Oh how I wish I could say the above verse described me! But, more often than not, I become so dry and parched spiritually, that I must come running, desperate for the River of Life to wash over me. The Word of God has come to mean so much to me and I am not able to pinpoint one certain verse that has been more special than others. Rather, there have been different seasons of my life during which certain passages minister to me and come alive to me almost like I had never noticed them before.
One of my strongest memories of this was when my mother passed away. I was 25 years old and six weeks away from becoming a bride. There I stood, about to get in the limosine to drive to the church for her funeral when a Bible verse came to mind. 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Here I was, at one of the weakness points in my life, and all I could do was lean on Jesus. His grace was enough that day. And His grace continues to sustain me.
Later after being married for sometime, my husband was offered a position with a different company. How would we know if this was the right move for him? We needed God to show us clearly. We had always been faithful to tithe to the Lord and knew His Word promised to bless those who were faithful to give. Not that we deserved anything from God, but Malachi 3:10 does challenge believers to put God to the test in the area of your finances. So we did. The verse says " Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." I believed this verse and asked God to bless us financially through this new opportunity. Well, God blew us away with this new opportunity for my husband. Now please don't think I'm in the "name-it-and-claim-it" crowd. As I said, I deserve nothing but God's wrath and judgement, but I have learned that God delights in blessing His children and He rewards faithfulness and obedience. Our faithfulness in giving and tithing can be traced back to my father teaching me to tithe as soon as I had my first job! God was blessing this heritage of faithfulness. God's Word was proven to us that day and many times since.
Most recently, I have experienced the comfort of another precious verse of Scripture. My husband and I were blessed to conceive our fourth child later in life and I found myself in a high-risk pregnancy. I was put in the hospital on bedrest and felt extremely helpless. Laying on your left side all day is highly over-rated! I desperately missed my family at home and wanted to be with them. I worried about the baby girl I carried and if she would be healthy if she was born too soon. Psalm 139:13 really spoke to me. "For it was You who created my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb." Wow. I could just picture God's hands over this tiny life inside me!
All I could do was rest....physically and spiritually. He would have to "cover" this child and control the date and time she would be born. She did come early. She was tiny, at 3 lbs., 9 oz., but perfect just the same.
Today, she is 9 years old and brings so much joy, love and laughter to our home. We cannot imagine life without her.
God is good. His Word gives us guidance, comfort and is full of promises. I don't read or study it nearly as much as I should. I am so thankful He blesses me in spite of who I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment