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Archive for the ‘God’s Goodness’ Category

“Epically Amazing” Victories

Posted in Devotional, Encouragement, God's Goodness, Victory on July 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

She bounced up and down with such zeal, that buckets of powdery red dirt flew from her clothing onto my freshly scrubbed floors. “That was EPICALLY AMAZING!” she whooped. My precious athlete looked as though she had worn half of the softball field home, but nothing new there. She was scraped-up a bit too. Typical mom that I am, I hurt for her when she comes home with even the slightest injuries, but she never gives them a second thought because she learned a long time ago that victory has a price.

Disappointed that I couldn’t be there, I listened intently as she joyfully recounted her triple play, stolen bases and especially her “killer” dive into second base. Her team happened to “smoke” the opponents this time, but my daughter always has great sportsmanship win or lose. To her, the real victory is not in the scoreboard, but in the challenge of getting out there in the heat of the battle and giving it her all, knowing that if she does her best, she is a winner no matter what. I only hope that she will remember to keep the same attitude during her roughest battles in life.

After her play-by-play, my daughter ran off to shower. I remembered all the dirt that she would be washing off (because the shower was freshly scrubbed too) and thought about the refreshing that comes after a hard-earned victory.

This led me to reminisce about some of my own past victories. To be honest, I’m about as athletic as a three-legged elephant, and equally agile, but I know what it’s like to face life’s battles and triumph victoriously against all odds. If you have read my testimony, His Invisible Hand, you will know that I encountered God in an incredible, supernatural way, which has caused me to have great faith. Consequently, there have been certain battles which I conquered with barely a sweat broken. Other battles were not quite as easy. I walked away from some of those feeling injured and weary, needing much healing and reassurance afterward.

Still other battles raged in my life with such unrelenting ferocity that I stumbled, and questioned whether my faith was enough. I am being completely honest with you in admitting that one such battle nearly destroyed me, even as a believer. Had it not been for my loving, super-supportive husband, I might’ve stopped trusting God to see me through that particular battle.

I reminded God of His promise that He works all things together for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. And then I adamantly insisted that “nothing good could ever come of this situation, never!” (Disclaimer: arguing with God, can be harmful to your spiritual health.)

Thankfully, I was wrong! Terribly wrong! It took me more than five years, but I was finally able to see how much good actually did come from that big, ugly mess. And, it took me that much time to wash away the grimy bondage which resulted from the deep wounds incurred. The people that wronged me (beyond belief) have never apologized nor changed their behavior in any way that I am aware of, but God used the situation to change me. He made me a far better and exceedingly stronger person.

I’m sharing this today because I have so many friends that are going through some pretty epic battles; perhaps you are too. You might even be feeling hopeless and doubt whether or not you have the faith to keep up the fight.

Let me encourage you that it is in your weakness that God makes you strong. It is in your failures that you learn to succeed. And it is in the face of overwhelming battles that you will face your most epically awesome victories. Remember, victory comes at a price. It may be a high price, but your Father in Heaven will never leave you or forsake you and He is, even now, stepping up to the plate on your behalf.

 

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Thirty-Five Dollars and Banana Bread

Posted in Devotional, God's Goodness, God's Provision on June 22, 2010| 5 Comments »

Photo courtesy of http://www.photobucket.com

Yesterday’s quick grocery run would normally have been a typical, mundane task hardly worth noting. But God, in His infinite wisdom has a way of using even the seemingly insignificant things in life to teach us valuable lessons and reaffirm the fact that He cares about the smallest details of our lives.

If you’ll bear with me, I’ll try not to bore you with trivial shopping details, but I would like to take you to the produce section for a moment. Interestingly enough, produce was not even on my small list, but that is precisely where I headed first. More specifically, my cart sort of drove itself to a basket of reduced (aka cheap) bananas, which was an interesting feat since I didn’t even know they were there.

I cannot even remember the last time I made banana nut bread, but I instinctively grabbed two big bunches in order to amend the situation. Then I had a thought. I needed more bananas so that I could make extra and give some away. So with two more big bunches tucked into my cart, I hurried off to finish shopping.

What I didn’t know was that something interesting was happening at my home about that same time. Our air conditioning had broken down (that’s not the interesting part) and someone was coming to look at it.

That’s a whole other story in itself. Let me give you the nutshell version, though, because it ties into my banana story. When the air conditioner quit a few weeks ago, my natural inclination was to call the repairman immediately. However, my husband and I are walking through a new commitment to be less hasty in our decisions, especially those that pertain to finances. So we waited and prayed about the least expensive way to fix the unit.

We really aren’t cheapskates, but the heat was becoming unbearable and we had decided that calling a repairman was just not in the budget at the time. The very same day that my husband planned to do something about the situation, a co-worker volunteered to come look at the unit.Long story short, God answered our prayer for an inexpensive fix. The parts only cost thirty-five dollars. I don’t have to tell you what a blessing and a relief that was! But there is more.

Of course my husband had inquired as to how much payment his co-worker wanted for labor, but he politely refused because, in his own words, “I just really like helping people.” If you read my last post, ‘My Husband’s Gift, you will know that it was only the day before this that my husband was in a remarkably similar situation, only he was on the giving end. Wow! What an example of reaping what you sow.

So what does this have to do with bananas? When I pulled into the driveway after my shopping excursion, my husband happened to be standing there. With a big smile, he gave me two-thumbs-up. I knew the air conditioner had been fixed. “How much?” I asked. He happily told me the price. “But there is something else- the fix,” he said, “will cost us thirty-five dollars and (playful pause) banana bread.”

I laughed aloud and exclaimed, “God is so cool!” With that, I opened the hatch and handed him a bag of bananas. “I already planned to make banana bread tonight,” I explained, “and the thought had already occurred to me that I needed to make extra to give away.”

Not at all surprised, my husband then explained that when his co-worker didn’t accept payment, he planned to respond, “Well, at least let my wife cook something for you.” But when he opened his mouth, the words “Then you are getting some banana bread,” slipped out instead.

You might think this is all coincidence, but I assure you it is not. God really does care about the most minute details of our lives. Matthew 6:8 assures us that our heavenly Father knows what we need even before we ask. He wants us to be so keenly aware of this fact that he uses even the simple things in life to prove it.

This post is just one small example. God cared that we were miserable in the heat. He cared that our finances were tight and there were better things to do with our money than spend it on repairs. And he cared enough about my husband’s co-worker to give him the opportunity to help others since that is important to him.

And believe it or not, finding cheap bananas was no coincidence either. My heavenly Father threw in the banana bread element so that I would recognize His had at work and not take it for granted. It is so easy to become distracted by the stuff of life that we don’t recognize the simplest of blessings and give credit where credit is due.

I truly hope, dear reader, that as you go through this week that you too will take the time to look around you and see God’s hand at work in your life. It shouldn’t be hard; Evidence of God’s abundant goodness are all around us and envelop just as the scrumptious aroma of banana bread baking in an oven fills the kitchen.

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