Day 1 of the @YouVersion Plan “When God Says No”. Link for plan: http://bible.com/r/Pt
Here is what I read for today, with my personal notes in italics:
WHEN GOD SAYS NO
Walking Forward in Fath
Walking?! I wish! O.k. metephorically walking, i can do that. Let me read on…
I’ve been there. I’ve prayed on my knees until the carpet permanently imprints its knobby pattern in my skin. I’ve cried out with my face to the floor, begging God to give me the miracle.
And then. And then. And then.
The “no” hit me with the breaking force of a hurricane, and there I was. Stranded on a path I didn’t recognize, headed down a road I didn’t ask to journey.
Oh yeah, I’m familiar with hurricanes. I’m 51 and have lived most of my life in FL. I can identify with that, waiting for the storm to hit, pass & then recover from it. I also remember what it’s like trying to stand when my feet have fallen asleep & now, well now, I can rarely stand at all, ever. Many times I am in pain just laying here & I cry, dear Lord, this isn’t me. I’ve always been active. However, accidents happen & now I need help accepting the results of that crash…Perminant nerve damage in my spin, partial paralysis. I’ll read on:
The paralyzing thoughts came, like Job’s friends, to say, “Why are you here? What did you do wrong?”
But, I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I believe Paul when he writes that “affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”
I believe too.
So, I get up. I shake my frozen legs. And with the power that comes from Christ alone, I take an aching step forward down this strange path.
For me this is literal but also figurative as I stuggle with “paralyzing thoughts”. I recall Romans 8, read it again &
let God be God.
He literally has my back, my spin, my guts, and most importantly, my soul in His hands. He helps me see beyond the temporary things, situations & circumstances. I read on:
The farther I walk, the easier it becomes because my muscles grow stronger than I knew they could. At times, I still have to dig in and scale the mountainside, but the view from where I stand is lovelier now than it ever was on the easy path.
God is with us. Right here, right now. I surrender to the reality that my physical hurting, pain & all of our problems are no indication of His presence. He never leaves us. As a matter of fact, when we encounter various trial, temptations, trouble & anguish we either search harder for Him or push Him away in anger but He is always A wireless call away. In more than a click of a mouse He is here.
This written plan for today comes with a short audio…
(Find peace, purpose and strength with Jesus in prayer. Hear daily prayers, choose prayer topics and customize your prayer time. Download Abide for free on iTunes and Google Play.)
When all is said & done I know I can rely on God & take Him at His word:
Todays Verses: Romans 5:1-11 NIV
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:1-11 NIV
http://bible.com/111/rom.5.1-11.NIV
Glory to God, beetle
-EXTRA-
This reminds me of another, much shorter, post I wrote:👉 And God Said No 👈◀click those words for that devoted thought.
