Like Paul, I have prayed that God would remove certain difficulties.
This week, I took a baby step in imitating Paul when he confessed:
7 I will say this: because these experiences I had were so tremendous, God was afraid I might be puffed up by them; so I was given a physical condition which has been a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to hurt and bother me and prick my pride. 8 Three different times I begged God to make me well again.
9 Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” Now I am glad to boast about how weak I am; I am glad to be a living demonstration of Christ’s power, instead of showing off my own power and abilities. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite happy about “the thorn,” and about insults and hardships, persecutions and difficulties; for when I am weak, then I am strong—the less I have, the more I depend on him. (2 Cor 12: 7 to 10)
- As Leia, our 17 1/2 year old cat was declining, I begged God just to take her life during the night – easily and quietly
- 2 different times in the first 7 weeks of this school year my new principal has come into my classroom and shut the door. With good intentions, she has reported some negative feedback received from certain parents about this or that related to my teaching (new school, new kids, new expectations)
A week ago I finally acknowledge that I felt depressed. Cornered. Meditatively and prayerfully writing last week’s blog post, finding scriptures to cling to was life and light giving.
This week, I chewed on Paul’s words. I nourished and encouraged myself with the following thought:
- “His grace is sufficient to make me content that I am weak. As I lean on Him and trust Him to guide me this class period, as I wait on Him for wisdom about our cat, I know that on the other side of each hour, I will be glad that my acknowledged weakness and dependency created the VOID necessary for Holy-Spirit-Power to rush in. No space……. no divine help. Lord, keep me dependent on You!”
So now it’s Sunday, a week later.
Leia is buried beneath our balcony overlooking the gorgeous hills of Western North Carolina.
I taught kids more French, trusting Him to help me to adjust to their needs and the expectations of my boss.
Do I still wish for a life without suffering? YES!!! I’m human, i.e. sinful and weak-willed.
But I will trust Him that His way is best for me. After all, God alone is the happy Holy Father who has already proven that He loves me. What more could He do than He has already done by adopting me into His Forever Family?
Reflections on God's Word 
Oct 13, 2013 @ 23:27:27
This is so encouraging, Maria! I like the way you paraphrase and put yourself into the Scripture. I do that every day (that I don’t let myself get too busy to read) as I meditate on verses, or other people’s commentary. I usually make it into a gratitude prayer, maybe something like this: ” Thank you, God of All, that your grace is sufficient to make me content that I am weak. You alone are the guide whom I can trust to give me the softest words for the boys, the sweetest face for the most difficult moments, and the peace I need to be ready for another day. Thanks you for your mercy and your love!”
T and I just put a pumpkin pie in the oven. He brought the pumpkin home from school and Friday he and D scraped the insides; I cut it up and he put water in the pot for steaming the pieces. When it was cool, Steve supervised and he scraped the soft flesh and put it through the mill. It was waiting for us to bake today. He balked when the pastry blender bogged down in crisco, and rolling out the crust was a joint operation. I forgot the milk and poured the pumpkin/sugar/spice/egg mix in the pan, so we had to scrape the filling out carefully, and add in, the milk and cream blend that is the stand-in for evaporated milk. It doesn’t smell like pumpkin pie yet, but it will! He was even more frustrated at having to dry the preparation bowls and tools, but that’s done, too, and he and D are upstairs quietly hatching some plan. The oldest brother is at youth group, learning about being “strangely warmed,” as John Wesley was.
Oct 14, 2013 @ 02:04:36
Trisha- I Iove the pumpkin pie story. I can picture you scraping it back into the bowl. Just flowing with mistakes. Thanks for sharing how you personalize Gods word