I woke up the other day, and following my usual routine I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea before checking my email on the computer. After I checked my email, I sat down to do my morning devotions. I use Portals of Prayer and usually also read from another year long devotional book, and then I say my prayers. When I got to my prayers, it hit me! My hip did not hurt at all. I wasn’t limping as I had been doing for many days prior. I had been praying daily for relief from the pain in my hip, and when I received an answer in the affirmative to that prayer, I did not even recognize it immediately. I unconsciously had taken it for granted that my hip worked without any pain.
The fact is that God is answering our prayers every day! He is blessing us every day. And more often than not, we do not recognize it, let alone acknowledge it. We take so much for granted.
I took my good health for granted for 57 years and only truly appreciated it when I contracted a rare disease while on the Peru mission trip in 2004 , which resulted in many physical problems, not the least of which is difficulty swallowing. Oh, my goodness, who ever thought of swallowing as a gift? I do now because I struggle with it every day! We take so much for granted.
Think of the miracle of our body! Our heart beats, our eyes blink, our food digests, we can taste food, we can walk and talk, and those are the obvious things. We take so much for granted!
What about the air we breathe? The wonderful clean water we are fortunate enough to have to drink? Our homes? Clothing? Jobs? Friends? Family? Our church family? The freedoms we enjoy? The list could go on forever. Let’s face it. We take so much for granted!
We are in the season of Epiphany…..the season where Jesus is revealed to the world as our Savior. The season we are called upon to share the Good News. We were so excited at Christmas by the birth of Jesus, but now that have we taken down the tree and packed away the decorations ….are we taking Him for granted?
Let us rejoice and give thanks for the gifts God has bestowed upon us….especially the gift of Jesus our Savior. Yes, He is always with us. Let us not take Him for granted!
Still Standing
Monday, August 29th, 2011My daughters and I walked around town this morning, surveying the damage from Hurricane Irene. We’re not looking at trees in quite the same way anymore.
On other walks we might remark, “what a lovely tree, it has such nice form.” But this morning it was more like, “wow, that one is a real house-crusher!”
Tuning in to our battery-powered radio, we heard one commentator predict that the newly-planted trees would topple first. I whispered a prayer for all newly-planted Christians, that their “roots” would remain firmly planted in The Lord through this latest test of faith.
I don’t know about your neighborhood, but in ours it was actually some of the older, well-established trees that fell. It was terrifying to hear them come down in the dark of Saturday night and not be able to see where they landed. Were my neighbors all o.k., I wondered? All that I could do was pray fervently, and trust in God.
We’ve got a couple of really large trees on either side of our house, so we decided to sleep downstairs in a more centrally located spot. “Sleep” – ha! I was up all night, were you?
As I sat in a chair by the basement door, bucket in hand, listening for the sound of water gushing in through the wall again, I thought about all of the years that The Lord has been with me, of all the trials He has seen me through. For the first time in a long time, I had a crystal-clear understanding of this, and my heart overflowed with thanks and praise. This is most certainly an indication of His Presence with me that night!
Well, we’ve surveyed the damage here, and several trees did fall. But they all fell between the houses! Praise The Lord!!
Earthquakes, hurricanes – they test our faith. But we are still standing.
“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’” But I say, “Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:6-8)
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