ApprehendingGrace.com

Yesterday’s blog was about choosing to have an unoffendable heart, even when others do things that are meant to harm us. Some would describe that as developing tougher skin. As I began to write this follow-on blog, I realized that it’s not tougher skin, but softer skin – skin that is so conformed to the image of Christ that we ooze His passions and His compassion. Christ’s Number 1 desire is that people come to know Him – that each person accept Him as their Savior. Paul shared Christ’s passion and he rejoiced even when others preached the gospel for the purpose of stirring up trouble that would result in him being treated more harshly in prison. It’s a hard thing to rejoice when others are purposefully trying to harm you. In one sense, Paul’s skin was tough enough to let those assaults roll off him. But in a greater sense, his skin was softened with compassion for even those who assaulted him, wanting to see the Gospel proclaimed to all.

Well, that was yesterday. Today I came to this verse:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates correction is stupid.
Proverbs 12:1

As I started writing this blog, the phrase that was rolling around in my head was that we need to develop a “tougher skin.” It seems to me that few people accept discipline well these days. It seems that the slightest word of correction brings offense, and in many cases causes people to leave their church and often not find another one. The end result is that the Body of Christ is harmed in a number of ways.

• Both the person giving correction and the person receiving it are often hurt deeply. The closer the relationship they enjoyed, the deeper the pain.
• The larger Body of Christ is harmed as those around the people involved grieve and are now in the situation of having friends who are at odds with each other.
• The larger Body of Christ is also harmed as those not yet a part of the Body watch and walk away discouraged from ever joining themselves from such a group.

Sometimes this leads people to no longer give loving discipline. The results of this are equally devastating. Children who are never disciplined become spoiled and unruly. They develop an attitude of superiority. They grow up believing they can do whatever they want whenever they want, unconcerned about the effect their actions may have on others. Adult “children” are no different.

As I said, my first thought was that “we need to develop tougher skin” so that we are not offended at the slightest correction. We ought to welcome discipline, even seek it out if it helps us to become more like Christ. We ought to talk it out and then take it back to our prayer closets and ask God to reveal the truth in it. If we are the one being disciplined, we probably need to ask an objective brother or sister to pray with us and provide objective counseling based on God’s Word, because we may be too emotionally caught up in the situation and not able to hear God through our emotions.

It was as I sat down to write that I realized it’s not a tougher skin that we need, it’s a softer skin that can be more easily molded into the image of Christ. The attitude required to have tougher skin doesn’t yield itself to being reshaped by the working of Christ in our lives – because that’s what the correction and even the true offenses are – Christ, working in us to mold and shape us into the image of Christ.

Can we agree to have an unoffendable heart and a soft skin? Can we agree to rejoice in offenses and discipline that further the cause of Christ? Can we agree to allow Christ to have His way with us, putting us into situations that require us to humbly be molded into His image so that others see Him through us? Not an easy thing we’re called to, this Christ-likeness. But the payoff is high – seeing the Gospel preached (in word and deed) throughout our world.

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.

⁵“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! ⁸My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
          John 15:1-8 (NLT)

Notice that both the branches that bear fruit and those that don’t experience death. Obviously those that don’t produce fruit are cut off from their root system and eventually die. But even those that bear fruit – those that produce good fruit – will experience a death through pruning. Pruning involves cutting off healthy branches to enable the tree to grow more, healthier fruit and branches. Again, that which is cut off will be left to die.

I was thinking about how I might illustrate this if I were to preach it. There’s a florist in the business networking group I meet with weekly. If I were to ask him to bring me one rose each week, by the end of a month, I’d have four roses in various stages of dying. All four of them would have been cut off from their root system, so they are no longer receiving life-giving nourishment. Imagine the four roses lined up in front of you in four clear vases.

• The first rose I received would undoubtedly be dead or near death.
• The second rose is showing signs of weakness – it’s brown around the edges and drooping.
• The third rose still has good color, but when you touch it, you can tell that it has become weak. The stem isn’t as firm and strong as it was when I first got it and the leaves droop a bit.
• The last rose I received is vibrant in color and strong enough to stand in the vase without assistance. Yet cut off from its roots, we know that soon it will look like the first rose.

That’s what Jesus is saying. That He is our root system and when we are cut off – when we do not remain in Him – we weaken and eventually die. The longer we are away from our “vine”, the weaker we are. The roses that are two or three weeks old are so easily broken. Just barely touching them will cause their leaves and petals to fall off. The new rose doesn’t break so easily.

New fruit, new buds, don’t appear on the cut flowers. Likewise, we cannot be fruitful apart from God. But when we remain in Christ, God prunes us so that what become more fruitful. We cannot be fruitful apart from Him, but in Him, our fruitfulness is multiplied. I love verse 8 – our fruitfulness, which is a result of staying near Jesus, brings great glory to God. He prunes us for greater fruitfulness and it brings Him great glory. Hallelujah!

Pruning is painful, but fruitfulness brings rejoicing. I’m reminded of this verse:

Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
          Psalms 30:5b

 The word that is translated “joy” here means shouting with joy or great rejoicing. Pruning is not pleasant, but praise God, He will be glorified by our increased fruitfulness.

I attended a conference over the weekend during which Graham Cooke, the speaker, said the following: “There is something beyond faith. Beyond faith is knowing.” Wow! He’s so right. Faith is something you must activate or exercise. Faith is a choice – choosing to believe that God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He can do. Knowing doesn’t require faith. I know God is good, so I don’t have to exercise faith to believe it. I know God forgives me, so I no longer have to use faith to walk in His forgiveness. There was a time when I didn’t know these things and I had to exercise faith to believe them.

I remember saying many years ago that one of the blessings of getting older in the Lord is that you develop a history with Him and a confidence in Him. You can walk in confidence in many areas where you might have once doubted. I was saying what Graham said so much better. At other times in my life, I’ve said that I was so glad some difficult event didn’t happen when I was younger in the faith because instead of worrying or doubting, I was able to have confidence in God and walk through the situation.

Knowing God gives us vision and energy to see His goodness in the midst of difficult circumstances. When I have to focus my energies simply on believing what He has said or promised, my vision is often closed off to His goodness in the situation. Growing up in God is a process of choosing to believe Him and walk confidently in that belief. At some point, He will give us experiences that solidify our belief transforming it into knowing. I know God my God will supply all my needs (Philippians 4:19) because He has provided for me every day of every year of my life. He has demonstrated and proven to me His promise to provide for me so much that I don’t doubt it. I know He will provide.

God in His graciousness and wisdom helps us to grow our faith by giving us ever-increasing challenges to conquer to transform our faith into knowing. What challenges are you facing right now that God has tailor-made to help you grow up in Christ? God has allowed them to help you know Him better. And knowing God is peace. Be blessed, friends, with knowing God.

As our church prepares to participate corporately in an extended fast, several things have been rattling around in my brain:

As we sample from the buffet of life, the more we eat of those things that have no nutritional value, the less room we have for the things that will nourish us.

Of course this applies to real eating – the more ice cream and cake I eat the less room I have for veggies & fruit. But it also applies to all of life’s activities. The more mindless TV I watch, the less time I have for reading or exercising. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with ice cream and cake or even mindless TV. I’m just saying a steady diet of them makes us fat and weak, both physically and spiritually. And if we partake of those things FIRST, we close the door to those other things that can bring us great joy. Lord, help me to make good choices.

    “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
     “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
               Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT)

If we focus on what we’re giving up instead of what we’re gaining we’ll never be happy.

Which would you rather have – a life of contentment or a life of lack? You can have either life from the same circumstances. Again, I’m not saying that there isn’t real lack in some of our lives. But for most of us, we have a house in which to live, enough food to eat and people who love us. I want my focus to be on those blessings, not on what I lack. As we look toward the fast, I can look at things I might be giving up and feel bad about that, or I can look at what I hope to gain and be excited for things to come. Our culture is so acclimated to looking at what we don’t have and wanting bigger, better and more. Lord, help me to be content with You and not long for all those other things.

for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
              Philippians 4:11b-12

One of the purposes of fasting is to strip away all the things that grab our attention and turn it away from God – to help us realize that He is the source of every good and perfect gift and to be content.

Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.
               James 1:17-18

This morning I’ve been humming a song we sang in worship yesterday…

I will wait…I will wait for the Lord. How good is the Lord, to those whose hope is in Him.
I will wait…and let God be God. I will wait, I will wait for the Lord.

(Thanks, Pastor Larry, for writing it.)

Be blessed, all!

          by guest blogger Phil Hovatter 

Perhaps you’ve gotten the same email that I have – the one about a couple from New York who wanted to retire in Portugal. After much searching, they found a real estate deal that looked pretty good. A nice piece of farmland whose owners had died 15 years earlier without an heir, so the farm was being sold by the government to pay for back taxes that had accumulated.

The reason why no buyers were interested for 15 years was that there was a major eyesore on the property. The original owner had erected an enormous “barn” – more of a warehouse, really, with large steel doors that were welded shut – and the cost to have it removed wasn’t appealing to most. The retired couple from New York considered the price of the farm to be such a bargain that the barn didn’t matter. But their first order of business after taking ownership of the property was to satisfy their curiosity. What could be lurking inside that big building?

What they reportedly found were cars – lots of cars. 180 cars. And not just any old beaters. These were great European cars – sports cars, classic cars, roadsters, and limited-edition cars, all covered in a thick layer of dust. Any one of them (if it were cleaned up a bit) would be gallery-quality. Estimated value: $35,000,000.

Nice story. Is it true? Not according to the Internet myth-busting website Snopes.com, but to tell you the truth, in my humble opinion, I find their “true” version is harder to believe than the email version. You be the judge.

All of this long rambling is just a prelude to a short parable I read today in Matthew 13:44. Jesus said,

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Hmmm. What struck me this morning was, why didn’t he just take the hidden treasure he had found and claim it for his own? Finders keepers, right?

But that’s not what the kingdom of heaven is like. There is one right way to lay claim to it, but there are many wrong ways.

Jesus makes this clear in a couple of other gospel passages. In one of His wedding banquet parables found in Matthew 22, the king came in to see the guests who had assembled for the wedding feast and “noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.” The king had him bound and thrown into outer darkness.

Again, in John 10, Jesus says,

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

There is one valid way to enter the sheep pen, but many wrong ways.

So what can we learn from the man who found the treasure in the field? Claiming “finders keepers” isn’t the right way to take possession of the treasure. Buying the whole field is. The easy way is stealing. The costly way is legitimate.

It is a paradox that salvation is a “free gift,” yet costs us all that we have and all that we are. Giving of ourselves is the valid response to Jesus’ gift of eternal life. We offer our selves as living sacrifices as an act of worship. We hold our possessions with an open hand, sharing and giving freely to others who are in need. Once we were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness.

These are the marks of a true disciple. Jesus makes it crystal clear in Luke 14:33 –

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

You’ve probably heard it said that when you eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken contributed something to the meal, but the pig was fully committed.

There is only one way to lay legitimate, legal claim to the treasure in the field. We have to sell all that we have and buy the field. We have to go all-in. We have to make a total commitment of all that we have and all that we are. This is the pathway to eternal life. This is the cost of discipleship.

Most of the sermons I’ve heard on the parable of The Sower & The Seeds (Matthew 13:1-23) has been about understanding why some of the seeds we sow take root and grow while others do not.

But it’s about so much more than that. It’s also an instruction to us to tend the soil of our own hearts so that the seeds planted by others and by God can take root and grow.

I’m not much of a farmer…when I plant things I tend to let nature handle it from there. But what results is usually a very nice patch of weeds. I get frustrated at the constant need to weed, water, loosen soil, fertilize, etc. The truth is that I just don’t enjoy the process of gardening, although I love the results of good gardening.

Unfortunately, things are much the same in our heart. We can’t just whip it into shape by weeding out the bad stuff and planting good stuff, then letting it grow unattended. Because the bad stuff happens to us every day and much of that stuff wants to take root in the soil of our heart. Each day we must do the hard work of weeding out bitterness, hatred, lust, bad attitudes, and so much more (see Galatians 5:19-21) – that’s tending the soil well. And the result will be the beatiful fruit of the spirit – you know what those are – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).

 Seeds will be planted in our lives – by us, by others, and by God Himself. They can only grow if the soil is well prepared and well maintained.

1  Blessed is the man
    who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
    or stand in the way of sinners
    or sit in the seat of mockers.2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

3  He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
    and whose leaf does not wither.
    Whatever he does prospers.

4  Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6  For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Meditation: This Psalm tells me that I will be blessed if I find God’s Word to be a delight and if I meditate on it day and night. I will be like the tree planted by the edge of the river – strong, full of life and vibrant. I will grow good and healthy fruit and I won’t wither and die in good times or bad times. I will prosper. The Lord will watch over me. I won’t get blown away like chaff – I will be continually nourished and refreshed by the river. God is the River of Life. I want to plant myself beside Him. I want to sit at the River’s edge and take in His nourishment and refreshment.

Invitation: Scripture is clear that learning and honoring God’s Word leads to a blessed life. Will you join me in being a diligent student of God’s Word in 2009? Read more about it here.

(If you’re reading through the Bible with us, you’ve just jumped ahead a bit – Psalm 1 is part of the recommended reading for January 29. Feel free to mark it off as read on your January reading plan.)

  The LORD is my shepherd;
  I have everything I need.

  He lets me rest in green meadows;
  he leads me beside peaceful streams.

  He renews my strength.
  He guides me along right paths,
  bringing honor to his name.
            Psalm 23: 1-3

This is an invitation. I’m conveying it, but it is being extended by the creator of the universe. He would like you to Rest at the River’s Edge with Him each day. He’d like to teach you a little about His ways, bring you peace, give you wisdom, have fellowship with you. Allow Him to lead you to beside the peaceful streams and your strength will be renewed.

I’m providing a daily Bible reading plan that will help you read through the Bible in a year. When some people hear that, they easily become overwhelmed, and that’s quite understandable – there are 1168 chapters in the Bible! But 1168 chapters divided by 365 days is only 3.2 chapters each day. And that’s easily do-able. The plan I’m providing is a little different  it will identify 4 or 5 chapters every day 5 days a week. That allows for two “grace” days (also known as “catch up days”).

If you read along with us, you’ll find that many of my blogs come directly from what I’m reading in Scripture. The blogs you read will often reinforce what you’ve read or give you insight into how God speaks to me from what I’m reading. I’d love to publish some of your thought as you read, too.

Let’s rest at the river’s edge with God. I am confident He’ll meet you there.

Watch for January’s recommended reading plan in tomorrow’s blog.

How very hard it can be to trust the Lord when we are in pain! It doesn’t matter whether the pain is physical, emotional or spiritual, it can be difficult to rest in God’s peace when the questions of “why?” and “when?” and “will He?” jab at our souls at every turn.

There was a time when I unequivocally said that I had the gift of faith. My ability to trust God went beyond myself — I just knew He was trustworthy and I could count on Him. That deep-down-in-your-spirit kind of knowing that you can’t really explain. That peace that surpasses all understanding.

Then life happened. Significant life. Significantly bad life. Don’t get me wrong. I am blessed. But in the midst of that blessed life, I experienced life circumstances that challenged the farthest reaches of my gift of faith.

I am on the recovery path from those circumstances. My path hasn’t been a straight one, by any means — I didn’t always do the right things — but I have learned some things along the way that might be helpful to others who are in the midst of “life.” In the following discussion, I continually use the word “healing.” Please realize that I am not necessarily talking about physical healing. If you have suffered a significant emotional blow, I mean emotional healing.

• There probably is no straight path to healing. Expect that you’ll take two steps forward and then fall back a step. Over time, the number of steps you move forward will begin to outweigh your backwards steps at a much greater ratio.That might mean measuring your progress in terms of months at first instead of weeks or days. Physical issues demonstrate this well — for the common cold, people expect to feel a little better each day, but recovery from abdominal surgery might take six weeks, and recovery from a stroke might take six months. When recovering from the surgery or stroke, you won’t sense that any healing has taken place on a daily basis. For those more significant setbacks in life, don’t even try to measure your progress toward healing on a daily basis — measure your progress in weeks or months.So don’t think of your goal as being past your current circumstances. Make your goal to move closer toward healing each week. Your ultimate goal is to be healed, but work toward the smaller goals and celebrate those incremental victories. There was a time when I said to my husband “I haven’t been angry for a week.” That was a step in my healing that took several months to achieve. It was worth celebrating.
• Don’t let setbacks discourage you. Don’t live in them. Don’t overly coddle yourself. Accept them as reality, set aside the disappointment, and continue moving forward. There is so much to be learned from the physical realm here: I am always shocked by the fourth day of a cold. Colds typically run something like this for me:     Day 1 — feel yucky
       Day 2 — feel like I’m going to die, or wish I would
       Day 3 — I’m amazed at how good I feel, Praise God that this cold was so short-lived
       Day 4 — feel only slightly better than I did on day 2 – what happened to yesterday?
       Day 5 — almost better
       Day 6 — back to normalThat’s the cycle that colds have run for me for the past 30 years. Yet each time I get a cold, I’m shocked at day 4. “How can I feel so bad when I was doing so well yesterday? I must be really sick!” Don’t be like me. Don’t be shocked by day 4. Don’t look forward to it, but don’t be shocked when you get hit by it and don’t be derailed by it. Set your discouragement aside and look toward tomorrow.
• Have someone that you can confide in who will reassure you of God’s goodness and of His continued love for you. I needed this more than I could have imagined. I needed someone to say, “Sandy, this is an aberration in your life. God is still being faithful to you. He still loves you. He will still use you in His kingdom.” It greatly embarrasses me to admit that my faith wavered so much. Like I said, I was a woman of faith. I had the gift of faith. I had always been able to believe God for things that others couldn’t see. In the midst of my pain, though, I couldn’t even see the things He was doing right in front of my eyes. I needed regular encouragement. And throughout the long process, I was continually reminded that my strengths were not my strengths after all. Qualities that I considered to be my strengths were fractured and broken, teaching me that I didn’t “own” my strengths — that I couldn’t sustain them, but that they were loaned to me by God and were sustained by Him alone.Notice that I wrote “have someone.” It is not healthy to go over your story again and again, even though that may be what you want to do. Have one person that you trust to whom you can pour out your heart and reveal your fears, and with whom you can celebrate your successes.
• The body requires rest to heal itself, whether from physical or emotional issues. Sleep often and don’t beat yourself up about it. Quit being superwoman or superman for awhile — drop some of your activities so that you have plenty of time to rest.
• Consider the importance of play! Be sure your schedule includes some things that bring you joy. Whether dancing or drawing, watching a movie or playing with the dog, be sure you take time for these things. You need the positive endorphins that your body releases when you are enjoying yourself. Make time for it.
• Be proactive about spending time with friends — probably in short duration at first, but be careful not to shut yourself off completely. The tendency when we feel pain is to draw back. If the pain is emotional, that means withdrawing from those who love us. Work hard not to do this.
• Don’t rely on your emotions. Your friends are still your friends, God still hears you and He still loves you, those closest to you still love you. Your world is not closing in on you. It may feel like it, but your emotions are not reality.
• Practice kindness and forgiveness in situations where kindness and forgiveness are easy. No matter what healing you need, forgiveness will play a part. You may need to forgive someone who hurt you, you may need to forgive yourself for past decisions or actions, and you may even need to forgive God. That doesn’t mean that God sinned against you. He didn’t. However, you may be laying things at His feet that cause you to be angry with Him. The process of releasing that anger is for you to forgive God for allowing you to go through the circumstances you’re in.
• In your heart, you will need to recognize that God’s ways are above your ways and that He is accomplishing His purposes through whatever has happened to you. But during that process, you may need to say, “Lord, forgive me.” ….. Grow your forgiveness muscle by forgiving all the little things that need to be forgiven. Some day you’ll be able to forgive the big things, too.I’ve learned that wounded people bruise easily. I caught myself becoming quite angry frequently during the process of healing. My latent anger turned into impatience at those around me. I needed to practice regular forgiveness for little things during that time. For example, a person who said something unkind offended me when in my “normal life” it wouldn’t have even registered. I needed to forgive her. The people around me in the grocery store all seemed more incompetent than they used to be. No, I was just less patient. I needed to confess that sin to God and extend kindness to every one of them.
• Don’t forsake God. Stay in church. Find a new church if you need to. Continue to read Scripture regularly, even if it’s just a few verses at a time. Continue to pray, even if you feel like your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling. Do those activities that make you feel closest to God. For me that’s worship; for some, it’s study, and for others it’s service. Feed your soul. Your pain will rob it of it’s stored energy, so feed it often.

This blog has been a long time in coming. This morning during my devotions I read a verse that finally prompted me to write it:

⁸“My thoughts are completely different from yours,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. ⁹For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
            Isaiah 55:8-10, NLT

God is bigger than my pain. He always has been and always will be. His ways take my pain and turn it into a golden treasure. I am not yet at the point of seeing that treasure, but if there’s a progression from pain to treasure of clay, to treasure of silver, to treasure of gold, I would guess that I am somewhere between clay and silver. For that I am very thankful.

God may choose to heal you instantly. Rejoice! Praise Him! I know He can and often does heal instantly. He also allows us to journey through the healing process so that we learn to trust Him more and are able to help others through their healing process. I learned much about myself and God during my healing process. Some of the things I learned were things I didn’t want to know — how very weak and fragile I really am. But then God’s probably been trying to teach me that for years!

 All this happened so they would follow His principles and obey His laws. Praise the LORD!  
          Psalm 105:45 (NLT)

Prior to this verse (i.e., the “all this” that the verse is referring to), is a recitation of the entire history of the Israelites. In other words, God is saying that all that had happened occurred so that they would follow God’s principles and obey His laws.

Do we operate from this mindset, thinking – knowing – that everything that happens to us is for the same purpose – to help us follow God’s principles and obey His laws? Or do we kick against things that are happening in our lives, resisting God’s constant nudging toward Christ-likeness? Perhaps we simply blame Satan for all the bad things that happen to us. Scripture clearly teaching that Satan seeks to defeat us, but it also clearly teaches that God is sovereign and that He allows difficulty into our lives to form and shape us into the image of Christ. That constant kneading, pushing and pulling is the very Hand of God shaping us into the piece of pottery He has designed us for. And sometimes (often times?) that kneading, pushing and pulling hurts.

Many years ago I shattered my elbow. My orthopedic surgeon said it looked like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it! It wasn’t a sledge hammer, it was a gymnasium floor. I had fallen while playing volleyball at a denominational retreat/conference. I had gone to be refreshed and strengthened in the Lord. Instead I got an extremely painful injury that took months of recovery time and yielded a lifetime of some disability. Satan? No, it was clearly God!

After sitting with my husband during my elbow surgery, a friend received a vision. As he drove home, he saw a picture of me in my hospital bed with a very large angel by my bedside stroking my injured arm. Wow. Wow!

For weeks I had tremendous pain in my arm, often shooting pains from just wiggling a little finger. But I frequently went back to that vision and imagined that the pains were caused by the angel massaging my arm so that I would some day be able to use it again. I knew the Lord was bringing healing. Three different doctors had told me I’d be lucky if I ever got 70% of the use of my arm back. After much prayer and therapy, not to mention an excellent surgeon, I have 95% use of my arm. For all intents and purposes I am able to use my arm to do all the things I need to do. I can’t move heavy tables and I have to make adjustments when I pull heavy luggage. Small prices to pay for the many lessons that came from the experience!

A couple of weeks ago I pulled my white car out of the garage , being very careful not to hit the side-view mirror against the door of the garage…and slammed it quite solidly into the rear side panel and bumper of our gray car. Again, I was in the process of doing a good thing – I was driving to church where I was bringing the morning message  – a message that I was absolutely certain was of God and for that very day. As I type this, our car is in the body shop having a large dent hammered out, a new bumper put on, and a new coat of paint slathered on to cover any evidence of damage. Were the car able to “feel” these things, I imagine it would be pretty painful. (As it is, it will only be painful to my wallet and the insurance company.)

My point is that God is at work in our lives all the time, and sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it hurts a lot. But He is still at work, so that we learn to follow Him more closely and have a greater impact on others. It’s time for us to imagine…no, it’s time for us to know that it is God working in us, hammering out the dents, massaging the broken areas. Let’s not resist God’s efforts to make us more like Christ. And let’s remember to look back at all that He has done in our lives – they happened so that we would follow His principles and obey His laws.

Praise the Lord!