Thursday, January 29, 2015

Broken reed that I am,
I come in pain and joy to Thee.
No service to offer,
no song to sing,
no question needing answers . . .
simply,
humbly,
to love Thee.

Caged bird, though I be free,
I come in pain and joy to Thee.
Nothing to confess,
nothing to profess,
no where I'd rather be . . .
simply,
humbly,
to love Thee.

Broken and caged, though I be,
my Lovely One treasures me,
and through the loneliness,
sleeplessness,
and pain . . .
comes simply,
tenderly,
to love . . . me.

inspired by Amy Carmichael - "God never wastes His children's pain."          debbie.handy1@facebook.com

Of Sand and Pearls

I went to bed last night thinking about the mountains that each of us face in our lives.  These mountains are known by many names:  trials, temptations, addictions, problems, sickness and disease, aging, mental and emotional disorders, loneliness, etc.  Regardless of the name, they are real issues that we must deal with sometimes on a daily basis.

Each one of us deals with one or more of these issues even if we deny the truth of their existence in our lives.  We are all broken somewhere.  We all hurt sometime.  We have all failed.

I would love for God to miraculously, instantaneously remove the issues I and others face, but He rarely does so.  These temptations, distractions, failures, guilt, shame, self-hatred, detrimental habits rarely go quietly or instantaneously off into the night somewhere never to rear their ugly heads again.  No, that is too easy. 

The struggle we have with our "issues" reminded me of pearls.

Mr. Oyster is minding his own business at the bottom of the ocean.  As he takes in water, a grain of sand gets lodged inside his muscles.  He begins to struggle to rid himself of this aggravating obstacle and slowly begins to secrete layer upon layer of nacre to coat the sand so that it isn't as bothersome.  Day in and day out, month after month, year after year, he continues with his struggle with this tiny grain of sand.  Then one day a fisherman catches him, opens him up, and finds a pearl, not a grain of sand.  The oyster's struggle with the grain of sand produced something valuable.

More than likely we, like others before us, will conquer our "issues" the same way they have been conquered in the past.
  • Through self-discipline and persistence.
  • Through community - intimate relationship with God our Maker, our Redeemer, the One who knows us better than we know ourselves and intimate relationship with a body of people who may struggle with the same struggle but who have chosen to love us unconditionally in a real, honest way
  • Through prayer
Yes, God could and often does heal our issues miraculously and instantaneously, but most of the time He seems more interested in developing our character rather than making us comfortable.  So many scriptures talk about this, and so many men and women in the Bible are examples of His developing their character through the struggles they face.  We live in a broken world and are broken in areas in our lives.  The things that bring us the most discomfort are often the very tools God uses to fashion our character.

So when "issues" arise and when my expectations for life and people and myself aren't working out, I try not to get angry with God.  I humble myself before Him with empty hands and try to trust Him through the struggle into the renewal and growth He has promised.  St. Augustine said, "God gives where He finds empty hands.  Hands that are full and fists cannot receive."

Pappa knows best what will grow my character and yours.  He is present and attentive to us.  He is always thinking about us awaiting our trust. 

    











debbie.handy1@facebook.com