Ever wish you could turn on this magical switch that would make all your challenges and discouragement just disappear? :) I have been finding myself wishing that to an extent lately ... although ultimately I know challenging times are a good thing in that they draw me all the closer to Jesus ... so, really, why should I "wish them away" ... no matter how hard they may be from a fleshly, temporal perspective. Deep down what I need most is to know Jesus more intimately ... so anything that brings that about in my life is a Friend ... even if hard for the moment.
I've kind of found myself battling a good bit of discouragement lately. Part of it could be the spiritual battle we are all in, that I can so often forget about. As believers in Jesus, we are engaged in a very real spiritual battle ... but God wins! Praise the Lord for that! :)
On another note, I did have some nice times of fellowship this weekend with friends, especially with the great group from Transit (my Sat. night BIble study) as we all hung out at Pei Wei Asian Diner after the study. That was really fun!
A humorous note ... as I was sharing with the rest of the staff last night about Myanmar* for one of the segments for prayer, I was encouraging people to engage passionately in prayer ... doing battle for the people of Myanmar. I know that for me, physically getting on my knees when I pray can really help me sometimes ... not that there's anything special about being on our knees, but somehow the Lord just uses it in my life sometimes to get me in the right frame of mind. Well, anyhow, I was like, "Get down on your hands and knees if that helps" ... then I had to laugh (as well as others :)) because I have this picture of everyone on their hands and knees, praying. :-) Too funny! Of course I meant to say "Get down on your knees", but the slip-up gave me a good laugh ... which the Lord must have known I needed. :) Laughter is good for the heart and good medicine in the challenging times of life. So is God's Word. (eternally so!) He was encouraging me this week through Isaiah 58, especially as I was preparing to share about the incredibly hard situation in Myanmar.
*If you have been seeing the news reports on BBC news and other sources, you know the precious people in Myanmar could really use our prayers. Do cry out to the Lord of the harvest for them! I know God has a heart for the people there and we can look to Him in faith to intervene in incredible ways on their behalf to provide for them and draw them to Himself ... ]
Welcome, dear friends! Here you will find an assortment of snippets and reflections ... and hopefully some encouraging quotes from people like John Piper and C.S. Lewis and ... most of all ... the Scriptures. :-) Leave a comment if you'd like - I would love to hear from you! Have a GREAT day.
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