Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘God will help in our struggles’

P’s & C’s

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , , on May 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Two words with the same letters but totally different meanings:

Except and Expect

Except is an add-on to a thought. She could be pretty, except for her wiry hair. I could have gotten the job except for the boss’s prejudice against me. My life would be great except that I never had the opportunities my brothers did.

God would love me, except for the things I have done in the past.

Expect holds a sense of excitement and anticipation. I expect that package to come today. I expect that she will like me. I expect to get a good grade on today’s exam.

I expect God will turn this into something good…

It all depends on your point of view- how you use the letters to flip the meaning around.

What if we take this further… let’s say “C” represents your circumstances and “P” represents prayer. If we concentrate on our circumstances, then we assume we can control them…and most likely we can’t, so that causes stress.

But if we instead put prayer first, believing God is in control and will work it out if we yield to Him, then we can expect things to have meaning, purpose, and the outcome they were meant to have. And even if the result seems negative, we can trust that good can come out of it somehow.

So, when faced with a situation this week, what will you put first? The “C” or the “P”?

Read Full Post »

UpRighted

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Nature, tagged , , , , , on September 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

IMAG0086Here in North Texas we are plagued with black beetles. Our cleaning crew at the Church can sweep diligently, and within hours, the sidewalks and floors are spotted with them again–all on their backs, wiggling their little six legged bodies. (Obviously the bug man’s spray works.)

When I first began to work here, my heart bled for these poor bugs who crawled over the invisible poison seeking water and shelter. I hated to see them suffer. So, I would diligently take a leaf or piece of paper and try to flip them over. Maybe if they had enough life left in them to keep flaying their legs, they’d be all right if they could just crawl away. Inevitably, the little guys would flip on their backs again and flay away.

I don’t know why God designed them to die on their backs, and I hope they are spared suffering- that it is just instinct to wiggle to the end since they have no emotions. But, it brought home a valuable lesson. Often, I see others suffering. Many are Christians. They seem to be flaying and are unable to right themselves, just like these beetles. No matter what I do– pray, help, talk– they seems to be stuck in that situation or slump.

I know now that God has placed them there for a reason even though I don’t know why. It may be to draw them to Him, to diminish their pride, to correct their path… that’s between them and God. But I ‘m confident He never takes His eyes off of them, because when I was flaying on my back, unable to upright myself, I felt my Lord’s presence hovering nearby. I heard His whisper, “Hang in there. I’m here.”

No matter how hard I try, I can’t turn my friends upright.  But I know the One who can…and will in His own timing if they can just hang in there and keep having faith. It may happen on this earth or in Heaven. In the meantime, there is one thing I can do–pray them through it.

Like the beetles, we may not be able to flip over on our own, or even with the help of a well-meaning friend. Unlike the beetles, we have a choice of how we spend our time on our backs. Will we wiggle and squirm, or peacefully rest in the assurance that God has purposed our struggles? Our destiny, if we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, is not death. It is life beyond this world. That is the when all will be righted for good. We will never be flaying on our backs again.

 

Read Full Post »