I am learning to ignore the voice of the stranger. I will listen only to my Good Shepherd, for He loves me and cares for me.
I was listening to some teaching last night and the preacher pointed out what I have been saying, that we get attacked by the enemy when we are doing good and we get attacked when we are doing bad. Either way, the enemy hates believers and will stop at nothing to try to get us to doubt God and blame God. I heard another speaker once who said that the enemy takes a risk every time he attacks a believer, because if the believer turns to God (instead of doubting or blaming God) then the believer's faith is strengthened. That is what happened when Satan attacked my children with leg cramps, eye pain, and eczema. When I prayed in fear, I saw no improvements and I was tempted to doubt, but when I turned to God in faith and believed that He would indeed answer me, then I found God to be faithful to His word and my faith was strengthened. My relationship with God grew and my love for Him exploded.
When I speak out and share the Good News, I usually find myself under attack. I shared about my delight in being 29 weeks pregnant and not experiencing pre-term contractions, and BAM, suddenly I began to have more contractions and strong contractions. They are indeed Braxton-Hicks contractions and they are tiring and they are sometimes strong, but they are definitely NOT labor contractions. The stranger whispers in my ear, "Here they come again!" "Maybe you over did it at VBS." "God didn't really heal you. Do you see? You are having contractions again." "Look. You can't count on God. He's allowing you to have contractions yet again." "Sleep, rest, take care of yourself. You know what to do. You've been through this before." I will NOT listen to any of that.
Here is what I know. During my last few pregnancies I learned that when I became afraid of what was happening in my body, then everything got worse. When I gave in to the fear, then I truly had something to be afraid of. When I dug into God's word and learned that I could count on Him for my strength, I got up and served my family (because that is my calling) and I was fine and had fewer contractions. I know that God allows me to be tested, but he does not tempt me. Trials come so that my faith will be proven genuine. His word says that! The trial comes, and Satan tempts me to doubt God, to question God's goodness, and to blame God for my discomfort. I will NOT!
I put on the full armor of God and I rest in His truth (belt). I rest in His promises. I am made righteous by the blood of the Lamb and the Spirit lives in me and leads me in paths of righteousness (breastplate). I rest in the peace that He gives me (shoes). I take up my shield of faith, and by it I am able to extinguish all of those flaming arrows that are hurled at me by the enemy (shield). I know that my Redeemer lives, so I rest in my salvation (helmet). I take up my sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and I PRAY! I pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, and I wait for the Lord to answer because He says that He will!
I fight with the Word! God is good! He's good all the time! He is love! He cares for me. His love endures forever. His faithfulness endures through all generations. He sent forth His word and He healed them. When I cry out to Him, He hears me. Nothing is impossible for God! God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Faith pleases Him. God is love. He made me in His image and He made me to love. He commands me to love Him and to love others as He loves me. There is NO fear in love, because perfect love casts out all fear. And on and on and on and on and on...
Surely, as I write this, I have not had one contraction. My baby moves and I am filled with joy knowing that this special gift is safe and secure in my womb because God keeps us safe. I have had some contractions over the past few days and I have been tempted to worry, but God says that we should not be anxious about anything, so I pray. I trust. I'm fine. I will not fear. I walked for an hour tonight before I sat down to write this. No contractions. Praise God!
Also, my 5 year old is sick with a fever and aches and pains. I wish I could say that I prayed for him and he became immediately well, but I can not. He is still sick for three days now. He is so sweet. He comes to me with such sweetness and tells me he loves me. He asks me to pray for him. I do. Sometimes he feels better. Sometimes he gets worse. Sometimes there is no change. We just keep praising God and talking about all of the things that God has done for us. He likes that and is comforted by that. I took him to the doctor today. It was the first time in two years that he had been to see a doctor. She was wonderful and nice and thorough. She did a strep test after assessing all of his symptoms, but it came back negative. Praise God! She determined it was a virus and advised me to keep doing what we have been doing until he gets well. So we love and cuddle and pray. We give detox baths, encourage lots of water, and give him lots of rest. He will be fine. God is with us through it all. I understand that sometimes God will let us go through the fire, but He is there with us and we will come out of it unharmed like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So there you have it. We do not live a life without trouble, but we live abundantly through it all because the God of all creation is right there with us.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
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