God was listening in

Saturday morning here. Listening to uplifting praise & worship music on a favorite CD. .."and we'll all bow down...kings will surrender their crowns..and worship Jesus, He is the love, unfailing love..He is the Love of God!....Oh my Jesus surrendering myself , again, this day bowing to you!!!

Yesterday, after a week of leaning into Jesus with every fiber of my being...one very dear to the Lord and to me phoned with some unsettling news. During our conversation phrases such as - "I don't understand...it seems like _____ never gets a break. Doing the right thing seems to bring difficulty after difficulty, etc. As we talked together we realized it was fleshly affection on our part for this one and others that puts that "want" in our hearts that hard times would not be a part of those we care so much about. Further we talked at length about how God stretches, melts and molds us in all our circumstances and that it is our experience that He builds strenth in us as we suffer in our struggles. For in our dark days we discover that He is the ONLY truth in our life that really matters.

Then this morning as I checked my inbox for my daily devotional mail the following was waiting - to encourage, comfort and strengthen . God was listening in!

Maybe you're facing a difficult trial in this season of your life. Maybe someone you love is struggling and it's so difficult not to jump in and try to do what only God can do. If so may this, from "Streams in the Desert" encourage your heart and strengthen your resolve to "let go and let God". May God's Word found in Jeremiah 32:27 fall afresh on you today -"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficultfor Me?"

Our Dependency on Christ from Streams In The Desert
"We are troubled on every side" (2 Cor. 7:5).

Why should God have to lead us thus, and allow the pressure to be so hard and constant? Well, in the first place, it shows His all-sufficient strength and grace much better than if we were exempt from pressure and trial. "The treasure is in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
It makes us more conscious of our dependence upon Him. God is constantly trying to teach us our dependence, and to hold us absolutely in His hand and hanging upon His care.This was the place where Jesus Himself stood and where He wants us to stand, not with self-constituted strength, but with a hand ever leaning upon His, and a trust that dare not take one step alone. It teaches us trust.
There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.The lesson of faith once learned, is an everlasting acquisition and an eternal fortune made; and without trust even riches will leave us poor. --Days of Heaven upon Earth
"Why must I weep when others sing?'To test the deeps of suffering.
'Why must I work while others rest?'To spend my strength at God's request.
'Why must I lose while others gain?'To understand defeat's sharp pain.
'Why must this lot of life be mine When that which fairer seems is thine?'Because God knows what plans for meShall blossom in eternity."


God bless, Judy