That's God!

A lot of people are suffering or have terrible hurts in their lives and have walked away from God thinking He is responsible for their pain. The one thing we tend to forget, is that He is not at fault because Satan is the ruler of this world. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm." (Ephesians 6:12). 

I nearly died several times when I was very young, and when I got older, I ran away and did drugs, was very promiscuous and never once had an STD. God also delivered me from an awful drug addiction the day I turned 21! That's God! My oldest son, now 28, did 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He came home each time without a scratch! That's God! Our oldest daughter almost died from cancer when she was between the age of 18 months and 3 1/2 years old. I'll never forget the day she had her first surgery. I was basically living with her in the 5th floor Oncology ward at Children's Hospital in Oakland, CA. The morning of her first surgery, I was reading my daily devotional. It was all about a little girl whose porcelain doll fell off the shelf and was broken into several pieces. She picked up the pieces and the doll and took them to her father and in tears she asked, "Daddy, please put my dolly back together again?" I immediately began to cry and pray and ask "Abba, Daddy, please put my little doll back together again?" I had our Pastor read the devotional to everyone from our little church, who came to support us in our time of need that day as we sat in the cafeteria waiting for her surgery to be completed. There wasn't a dry eye in the group after hearing him read it. Why? Because they immediately recognized that God was in control! It was no coincidence that that particular devotional, had that particular story for that particular day! IT WAS GOD and that gave me even more faith! Through all of our prayers and through His amazing grace, God let her stay with us, which I praise Him for daily! She is now 26, graduated from college in May and is now working for a terrific company making way more than I ever have! THAT'S GOD! I'm so proud of all of my children I could shout it from the mountain tops! They are my legacy!

I had severe infections and nearly died after my 3rd and 4th child were born and again after a surgery when my youngest was 2 1/2 and still lived to tell the tale! He has saved me from a lot of different things throughout my life AND THAT IS DEFINITELY GOD! I suffer now to the extent that it is difficult just to write out a grocery list, but thankfully the more I type, the less my fingers, hands, wrists and elbows hurt! 

As long as I praise God, and give Him the day and tell Him "Apart from you Lord, I know I can do nothing," I seem to have a much better day, full of His grace! After all, "All people are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24). I won't be here forever, but it's nice to know that giving Him my life every day, laying down my selfish interests and letting Him move through me, I am being given an exceedingly abundant amount of His grace because I am obedient to Him!

No matter what we are going through, no matter how painful, no matter how difficult, no matter how sorrowful, we need to put our cares at the foot of His cross! He's already carrying us through the rough spots in our lives anyway and even when we feel we can't go on, He will give us His strength to do so! 

It's a true gift to know that it isn't the end when we suffer from physical or emotional set backs! God is right there waiting to help us through it and if we'll let Him? He'll give us the strength we need every day that we ask Him for His help!