I've heard this statement more times than I can count. I'm sure some of you reading this have heard or been told the same thing or maybe even been the one to say it to me..*smiles* (stay with me here, in my weird way this will hopefully all make sense *winks*)
So here I go telling you all the crazy in my head. A young teenager lost her life this past week in our small town. She was the same age as my oldest daughter. I believe any parent can feel a strong reaction to such a situation. You feel grief for the family and then you are thankful for your child and you maybe hug them a little tighter. I have all that. Then...well, then....I'm gripped for moments in fear or not fear so much as panic maybe when I think of the frailty of my sweet Lillian. My mind is automatically creating scenes of a future event I don't even want to comprehend. I HATE that my mind goes there. How do I stop this crazy thought process? This sounds so incredibly selfish even as I type it...but I am profoundly shaken when I hear of a child's death. It strikes a chord of fear in me that I cannot even fully describe.
A friend of mine shared with me a sermon she wrote and she spoke of Jeremiah. Her opening statement was "how did I get here" One of her points throught out was God giving us all we need in circumstances we don't feel qualified to do. All through reading her work, I thought of a former pastor who often said "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called" I can totally identify with feeling like I'm not strong enough or qualified for the journey I've been on these last almost 6 years. But guess what? Each and every day God gives me renewed strength through prayer and His word. He sends me encouragement through friends and people I don't even know. Each and every day. There are days when this lady would surely have called it quits if the Living God wasn't living in me. Praise God for his strength. So, today as I continued to work through these emotions and thoughts running rampant in my mind, I began to recall scripture...particularly the words "think on these things" I found my way to Phillipians and I found comfort and renewed focus...
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
13 For I can do everything through Christ,[c] who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. (NLT)
Verse 13, that says it all.
Good post. It's hard for me to not go there too. I do it all the time. It's good to know that God has a definite purpose though for whatever hardships come our way and we are not doing it alone. Hugs.
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