With all the insanity going on recently, I received some encouragement from some friends. I post it here so that I remember it. “When I put my whole life in His hands, I do not erase the possibility of doubt. I simply refuse to accept it as real.” (Skip Moen) I love this! It’s like the little child with a monster under her bed or in his closet. :) Much of faith (perhaps all) is a choice I make to believe. “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5.10) This verse was part of a longer post reminding me about the three men who were thrown into the furnace for refusing to worship the kind of Babylon. Even heated seven times hotter, the fire did not kill them – and the mysterious “fourth man” hung out with them in the midst of the flames. Silver is refined in a pot, but gold in the fire. Maybe God’s going for the gold. :) “I pictured the act of rolling out dough. I don’t know if you are familiar with southern cuisine……but I like to “roll” my own dough for chicken and pastry. I roll it very thin and it almost melts in your mouth. There is a certain point where, if rolled too thin, it falls apart. If you cook it too long, it also becomes mushy and the consistency is less than desired. May I say that the One who gives us Bread of Life is working in your life RIGHT NOW, and He will make sure everything is PERFECT FOR HIS GLORY!” This analogy is awesome (especially if you’ve had good old-fashioned southern biscuits)! God never rolls things too thin or cooks things for too long. He is the perfect chef! Now, if the chicken will just stay in the pot… One thing I’ve craved is community, and I find it interesting how much of that I find in these friends whom I’ve never met! Their openness and insight pours soothing balm over my life. We may live worlds apart (literally, since some are as far away as Australia!), but a common love and passion connects us. How incredible is that! I am SO blessed! Thank you Yeshua for Your love and for Your children!
“Honey is tasteless to a person who is full, but even the bitter food seems sweet to the hungry.” Proverbs 27:7 Honey is tasteless to a person who is full – I think that sometimes when we are greatly blessed, we are full metaphorically. Life is sweet and we are content. There is no hunger. And sometimes, this is the time when we forget the sweetness of God. Or rather, perhaps the sweetness of God falls on satisfied tastebuds and is not remembered. Rather we forget how wonderful His gifts are. BUT, then there comes a time when we are in times of refinement, and although it is a bitter pill to swallow, it is sweet to know that God is working to make us more like Him (yeah, sounds great in theory, right – but it’s a lot harder in practice!). As we hunger to learn and to know Him better, the bitterness of our circumstances is made a little sweeter.