Things That Are Helping Me Through This Week

This is my 200th post. I can hardly believe it. I don't plan any big celebrations. It has been a tough week and I want to share what I have read and heard that have kept me going.

Last week's Sunday School lesson was called "Living By Faith." It was taken from Galatians 3. The key verse was "Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, 'The righteous will live by faith.' (Galatians 3:11). I loved this thought: "One of the most important aspects of faith is that when we say we have faith in someone, it means that we trust that person. Do we really trust God? When was the last time we worried about finances, health, or our future? Probably not very long ago!" Can you say yesterday? Today? Last Thursday? I need to go back to the Woman to Woman post I wrote a few weeks ago about worry - I need to read it every day to remind myself to "practice what I preach."

If you don't know what I've been fretting and worrying about, you can go read about it here and here.

"We may rush ahead of God's timing in our lives and try to make things work when it just isn't the time or the place for things to work out. It is in the waiting - in the in-between times - that our faith is exercised." Oh, that waiting. It is so difficult.

But God is so faithful. He keeps bringing things to me that I need. For instance, besides the SS lesson last week, I have found all of these readings. There was the devotional I read this morning about a young Zulu man working a piece of soapstone, making it into something beautiful. "When the sharp knife of loss and pain chips away at us, it is Christ's soft cloth of compassion that gently brings a radiant shine to our patina. Other times He gives an inner sanding to smooth the rough, calloused edges of our hearts to develop sensitivity, forgiveness, and grace. Tenderly, Jesus encourages us to press on for the colorful and beautiful shapes that are to come." (Ellen Decker)

My favorite writer, Max Lucado says this in He Still Moves Stones: From Jeremiah 32:37, "I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me."

"We need to hear that God is still in control. We need to hear that it's not over until He says so. We need to hear that life's mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight.

"Corrie Ten Boom used to say, 'When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.' . . .

"The way to deal with discouragement? The cure for disappointment? Go back and read the story of God. Read it again and again. Be reminded that you aren't the first person to weep. And you aren't the first person to be helped.

"Read the story and remember, the story is yours!"

One more word from Max, from the book When God Whispers Your Name:

"Are there any unsurrendered worries in my heart? 'Give all your worries to Him, because He cares for you," (I Peter 5:7).

"The German word for worry means 'to strangle.' The Greek word means 'to divide the mind.' Both are accurate. Worry is a noose on the neck and a distraction of the mind, neither of which is befitting for joy."

Good stuff! Lord, help me to remember these words all day every day. Even if the answers next Tuesday are not what we want to hear.

There's always a song, of course, that comes to mind just when I need it. This one is by John Peterson and was written in 1952.

No one understands like Jesus;

He's a Friend beyond compare.

Meet Him at the throne of mercy;

He is waiting for you there.

No one understands like Jesus;

Every woe He sees and feels.

Tenderly He whispers comfort,

And the broken heart He heals.

No one understands like Jesus

When the foes of life assail.

You should never be discouraged

Jesus cares and will not fail.

No one understands like Jesus

When you falter on the way.

Tho' you fail Him, sadly fail Him,

He will pardon you today.

(Refrain)

No one understands like Jesus

When the days are dark and grim.

No one is so near, so dear as Jesus;

Cast your every care on Him.

One other thing that keeps me going - the things my grandkids say! Today's conversation with Care Bear (almost 5, but going on at least 22) is a case in point.

Care Bear and I were talking about a t.v. show that wasn't good for little kids to watch. Just then, Leave it to Beaver came on the screen.

She said, "Is that a good show for kids to watch?"

I said, "Oh, yes, that's a really good one. In fact, I watched it when I was a kid."

In the honesty of childhood, she said, "You did? That was a lo-o-o-o-o-ng time ago! A hundred years ago!"

One last thing - I received this sweet award from Michelle at Ozarks Sew n' Sews. I love this award - the Nice Matters Award. Thank you so much, Michelle! It really helped my spirits!