Caregiver Chronicles: When Endurance is the Only Choice You Have

It seems like eons ago that Sam climbed in his car and drove to my house, his walker still standing in front of his house, but it's only been a few weeks.

I slept until 6:00 this morning, so I was behind from the start. My routine is to get up, get coffee, and get going. First stop is quiet time with our Lord. Today, everything was later than usual, so I ended up altering my schedule to help Sam up.

My routines have died a hard death over the last five weeks, and I've struggled to adjust to the change. Again, this morning, caregiving altered my usual timetable. 

I sat down before the Lord, tears brimming, no words to say except, "Hard, Lord. This is hard." 

Please don't misunderstand. I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. This has brought an abundance of peace and joy, but it's a change. With change comes a certain amount of stress. 

I know endurance is the only choice I have, but that doesn't make it easy. 

Still quiet, I opened James (because I am way behind on converting the James study from an e-book to a traditional book) and found these words:

"Consider it all joy, Leanna, when you encounter various trials; knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-3 

James wrote "my brethren" instead of my name, of course. 

Here's the Leanna paraphrase: "Hey, you. The one who's going through a hard time. I'm talking to you. Settle down and let God get you through it. He's teaching you endurance and, if you'll hold on, that endurance will do a work in you. I want you perfect and complete, and this is my tool to accomplish it." 

I laughed out loud when I read James' words. He spoke directly to me today.

I took a deep breath and prayed a profound prayer. "Okay, Lord." 

In case you didn't recognize it, that's a prayer of surrender. I've had to pray it quite a few times in the last five weeks. I'm confident I'll pray it quite a few more before we're done.

When we encounter trials, we get through them one surrender at a time. That's what I'm doing today...surrendering at the start and letting God's timetable replace my own.

What about you? Are you struggling with a trial? 

It's much easier if you surrender to God's plan of endurance and refinement. So, today, let's face our trial by bowing to the plan of God and let Him have His way in us.

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If you're new to this series, you can read about how it started here: When the Time to Move Finally Comes

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Caregiver Chronicles: A Matter of Perspective

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If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Middle East, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

The High Maintenance Missionary and The Drooping Hedge

The conversation between God and Satan that led to Job's trial always surprises me. (Leanna paraphrase coming up)

"What have you been up to, you old devil?" God asked. 

"Roaming around the earth, seeking whomever I can devour," admitted Satan.

"Did you notice my servant, Job? He's the best."

"Yeah, I noticed him. You have a hedge of protection around him and I can't get to him. Drop that hedge a little, and I'll show you how good he is. He'll curse you to your face."

God knew Job better than Job knew himself. He dropped the hedge a little. Satan attacked. Job agonized, grieved, and worshiped. "Though He slay me, still I will hope in Him," he avowed. 

As he walked through the trial, Job learned more about God and more about Himself than he'd ever known before. He had conversations with the Most High God that were nothing short of profoundly amazing. Those trials changed his life.

Job's ordeal was horrible. He was a good believer at the start, but he was a much better disciple at the end of it. God was glorified in a way that still stuns us and helps us through our own trials, thousands of years later. 

I don't know if you've ever had an experience with a dropped hedge and a horrible trial, but I have. More than once. I didn't think of it as a "dropped hedge" at the time, but this morning, I can see those hard trials in a new way. 

One difficult situation after another, one loss after another came until I was reeling. I remember being face down on the floor, saying, "Though you slay me, still I will praise you..." I offered a sacrifice of praise and something changed - in me and in my situation. 

Things began to improve. It was slow at first, but, gradually, the trial abated and I emerged, a little wobbly but a different woman from the one who encountered that first shattering trial. 

As I look back over these last few months, I have to wonder if my hedge has been allowed to droop a little. There's been one difficult situation after another... I've seen the enemy jab and shoot fiery darts. It's been hard. It's been beautiful.

I learned something important in my first Job Journey. We have a shield of faith that can stop the fiery darts. It only works, though, if we hold it up. We have a sword of the Spirit that can do serious harm to the enemy's assault, but only if we pick it up and wield it. 

If you're not in a Job Journey now, you've either been through one already or yours is still to come. 

Take heart. A drooping hedge means one very encouraging thing. God knows you can make it through. He's already planning the blessings for the other side.

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him..." Job 13:15 nasb
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Please like and share to extend our digital reach...

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Praise Party Prayers and the Open Invitation

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

James: The Hard Thanks Giving

I'm not actually writing about having a hard Thanksgiving holiday today, but about giving thanks, even when it's hard. 

As you've probably seen in previous blog posts, I'm working my way through the James study that I finished writing a few days ago. It's a little unreal. Today's lesson was short, and I actually complained, "This is so short. What's up with that?" 

Then, I remembered. Oh, yeah. I wrote this. 

The objective in the brevity was to convey one single point, and leave it with us all day long.

There are blessings in the trials of life, and we should give thanks for them.

I remember, in my biggest trial, saying, "I only want to do this once, so I'm gonna do it the best I can." I meant it, too. 

When your heart is so broken it feels like your guts are being pulled out, you do not want a repeat performance. You want to be done with it. 

You do not want to be broken at the end of it. You want to emerge whole and healed.

That's what I determined to do. Truly, I was terrible at it. If God hadn't dragged me along, healed what I couldn't possible imagine could be healed, and grown that little bit of goodness I wasn't even sure existed, I don't know where I'd be.

But He did. And here I am, all these years later. Content. Healed. Full of peace, and hope, and joy.

When we encounter a trial, we can be certain it's designed and allowed by God to produce a deeper maturity in our lives. Our motivation to endure through the difficulty and suffering of our trial should be our love for Him and what He'll accomplish in us on the other side of it.

God never wastes suffering.

Never.

No matter how difficult our trial, no matter how intense the suffering, He is in there with us and He will always make it worth it.

We may not have the result we want, but we will always gain something worth having.

If you're in a trial today, take courage. God's in there with you. He's working in you to change you, make you more like His Son, Jesus. He'll do such a beautiful work in you that, years later, you will weep with gratitude. If you'll let Him.

You don't have to be good at going through a trial. No one's good at it. All you have to do is surrender to His perfect love and obey, every chance you get. Our sweet God can handle the rest.

I love what Paul said. This life of ours is a kind of marathon we run in order to receive a prize, one that will last forever. (1 Cor. 9:24-27) 

So run. And if you can't run, stumble along. Crawl if you must. But keep going and, before you know it, you'll make it through the trial and be a bit closer to that glorious day when we hear the words I most long to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 

The short lesson this morning has pointed me back to gratitude, and I'll be giving thanks all day long. I hope you are, too.
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For those who have had a hard time downloading the James study to their phones, I'll divide it into separate blog posts this morning and you can access it that way. Links will be embedded. You won't need the BLB app.
If you'd like to participate in the James study, here's how: More than Enough: Living a Life Worth Living
If you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Dry Bones and New Life 
If you'd like to help support this ministry, here's the link to give: Global Outreach Acct 4841

The Opportunity in Trials

Joseph had one misadventure after another. Just when he'd climbed out of one precarious situation, another came his way. It began to look as if he'd never find a place of peace and security.  

You probably remember Joseph. He was the favorite son of his father, Israel. Joseph was always a dreamer of dreams. In his dreams, he had authority and power. Others bowed down to him. It was exciting stuff, and Joseph expected to have the future he dreamed about. 

When he was still a boy, he made the mistake of telling his brothers about his dreams. They didn't find them quite as exciting as Joseph did. I might be wrong about this, but I've always thought the brothers believed Joseph's dreams would come true, and it made them jealous and angry. 

Their father favored Joseph over his brothers and, it appeared, God did, too.

Their anger birthed a decision born of opportunity. You know the story. The brothers threw Joseph in a pit, then sold him to traveling traders (who, by the way, were selling the Balm of Gilead). In no time, Joseph was a slave in Potiphar's house. 

He was Potiphar's property. 

Being sold as a slave is a tragedy, but in the midst of tragedy, Joseph's character was revealed. 

That's what trials and tribulations do... They strip away our pretense and reveal what's inside. James 1:2 says we should "count it all joy" when we encounter trials. The root word for trials means "piercings". I believe the trials we encounter are designed to serve as "piercings" that reveal what's on the inside. 

The piercings of trials remove our facade and reveal the core of who we are.

The amazing part of this story is that what appeared to be an opportunity for the brothers to rid themselves of their trial (the irritating little brother) became an opportunity for Joseph to reveal his character. 

The brothers wasted their trial. Joseph seized his. 

He faced his trial with the same steadfast work ethic he'd demonstrated when tracking down his brothers for his father. 

Joseph responded to tragedy the way we all should. He was faithful to do the right thing, regardless of his circumstances. He didn't waste time being angry or bitter. He didn't whine or complain. 

Joseph did the job set before him with all his might, despite the circumstances, and we should, too.

There's no avoiding the trials of life, but they don't have to be wasted. Both Joseph and his brothers faced trials and revealed their true character, and we will, too.

When trials come, and they will, let's do what Joseph did. Let's use them to become the men and women God intended us to be.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Blessing Jar, The Potential for Heritage, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 1, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 2, How to Live Longer, Is Longer Life Worth the Cost of Obedience?, and The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide.

#trials #opportunity #sufferingisneverwasted #characterrevealed #disciple #Christian
photo courtesy of freeimages.com

The Grateful Heart: The Hard Times

One of my characters in my current novel-in-progress, Carter Price, is an FBI agent who is drawn into the lives of two young doctors when they find themselves in the midst of a terrorist attack. I'm not sharing the actual events because I want you to be surprised when you read it for the first time, but many terrible things happen. After all, what is a suspense novel without suspense? 

At one point, Carter says, "It's a good thing all this happened..." Those who took the brunt of the attack are not so sure, but Carter reminds them of all the good that came from their trial.

In a way, of course, I'm writing from my own life. When I look back at the hard times, I find that they were more than simply difficult. They were a drawing ground to bring me to Christ. They were a refining fire to burn out the impurities in my life. They were a training ground for a woman of God. 

Hard times will come to us all, but, if we allow them, they can be much more than something to survive. 

I read the story of Jacob this morning and found something I'd never noticed before. God appeared to Jacob when he came from Paddan-aram. He blessed him and changed his name from Jacob to Israel. Jacob, however, was still Jacob until he encountered one of those hard times.

His beloved wife Rachel, for whom he worked fourteen years for Laban, was pregnant with Benjamin. They were on their way to Bethlehem (Ephrath) when she went into labor. The child was born, she died, and was buried. Circumstances spiraled out of control. Tragedy struck when Jacob least expected it.

Genesis 35:20: "And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave..."
Genesis 35:21: "Then Israel journeyed on..."

The man Jacob watched his wife die. The man Jacob buried his wife and set up a pillar over her grave. The man Israel rose from that grave and journeyed onward. In the midst of his suffering, Jacob was transformed.

In one tragic moment of grief, Jacob became the man God intended him to be.

The question is not whether hard times will come, but in what way we will respond when they arrive? Will we allow our circumstances to mold and shape us? Will we allow the refining fire to burn out the impurities in our lives?

Just for a moment, let's take a look back at the hard times we've encountered. How were they used to make us better, more like Jesus, than we were before? 

Hard times will come to us all, but they can be much more than a trial to endure. If we allow it, they can become the defining moments of our lives. 

Hard times can become the place where we become the man or woman God created us to be. 

"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7 nasb

In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links:  Persevering for Paris, Resisting Evil, Praying for Peace, Answered Prayers in Disguise,  Grateful Heart: Mizpah, Nigerian Nightmare, and Grateful Heart: Maggie Protects her Master. 

The most read post of the last week: Praying for Peace.
photo courtesy of freeimages.com #blessingofadversity #trials #hardtimes #disciple