Friday, July 9, 2010

Learning a lesson I already knew

Romans 5:3-5
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I have been meditating on this verse since I found it in my Romans study recently... isn't it nice how God gives us things to comfort us?  

We had several things happen to us in the last few months...

It started with everything going much better than it had been - we had some tight finances before and were unable to fly my stepson here for the summer and were generally just breaking even.

Then everything started getting better...
we started planning more renovations on our house and even wanted to put our 5-yr old in a taekwondo class. (this was just the week before everything happened)

But our plans aren't God's plans.

This is what June alone looked like for us...
  1. My husband's job was bought out by another company and he was given a HUGE demotion and a HUGE pay DEcrease. And it was either take this offer or be out on the curb with no prospects at all...  so we took the awful offer. And it was awful...

  2. To the point that we're going to have to sell his motorcycle.

  3. This happened while we're trying to pay medical bills from having our son...


  4. Then our *almost* 2 yr old daughter falls out of the grocery cart at WalMart and suffers a concussion. (Yes I'm still kicking myself over this) We were in the hospital for two days just praying over her while my sister (who by a great blessing was visiting) stayed with our other kids at home. I really do believe that God answered prayers and made her well again. But her hospital stay made more medical bills... Don't get me wrong - we're still praising God that she's okay - but bills that are more than my husband's paycheck make even us falter.

  5. And just after she recovers from this, all three of our daughters come down with hand, foot and mouth disease. We practically quarantined our daughters from our 6 wk old son... and, of course, it's the same daughter that had a concussion that has it worst.


  6. And THEN, just as we're getting ready to take my sister to the airport to go home, part of our CEILING caves in (from a clogged HVAC unit that ran over into the ductwork and drowned the ceiling). Yes, that was  another bill and there are still repairs to be made. At this point, I was just... "Really?" My husband and I were seeing this for what it was BY NOW and right after it happened we got on our knees and were praying with everything we had

 I think that was what God really wanted from all of this... to bring us closer to Him. Isn't that amazing that He works so actively in our lives??? Looking back on it, I bet He was smiling over how our first reaction was to take each other's hands and drop down to the floor.

Before all of this happened, the memorization verse on my fridge was James 1:2-3:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But I don't think I was seeing the whole picture... 

Which is why it was like a thunderclap when I read Romans 5:3-5

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I have had this hope all along and I just wasn't employing it correctly. When any Christian goes through tribulations, we have the most awesome contender in our corner... and I should have remembered that through everything that happened. I was praying... but it was more of a "woe is me" praying... you know, "Lord, please get us out of this"... instead of "Lord I have faith that you will see us through this."


God will provide for us and He will comfort us.

I have HOPE because of HIM

If you don't know Christ, I pray that you will see that He is the answer to every question. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (not a one of us is good enough for Him). 24 Being justified freely (because we haven't earned it) by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (the price for sins) through faith in his blood (faith in Christ), to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.

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