Wonderful Words of Life...

Roads of Disappointment...

"He lets me walk down roads of disappointment,
He watches, and He knows what's best for me...
My greatest strength comes through my darkest trial,
And my greatest joy is knowing that He can trust in me...

That's just His way of telling me He loves me,
Love-beyond all human understanding...
I don't question trials that bring me to my knees,
That's just His way of telling me He loves me.

If I'm successful walking through the valley,
He'll give me strength to climb the highest hill,
The more I die the better He can mold me,
Change my life completely to fit His perfect will.

That's just His way of telling me He loves me,
Love-beyond all human understanding...
I don't question trials that bring me to my knees,
That's just His way of telling me He loves me."
Buck Rambo

This song has been running thru my heart the past few days and I pause to ponder the years that I have walked with God. The words of that song are truly the song in my own heart.

When disappointments come your way, my friend, may I suggest something for you? Surrender your heart and don't insist that life happens the way you wanted it to. Simply find God in it and let Him do what He does best: create beauty from ashes.

You may walk thru the valley of parents rejecting you over 'differences of administration' (as Paul talks about in one of his epistles)

You may be deeply disappointed that your husband has been unfaithful at his post in some way that is not God's heart at all

You may be heart broken at loss in some way (many of us are...grief is not a stranger to mankind!)

You may be facing the goodbye's that are hard to say and even harder to comprehend why God would even ordain such a goodbye when the alternative seems to be a better plan in your frail humanity

You may be deeply disappointed in the church you have known all your life...for any number of reasons that are godly

You may be dealing with health issues or watching a family member struggle with a health problem that crushes your heart to walk with them in the struggle

You may be disappointed in friendships that once were happy but turned sour as the two of you walked in opposite directions and harmony was disrupted

The list could go on an on and on. Disappointment is the middle name of mankind. The question is: will we become bitter, or will we let the crushing of disappointment cause the sweet fragrance of surrender and trust to come forth from our lives?

I remember going to Landis Valley Farm Museum on a field trip when I was in third grade. The tour guide stepped on some mint that was growing outside the door  of a house on the tour and I recall the wonderful scent that it left. He made a comment about how that is in our lives when something crushes us. If we see the hand of God in events in our lives and truly believe that nothing escapes His eye, then the sweet smell of gratitude and surrender can eminate beautifully from our lives.

He loves us. That is beyond comprehension and without a doubt, the underlying belief that can keep a person rock solid in their walk even thru disappointment. I've lived my life with that belief for a few years now, and I can tell you that it is very true...it works! It doesn't erase disappointments but it sure does change my perspective on life.

Life isn't mine to order the details around like I own it. I am not my own. I am bought with a price. God knows how He can be most glorified from my life. It is up to me to choose how I relate to the disappointments and changes that come beyond my control. For His glory. ALWAYS.

Wonderful Words of Life...

Wonderful Words of Life...

Love Hurts...

"Love hurts sometimes..." a friend posted recently and suddenly the thoughts that have been downloading in my heart on this subject the last few years needed a place to go. So here I am...writing them out.

Love hurts. It hurt all the way thru the crowds that pressed around Him needing things from Him but not giving back...just taking, taking, taking. Love hurt all the way thru the mob of people that wanted to kill him on numerous occasions...the people who gossiped about Him, who scorned his words, who argued with Him and who rejected Him. Love hurt all the way to a court room where He was lied about, and where people screamed to crucify Him...where He was beaten and mocked and spit upon. Love hurt thru that long, dark night while He prayed fervently in deep agony to His Father over the events that were coming, while His closest friends sank on the ground in deep sleep, unable to support Him in His sorrow while He sweated great drops of sweat like blood. Love hurt thru the deeply wounding act of a disciple denying his friendship with His Lord, even tho just hours before he had declared that he would never deny Him. Love hurt all the way to an old, rugged Cross where He was hung by huge nails that held him, suffering and bleeding while people walked around looking at him in His shame. Love hurt thru the deep sorrow and thirst that overtook Him while His mother cried at the foot of His cross and His disciples hung in the shadows, afraid to be known of others that they were His friends. Love hurt and then surrendered in death to be a ransom for the sins of the whole world.

Love hurts. It hurts while parents decide that their fervently godly adult children are not of God because they do not choose to live in the same 'administration' (details of practice of the same doctrinal belief as each other too!!!) and choose to ignore them and act like they do not exist or are not worth anything because of this.

Love hurts. It hurts when others falsely accuse you and say evil things about you because they want to control your life and you are following God's plan, which is a different plan than they would choose for you.

Love hurts. It hurts when others speak unkindly to you or treat you like dirt because they won't refuse to acknowledge Jesus in you.


Love hurts. It hurts when families are broken because people are unfaithful at their post and leave the door wide open for the devil to come in and taunt you and try to ruin you through their unfaithfulness.

Love hurts. It hurts when the brokenness of others lives comes into your own in full force as you reach out loving hands to smooth the salve of God's grace over them as He brings them to you.

Love hurts. It hurts as the reality of the narrow road and the few fellow travelers becomes reality the more you walk in the quiet ways of Jesus. While others are seeking fame and fortune, a name and good time, you are doing God's work and feeling the exhaustion of reality hit you as Jesus' words become real: "The fields are white unto harvest but the laborers are few".

Love hurts. It hurts in deep loneliness as many are not willing to share hearts in Christ and refuse to get real in spiritual things. To them, it appears to be all fun, surface stuff and no interest in the things of the heart...and you wonder just where the fellowship of the saints is...

And then we remember Jesus. And that love hurts. And that the servant cannot be greater than His Lord. And gladness comes rushing in like a flood, joy thru the pain. In tears I weep at Jesus' feet and thank Him that I can be like Him in just a small measure.

Take heart. He has overcome the world...thru love that hurts.

*details of 'hurts' listed above are taken from life's experiences that I am privy to, whether in my own life or in the lives of those God has brought to me to minister to. They are not all my own.

Wonderful Words of Life...

Wonderful Words of Life...