"A Soft Pillow For A Tired Heart"

Have you missed me for a few days? That's what I thought, probably not. At any rate, I am back again from what I term "The Valley of Lyme", a much visited place for me the last ten years. The warning signs were there last week as the flu-like body aches and migraines and "foggy" head syndrome began to capture my attention. It's hard to explain and not even my intention to do so although I find some comfort online at the testimonies of other "Lymies" who know exactly what I'm trying to say.

Again, my blog is not to bore you with my physical struggles although let me take the opportunity here to thank you who pray for me. I know my affliction is light compared to many, many people, even to some of you who  read today. Actually, every time that the head returns to normal, (if that's possible in my case :) ) I always pray for those who seem to never get a respite but deal with the same amount of suffering every day. One lesson we learn from pain is to have compassion and pray for those who have it for a constant companion.

My blog, today, is not to focus on our struggles, be they physical, financial, relational, you fill in the blank but rather, to call you back to a verse that I return to every time that I begin to wonder again what God is doing with me concerning this battle. As I lay in my bed a couple of nights ago, I heard one of my favorite radio preachers tell me to turn to this very familiar verse. I felt he had prepared the sermon just for me although Chuck Swindoll doesn't even know who I am. He is teaching through the Book of Romans and in chapter 8, verse 28, he challenged me to write down my biggest challenge right beside this verse of Scripture. Someone, from years past, called this verse "a soft pillow for a tired heart", and I think applicably so.  I love the Book of Romans, the overarching theme being that God justifies guilty and unworthy sinners by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Well, I could end here and we could rejoice for the remainder of the day, couldn't we? Better yet, we will be still praising Him for that truth in eternity!  I love to read this epistle of Paul's and I love chapter 8, as I am sure you do also. I am blessed how it begins- "no condemnation". Believer friend, don't let the enemy beat up on you today with guilt and unworthiness and thoughts of futility. When we are in Christ, condemnation is gone. He gloriously and lovingly paid our sin debt on that lonely, cruel cross and we are justified and God does not look on us with condemnation. Praise His Name!!  The chapter begins with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation". "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (vs 38-39)

I am comforted by the blessed thought that not one of these struggles as we journey from earth to Heaven can separate us from the love of Christ. Now, we may let our emotions toy with us and wonder at times if He is really interested and involved but let me assure you, He is and He is! Let the Book be your Guide, not your emotions. He is working and and that leads me to the verse that I have taken much solace in this week.  "And we know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Now, if I followed Chuck Swindoll's advice, I would write L.D. (Lyme Disease), beside that verse and claim that God is using it for my good according to His purpose. My problem is that I don't see how it can but the reason for that is I am not omniscient like my Heavenly Father is. We get really self-centered and self-focused but He sees the big picture and yes, He sees and knows it from beginning to the end.  One reason we have our struggles, our problems, and we all do, is explained in the very next verses. His goal for my life is not comfort and happiness. (Americanized Christians have a hard time swallowing that one). His goal, His purpose, Christian brother and sister, is to make you like His Son. Pruning, dear one, although it hurts, is good for me. Do I hear some of you in a refrain with me saying " OUCH!!" very loudly? I have watched Danny prune our trees and remarked to him that this time that because he got "clipper happy", he had killed them but the next yea we had more apples. I am glad he didn't say "I told you so." The Potter, Who has all the rights to do so because He made and owns us, is chipping away and will continue until the day of Christ. "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6.  That work is to conform me to the image of His Son and I can testify personally that the days where that has been accomplished mostly in my life were not the "mountain-top", "pain-free", "care-free", "vacation-type" days.

Now, I, like you, enjoy those seasons but in this chapter, we are reminded that there is a groaning sound being heard in the world. Someone observed that "nature sings in a minor key."Some don't like to admit it thinking that "happy-go-lucky" is spiritual but in every heart, behind every laughing face, is a hurt, a groan to some degree because we, as God's children, are awaiting the full realization of our inheritance. We are not Home yet, Pilgrim, but we will arrive there, praise God!  We sigh, we groan, but I love the message in verse 26 that Someone else groans- the Holy Spirit. Blessed one, if your pain is so deep today that words fail you, He petitions on your behalf- "making intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  

Let me close by challenging you to write down that burden that seems to be impossible to bear today beside this great verse from our great God. There are some things that we don't know, one being, what this day holds but Romans 8:28 tells us we do know this, that our great God holds this day and us in His hand and together, He is working ALL things for our good and according to His purpose. Now, that is a "soft pillow for a tired heart", isn't it?  I write to Christians today, 8:28 is a promise to Christians and maybe today, you wonder how your spouse having cancer is working for your and their good. I don't know but I do know the truth of 8:28 is for you today. Tomorrow, a little boy and Landon will have pizza together with their dads and Landon's little friend's Mommy died a few months ago. We might ask "How is God working good out of a 5-year old not having a Mommy?" I don't know but he and his Daddy love the Lord so 8:28 is a promise to them.  A friend (thank you, Angie) directed me to a website a few weeks ago called Caring Bridge, Ashley Howard and I pray for this family because she, a 15-yr old , vibrant, beautiful girl who rode horses, was on Lake Lanier on Father's Day, enjoying time with her family and was struck by a pontoon boat. They donated her organs and buried their daughter and I prayed for them this morning although I don't know them, only through reading their trusting testimony on her site. I thought that it must be very sad as school is about to start and they prepare their younger daughter but the summer changed their lives concerning their precious Ashley. Again, we ask, "God, how is that working for their good?"  I don't know but 8:28 is true for the Howard family.

      

"How, God, is our old building not selling working out for good for us right now? You know, God, that finances are not good. What are You up to?", we ask. I don't know how but Romans 8:28 applies to a local assembly who loves God and is seeking to lift up His Name in all they do.  I could go on and on and I guess, it seems that I did but let me close with the words of a song, written by Babbie Mason that I have listened to and been encouraged by many times in the last few years. (It will be on my FB page if any who read have a page there).  "All things work for our good though sometimes we don't see how they could. Struggles that break our hearts into sometimes blind us to the truth. Our Father knows what is best for us, His ways are not our own. So when your pathway grows dim, and you just don't see Him, remember you're never alone.     God is too wise to be mistaken; God is too good to be unkind, So when you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart!"  I started to go back and look at my blogs because I feel this one is a repeat but then I decided that if I need reminding, you, being human like me, probably needed a refresher too. Know, hurting one, that a community of believers lift up your needs today, the Savior and the Holy Spirit are interceding for you today, and that God has a plan that when we finally make it home, we will say "Aha, now I see it!" Until then, trust Him and His promise of 8:28.

Looking up, Deborah