Six years ago on January 5th, 2008 our family went from three children to five children. I am so thankful James and Jerard came to us.
Jerard is with Jesus now, but always in my heart.
We are waiting to receive adoption approval, hopefully this month, for James. Pray that the adoption is approved soon so we can start arranging travel papers for James.
The day before New Year's Eve
We went to the beach for family time
enjoying good conversation
tired out after a day of swimming
It seems many Christians have an overriding paradigm of a victorious Christian life - that there should be no problems in this life for a Christian. But this is a direct contradiction to what Jesus said in John 16:33, "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world."
Our peace and rest is in Him.
1 Peter 4:12 - 13 tells us not to be surprised when fiery trials are what we go through. These trials make us partners with Christ in His suffering.
We are to consider it joy when we go through hard times (James 1:2).
Hebrews 11 tells of many Christians who were tortured, killed, destitute, etc.
Hard times are part and parcel of the Christian life. While we have a future hope knowing someday we will be with Him forever with new bodies and new minds, our existence here on earth is that there are hard times we go through - be it physical illness, emotional turmoil, mental illness, financial problems, relationship issues; it is all part of life here on earth.
The question of suffering has been one I've been pondering deeply for many years now. My quest to understand the role of suffering in a Christian's life started in earnest when Jerard became a member of our family. God used that little guy to turn my thoughts to this matter of suffering and pain.
Jesus said we'd be like Him. He suffered; we will too and we do - whether its a physical illness, emotional problem, mental illness, a "thorn in the flesh" as Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, etc..
one thing God is really making clear to me is that in the wrestling is rest.
"Teach me wisdom in the secret heart" Psalm 51:6 says, and He says "Rest"
"Blot out my transgressions....my sin is ever before me." - - my restless soul struggles, my heart desires Him, to be like Him
And He says to me, "like Jacob wrestled with the angel to be blessed, I desire you to wrestle with your struggles to find rest in Me."Isn't God amazing?
He uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise,
He uses the humble to destroy the proud;
He sends Jesus to die as our sacrifice for sin so we can have life eternal.
Paradox - a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
In the struggles I cling tighter to my Saviour. Like David said in Psalm 51, "create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me."
Can't you see him? A man devastated by his sin, weeping and wrestling in his bedroom, calling out to God in his anguish? This psalm was not placidly spoken. That's how I picture it. I've done similar many times myself.
"Restore me to the joy of Your salvation"
Passionately poured out words from a hurting, wounded soul.
"Cast me not away from Your presence. Take not Your Holy Spirit from me."
And Jesus answers, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
In Psalm 52, as David wrestles to rest, he ends the psalm with "I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever...I will wait for Your name, for it is good."
There is a peace that we can cling to in the midst of trials, in the midst of storms; but learning how to stay in the calm center eye of the typhoon swirling around takes wrestling. And eventually in that wrestling comes rest.
God wants our honesty, not a facade. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:17)
Then, this picture comes to my mind...
as Jerard rested on me, I am to rest on my Saviour.
And like a weaned child, I have calmed and quieted my soul.
Jesus loves me, this I know.
So whether the struggle is mental illness, emotional turmoil, relationship issues, physical illness, financial problems, etc....one thought I leave you with is this, there is rest in the wrestling.
I am currently reading three books besides my Bible. I highly recommend each of them to you if you are looking for good books to read!
"A Quest for Godliness" by J. I. Packer
A Quest for Godliness explores the depth and breadth of Puritan spiritual life. Drawing on a lifetime of study, Packer surveys the lives and teachings of great Puritan leaders such as John Owen, Richard Baxter, and Jonathan Edwards. He examines the Puritan view of the Bible, spiritual gifts, the Sabbath, worship, social action, and the family. The Puritans' faith, Packer argues, stands in marked contrast with the superficiality of modern western Christianity.
In a time of failing vision and decaying values, this powerful portrait of the Puritans is a beacon of hope that calls us to radical commitment and action, both desperately needed today. Beautifully written, A Quest for Godliness is a moving and challenging exploration of Puritan life and thought. I am really enjoying and being challenged by this book.
"Troubled Minds - Mental Illness and the Church's Mission " by Amy Simpson
Mental illness is the sort of thing we don't like to talk about. It doesn't reduce nicely to simple solutions and happy outcomes. So instead, too often we reduce people who are mentally ill to caricatures and ghosts, and simply pretend they don't exist. They do exist, however--statistics suggest that one in four people suffer from some kind of mental illness. And then there's their friends and family members, who bear their own scars and anxious thoughts, and who see no safe place to talk about the impact of mental illness on their lives and their loved ones. Many of these people are sitting in churches week after week, suffering in stigmatized silence. In Troubled Minds Amy Simpson, whose family knows the trauma and bewilderment of mental illness, reminds us that people with mental illness are our neighbors and our brothers and sisters in Christ, and she shows us the path to loving them well and becoming a church that loves God with whole hearts and whole souls, with the strength we have and with minds that are whole as well as minds that are troubled.
"Stiches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair" by Anne Lamott
What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one other and to what's sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable?
These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Lamott's profound follow-up to her New York Times-bestselling Help, Thanks, Wow. In this book Lamott explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times; where we start again after personal and public devastation; how we recapture wholeness after loss; and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age. We begin, Lamott says, by collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, one stitch at a time.
It's in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humor, and humanity.
(Book descriptions used from Amazon.com)
The Old Testament points to God's people seeking the Messiah (Isaiah 55:6; Jeremiah 29:13)
At the birth of Jesus the shepherds sought Him after being told of His birth by the angels. (Luke 2: 8 - 17)
The Magi from the east sought Him when they saw His star. (Matthew 2: 1- 12)
Jesus tells us to seek Him - to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
Faith is active.
Faith is about seeking the things above where God is (Colossians 3:1)
Faith is about putting to death the deeds of the flesh (Colossians 3:5)
Faith is about putting on the attributes of Christ - compassion, kindness, mercy, grace, love (Colossians 3: 12 - 14)
The Lord does not forsake those who seek Him (Psalm 9:10)
He promises that if we seek Him we will find Him (Proverbs 8:17)
Just as Jesus came to seek and save us (Luke 19:10) may we seek Him in all our ways, not only this Christmas season, but every day of our lives.
I wrote a Christmas song some years back that speaks to this:
WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM, THIS TINY INFANT KING.
JUST LIKE THE WISEMEN OF OLD FOLLOWED HIM
AND IF I'D BEEN THERE AT HIS BIRTH, WOULD I HAVE SEEN HIS WORTH?
AND WOULD I HAVE SOUGHT HIM AS MY LORD? THIS TINY INFANT KING!
1.AND IT'S A MIRACLE, NOT TO CELEBRATE ONE DAY A YEAR; BUT EVERYDAY GIVING THANKS ALWAYS TO THE FATHER FOR HIS SON. AND IT'S A MIRACLE: THIS TINY INFANT KING LYING IN A MANGER, A BARN FOR HIS SHELTER IS OUR REDEMPTIVE KING.
OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM; OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM;OH COME LET US ADORE HIM; CHRIST THE LORD!
2.AND IT'S A MIRACLE TO BE CELEBRATED EVERY DAY! GOD'S REDEMPTIVE PLAN, WRAPPED UP IN THIS SMALL BABE! HIS LOVE FOR US; UNCOMPARABLE AND NEVER ENDING, THIS TINY CHILD, THE KING OF KINGS, IS OUR ETERNAL HOME. HOSANNA, HOSANNA, HOSANNA TO THE KING HOSANNA, HOSANNA, HOSANNA TO THE KING.
3.AND IT'S A MIRACLE, NOT TO CELEBRATE ONE DAY A YEAR
BUT EVERYDAY GIVING THANKS ALWAYS
TO THE FATHER FOR HIS SON.
AND IT'S A MIRACLE: THIS TINY INFANT KING
LYING IN A MANGER, A BARN FOR HIS SHELTER
IS OUR REDEMPTIVE KING.
Copyright 1984 and 1993 - Beth M. Bottomley Symanzik
