Trusting God (my latest read)

The other day I finished reading “Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts” by Jerry Bridges here are a some of the highlights for me. This was not an easy read for me at this time but it was an important one. I tried to reduce my selection of thoughts but found most too hard to delete. So here they are…(BOLD added by me)

-As Augustine said, “Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen; he either permits it to happen, or he brings it about himself.”

-Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting him…we honor God by choosing to trust him when we don’t understand what He is doing or why he has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur.

-God’s sovereignty and God’s promises were intended to stimulate prayer…Because God is sovereign, He is able to answer. Because He is faithful to His promises, He will answer.

-God always has a purpose for the grief He brings or allows in our lives. Most often we do not know what that purpose is, but it is enough to know that His infinite wisdom and perfect love have determined that the particular sorrow is best for us. God never wastes pain.

-Although we may be going to the Scriptures to learn how to respond to our adversities, we find those adversities help us to understand the Scriptures.

-For the believer all pain has meaning; all adversity is profitable.

-…trusting God is first of all a matter of the will and is not dependent on my feelings. I choose to trust God, and my feelings eventually follow.

-We are responsible to obey the will of God, but we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit for the enabling power to do it.

 

When Dr Phil Comes to Town

What an interesting day! We had the opportunity to have Dr. Phil visit our home and tape an episode of his show. Dr Phil and his wife Robin told us how they had been following Kate’s story from the very beginning and praying for us all the way. It was great to meet them and they were extremely gracious. We do not know when the show will air yet but we’ll pass the information on when we find out. We pray that God will use this episode to give hope to those going through hard times, to raise awareness and compassion, and in many other ways beyond our expectations. Here are a few pictures, maybe we will share more about all this in the future…

Pack Your Bags!!!

The other night Olivia came in the living room and declared, “I drew a picture of Kate’s tumor!” We all with horrified expressions looked at her to clarify what she just said. We couldn’t believe what we heard, and couldn’t imagine what the picture would look like. To our surprise and delight we saw this beautiful drawing of a blob with eyeballs, and a bag in hand.

Olivia proceeded to tell us that the bag was the tumor’s suitcase because it was packing up to leave Kate…Whew!!! We finally were able to breathe, and even laugh at the imaginative way a 7 year old deals with pain and deals out hope. Thank you God for the faith of a child!

Our Happy Anniversary

Well, for our 9th anniversary celebration today I am sitting in Kate’s hospital bed and Holly has been cleaning the room so Kate can hopefully head home tomorrow morning. Not exactly how we planned to spend this day but we will make the most of it. In fact, I have promised Holly a pepperoni pizza and corn dog from the hospital cafeteria for dinner, cause I know how to treat my lady right! It’s amazing how the years have flown by and how much we have experienced through our years together. One thing is certain our 9 years have not been boring, and I know well how blessed I am to have Holly as my wife. I am reminded of this…

Proverbs 18:22 ²² He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.

I can testify that I have received great favor from the Lord and my wife is not just a good find she’s grrreeaattt! So today in the midst of our all our troubles I can’t help but say ‘thank you Lord’ for my beautiful wife and my incredible children! Thank you Jesus for being so gracious…

Fall Break and Olivia Is Still Busy!!!

Our oldest Olivia must have been in an important conferins (conference) in the playroom. Kate, Holly and I have all been living at the hospital for a couple of weeks now, so Aunt Stephanie sent us this picture to show us what we are missing out on. We miss being around for moments like these. Please pray for Olivia and Will, that God would protect them and guard their hearts while we are away from each other.

Kate’s Dog???

Should we get this Golden-Doodle for Kate? I am not sure if it is cute enough or not…

thoughts on fasting

In Celebration of Discipline, Richard J. Foster has a great chapter called ‘The Discipline of Fasting’. Here are a few highlights that keep me on track!

-Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes.

-In most cases fasting is a private matter between the individual and God. There are, however, occasional times of corporate or public fasts.

-Fasting is not necessarily a commandment…but…in Matthew 6 Jesus does not say. ‘If you fast,’ neither does he say ‘You must fast’. His word is, very simply, ‘When you fast’.

-Fasting must forever center on God. If our fasting is not unto God, we have failed. Physical benefits, success in prayer, the enduing with power, spiritual insights- these must never replace God as the center of our fasting…Once the primary purpose of fasting is firmly fixed in our hearts, we are liberty to understand that there are also secondary purposes in fasting.

-Fasting reminds us we are sustained ‘by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ )Matthew 4:4

-You will be engaging in spiritual warfare that will necessitate using all the weapons of Ephesians 6.

-Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that can never happen in any other way.

In asking for a time of prayer and fasting for Kate, we are hoping to be a part of a movement that seeks God more passionately, knows Him more intimately and see’s His glory revealed on earth. Kate’s healing is important and we will continue to cry out to God that He will be gracious and grant our request. However, His glory is the ultimate goal and all of our efforts in prayer are to exalt Jesus! God gives us the unbelievable privilege to have access to Him in prayer and to trust that He actually hears us! So, with boldness we call out, with hope we know He is listening, and in fasting we withdraw from the cares of this world for a time to declare Jesus, You are LORD!

PRACTICALLY: We strive to saturate our times of prayer and fasting with…

Praise

Psalm 9:1-2 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Scripture

Matthew 4:4 Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Fast & Pray for Kate

This Wednesday September 16th Kate will have an MRI to determine if the treatment plan she is on is working or not. Needless to say, this is a HUGE day for us and the anticipation of this test weighs heavy on our hearts and minds. A multitude of questions occupy our thoughts, questions like …

Is the chemo working? Is the tumor shrinking? Are we putting out daughter through all this pain for nothing?

Throughout the Bible there are certain circumstances in life that cause for extra steps of faith, like the old adage that says ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’. Times like when Jesus says, “except by prayer and fasting”. SOOOO, here is the response that God is calling us to and we are inviting anyone who can and will to join us. Holly and I are going to seek God through fasting on behalf of Kate. We are inviting family, friends, strangers, basically anyone who trusts in Christ our Lord and believes in the power of prayer to join us.

Fasting can be skipping a meal or a day of food, in order to devote extra time and focus to prayer! However, food is not the only thing we can fast from. You could go without TV or internet, go on less sleep, give up exercise any of these activities that occupy our lives. The point is not, NOT doing something, the essence of fasting is DOING something else, namely seeking God with greater effort and intensity.

So, would you consider joining us at some point in the next few days in fasting for Kate. We are praying for things like this…

-that the MRI will reveal that the tumor is shrinking or even gone completely

-that Kate’s stomach pains will go away

-that there will be no harmful effects from any of this treatment on Kate

-that God would be glorified and many come to know Christ through this

I will post more details on fasting over the course of the next few days. If you are willing and able to join us in this then please let us know by posting a comment/prayer here or on www.prayforkate.com. Thanks to all of you who are standing with us through this…

focus determines faith

Did you know that even the most severe storms sometimes have profound positive effects? I read this meteorological article not too long ago that described this reality. Devastating thunderstorms often bring much needed rain to some of the most drought stricken areas. At times, forest fires breathe fresh life into decaying wooded areas. Some hurricanes are known to break drought patterns that have plagued regions of the world. Even lighting converts nitrogen in the air to a usable form called ‘fixed’ nitrogen.

If these things are true (and they have to be, I found them on the internet) then could it be possible that in the midst of the storms of our lives God could still work for our good. Could it be that in the middle of your relational, financial, emotional, crisis that God himself is still in control and still can be found to be good and faithful?

Matthew 14:22-33 tells the popular Bible story of Jesus & Peter walking on water, then Peter sinking in the water, and then Jesus rescuing Peter from the stormy water. We see a couple of different responses from Peter that seem to impact the course of these events. Peter has the choice whether to focus on the circumstances around him, ie howling winds & monstrous waves, or focus on Jesus as the Lord demonstrating his mastery over the storm by stomping out its power. When Peter focused on the storm, he started sinking, when he focused on Jesus he was helped.

We like Peter often fall into the trap of focusing on our circumstances to the avoidance of fully focusing on Christ. This pattern of life works decently until we are faced with a storm and then our focus becomes as chaotic as the situation we find ourselves in. When we focus on our circumstances our faith will only be as strong as our emotional state, status in life, and ability to understand our situation! Consequently, storms even small ones can easily lead to worry, frustration, and even panic.

On the other hand, if we learn what it means to focus on Christ like Peter did (for the few seconds before he turned his attention back to the wave) then we will discover the secret of what it means to live by faith. In this episode we quickly learn that while we are in the middle of our storms Jesus prays for us, Jesus comes to us right where we are, and Jesus rescues us as we turn to him. If we can just see Jesus, our faith is strengthened, our hope renewed, and our courage stirred up. If we remain focused on him, eyes set, then even though the storm assaults us, we don’t have to fear. Instead, we can faithfully trust Jesus, walking step by step in the strength God supplies, and knowing that God is at work behind the scenes doing more than we could ever imagine!

Obstacles into Opportunities

Eight months ago, I was in Hyderabad, India! I met a man there that  I will never forget. He had a shaved head, and he had scars, both were the results of an angry mob that attacked him and violently abandoned him to die in the middle of nowhere. I was shocked at the horror of what he faced, and yet amazed by his strength and courage. This man was a pastor from Orissa, India; a region where widespread persecution of Christians had recently exploded. I am not sure I had ever stood face to face with a man who had suffered so much, yet remained so faithful and full of hope. I liked what I saw!

This man reminded me of Joseph, you may know the story, it’s found in Genesis 37-50. I will not go into details, you can read it for yourself, but Joseph faced a series of trials and abuses in life yet continued to believe that God was in control of his life and trust God that God had a purpose and a plan through all the crap!

Joseph said things like…

Genesis 45: ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Genesis 50: ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Joseph was sold into slavery, unjustly imprisoned, and then abandoned in prison for years. However, we can see from the verses above that Joseph realized that what seemed to be obstacles in his life, God used as the greatest opportunities. God saved many from starvation through Joseph, God reunited a family through this, and now here we are thousands of years later and through the years God has inspired similar things throughout history on account of this story.

We like Joseph may face obstacles and we have a choice to make, whether  we will respond by seeking revenge, becoming bitter, questioning God, or will we trust him even still. The first responses are the easiest, they are the ones that often align best with what we are ‘feeling’. However, the question remains are they the best response, are they the right response?

Like Joseph, none of us can accurately predict what God is doing in the middle of our storm, but God himself promises that we can still trust him. He is still a God who passionately loves us and is working out good (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11).

So what’s your problem? Feeling abandoned and alone? God will never leave you or forsake you! Finances have you consumed with worry? God is our provider, seek Him first and do not worry! Even in the midst of the storm, we are in the palm of his hand! I cannot promise you what the outcome looks like. Sometimes I am overwhelmed and my heart almost breaks when I think about what ‘may’ happen to my daughter, the possibilities are endless and some of them horrible. Nevertheless, today I must choose to trust God, to remind myself of who He is and all His promises. Today, may all of us who are facing storms in life choose to hear these words, God can turn your greatest obstacles into the greatest opportunities, for his glory!