS FAITHFUL. 

This experience with pain, has been a growing experience for me. God became so real to me, even though my prayers seemed to be "unanswered".  I look back through my journal and realize He answered my prayers, in ways I didn't understand, but now as I look back I see it. 

As I mentioned before, a nerve was burned interrupting the message that was being sent to my brain telling it that my back hurt.  As I think about that, I think about God protects us in life from things that would hurt us.  There are experiences in life that would surely change our lives if they were allowed to impact our lives. However, I believe that God puts a hedge around us many times to protect us, a hedge that is unseen, but still there. Psalm 91 tells of us God's protecting arm around us, when it says among many things that "[God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands."  I encourage you to read Psalm 91 today and see what it means to you today. 

I leave you with this song today, it has given me strength and encouragement many times.  Chris Tomlin "I Lift My Hands"  Praying that you will know that God is love and God cares today, in whatever area of your life you need to see it. 

Trust

“I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.”  Psalm 17:6

Lately, I have been realizing how powerful it is to know God’s Word and hide it in your heart.  I have memorized many verses in my lifetime, but never really realized the blessing of that until these past few years.

Trust has always been a hard thing for me and it still is, but in the past year I have been amazed at how God has taken care of our family.  In this tough economic time, we owned 2 houses. [If someone would have told me 2 years ago that 1) we would own 2 houses for 15 months, 2) I would not be working for part of that time, but we would be ok – I seriously think that I would not have believed them.] We bought the second house truly believing that God was telling us to do so. We moved over a year ago, and just recently sold our other house!  [Yep, that’s a big PRAISE THE LORD! ]  God provided in ways we would have never anticipated.  He showed up every time there was a need, sometimes very clearly and other times we realized it later. 

God increased my trust in Him through this difficult year.  Many times I doubted that we would be ok, I worried that we would lose everything.  We prayed and we begged God to  “move” – to do something, to show us he was there. We truly believed we had been obedient to Him.  At times I even doubted that God knew our situation and wondered if He even cared.  I have realized in the last few months that God was increasing my trust in Him.  God always hears our prayers. I picture Him bending close to me to listen to the prayers that are whispered out of desperation or pain. God will always answer our prayers in His time and in His way.

My heart has found peace in knowing that God knows our needs. He knows my kid’s needs.  And He has it all figured out.