Hello all you wonderful people. I am finally almost sling free ( I had shoulder surgery in December around Christmas), I've got one more week to go…. But I have finally managed to find a way I can type with 2 hands. I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for me to write again…..haha
It seemed to me lately that life was just surviving. Surviving a full week of teaching with one arm with meetings, and paperwork, bus duty in 8 inches of snow that was not plowed, grading, planning, Surviving a drive to and from work in a blizzard, and cleaning, without going crazy, or falling asleep standing up. I could sit here and complain away, like so many others could. I was in survival mode: Goal: Survive till Friday. But then……
A friend of mine told me my goal should be to live in the presence of Christ. God has 100x more for me than survival. He loves me. And guess what everyone…SHE IS RIGHT. What she says is true. If we are living to survive then we aren't really living. God has so much more for us if we live in His presence everyday. And I want to live up to my potential, don't you?
So of course a couple days ago I came across a verse that reallly spoke to my heart at this place in my life. So here it is:
"When you go through the deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."
-Isaiah 43:2
Well I have been through my fair share of deep waters, rivers of difficulty, and fires of oppression, and guess what ….I SURVIVED. Questions I have asked myself are why were you there in the first place, how did you get there, why did God allow that to happen to me, God do you really care, and Haven't I been through enough already. I found my answer. I have been through so much deep water, but it isn't because God doesn't care, I think it is because God is pushing for me to depend on Him, to learn about His presence, and to believe in His goodness in spite of what happens to me or I see happening to other people around me. Look around you there is brokeness everywhere, I realized that he very well has the power to keep us from those tough trials but He chooses not to. He allows us to go through these hard experiences and situations so that we depend on Him. So he REALLY is using our struggles and hurts for good.
I also realized that if He is allowing me to go through these various tough experiences, he is not leaving me high and dry, He is right there in the waters and fires with me. His presence is there. He promises right there in Isaish 43:2 that we will not be harmed, that He will be with us. We may go through many difficulties in this world but he won't allow for our difficulties to be the end of us. The trials we go through are carefully planned. This is a very broken world full of evil, but God puts limits on it. Our hardships and trying situations may seem like really large mountains to overcome, but he will never let us completely fall. He is a God of promises, great promises and He always does what he says he'll do.
So knowing this now, I'll stay strong, depend on my Heavenly Father in the toughest of sistuations, and know that he just desires for me to grow and depend on Him instead of myself. I will BLESS the trials I go through knowing that they are only helping me to trust and lean on My Rock, My Protector. I will know that my hurt and troubles are being used for His glory, I will have peace knowing that everything that happens has to go through His hands and He has my absolute, best interest at heart.
So yes I survived the deep waters, rivers of difficulty, and the fires of oppression, but God had so much more in store for me….during these storms of life….I learned to depend on Him….I grew…..I l began to do my best to live in His Presence and I did so much more than survive.
