Enjay08’s Weblog
We often feel alone during times of trouble. God doesn’t want that. He promises to always be with us.Archive for June, 2008
Anxiety, Be Gone
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
My journey to perfect peace has been a long one, one directly led by God. Years ago, I was so axiety ridden that I feared leaving my home, even for short errands. Vacations were a terror – I worried about what might happen on the road – would the car break down, would something happen to our home in our absence. I struggled with these fears before each outing. These fears stole much of the enjoyment of life.
Gradually, over the years, God taught me to Trust Him, and NOT worry. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comfort delights my soul. Psalm 94:19
By giving Him control over what happens to me, I can relax, not because nothing ‘bad’ will happen to me, but because He will be there, working for me and for His purposes. Slowly, I learned to turn to Him with more and more of my concerns, submitting them to His perfect will. He has trained me to rely on Him and His love. He prepared me for Cancer and MS.
God wants us to live in Him every moment of the day. Our minds should be ’stayed’ on Him. He should be a constant presence in our minds, teaching and guiding us. Worrying about the future shows our lack of trust in Him.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 63:4
God’s presence and care is an enormous blessing, one available to all who are willing to submit to His will.
Shield of Faith
I’m a SciFi fan. Futuristic movies and TV shows often have protective shields available for protecting ships and individuals against the enemy’s weapons. How wonderful! The protected can go about their business in absolute safety. That’s the idea even though the shields are often pierced or disabled in battle.
But here in the real world we all know that there is no absolute protection from physical dangers. No place in the world is safe from hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, floods or fire. Natural disasters happen everywhere. Physical dangers are even more prevalent. Disease, accidents, and crime affect millions everyday.
So what is this scripture talking about? (. . . above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16) Faith is a spiritual tool, right up there with truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, salvation, the word of God, prayers, supplication, watchfulness, and perseverance. (also from Ephesians 6.)
And who is this wicked one the scripture speaks of? Satan, who desires to prevent us from knowing God, or if we know Him, to prevent us from growing and witnessing.
So, the shield of faith is a guarantee against spiritual attack on what really matters – our relationship with God. But the believer must put faith into play. How strong is your shield of faith? It is tested everyday, in small or large ways.
We live in a physical world, but we also exist on a spiritual level and that should be the focus of our lives. We need to learn and grow in our spiritual relationship with our Creator, the God of the universe and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
. . .but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. . . Romans 5:3
Troubles are proof of a spiritual battle. Just as a body temperature can be evidence of an invisible infection. Trials are a blessing once we know what is really going on and fight the spiritual battle with the weapons God provides. Use your shield of faith.
A New World/A New Year
Hello World, Happy Birthday to me!!!
This past year has been extraordinary. A very mixed bag of good and bad. The good far outweighs the bad.
Highlights of the year:
Last year’s birthday present – cancer. (imagine this list sung to the tune of: And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.)
Three Pet/Cts, three MRIs, tons of blood work (ouch), two surgeries, gallons of chemo, three stays in the hospital, weeks of radiation, dozens of visits to the doctors, stacks of paid (thank God) medical bills, Shingles, chemo fatigue, mastectomies, hysterectomy (now I can’t get hysterical anymore-whew!), dozens of trips to the pharmacy, xrays, visiting nurses in my home, a slew of new doctors, undressing and dressing quickly, lots of climbing onto exam tables, more medical jargon than I ever wanted to know, pills and pills, well you get the picture.
Thank God: all local docs – within three miles, great insurance and the money to pay for it – sometimes right from God’s storehouse to my bank account, miraculous intervention on financial and insurance issues, wonderful friends, great medical staff, the technology to fight cancer, God’s many mercies to me and loving care, even for MS which I think masks any pain I might have, opportunities to testify to God’s goodness, being used to touch others’ lives, suffering for Christ’s sake, time to read the Bible and pray, learning to see God’s multitude of blessings everywhere, (later I’ll tell you about the special flowers God planted all over my yard), and on and on!!!!
When I entered CancerLand, I entered a new world. I knew I couldn’t handle cancer by myself, so I handed it over to God and told Him to use this trek and myself for His purposes. I had no idea how He could use me or this experience, but I soon found out.
He has blessed me, this is true, but more than that He has blessed others through me. His love has truly flowed through me. This doesn’t mean I am special or great. . . (heaven forbid) but that I have yielded to God. This is what He wants. He gave us free will but we can’t be truly free until we give it back to Him. His will is better than anything we can come up with on our own.
God is so good, He IS goodness and pure love. I pray that you know Him.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 (New King James Version)
