"I will not forget you! Behold, I have engraved
you on the palms of my hands."
~Isaiah 49:15-16
I don't even know where to start except to say, the Enemy sure has been attacking me and mine lately. It may have something to do with Wednesday night service. It's all coming back to me now. haha. Wednesday we are studying the life of Ezekiel in 2 Kings. We were in chapter 7 and my pastor stopped and asked us if God was providing for the widow and her son even if He had never sent Ezekiel. That led to the discussion of God being good in the hard times even if Christian families are starving, etc. etc. etc. Everyone sounded so down and it made mad, I admit. Sure, this life will throw struggles and hard times our way, but does that make God less? NO! We make Him less. God is still God, even through the hard times. I told everyone this and I also said, what kind of love does that mean we have if life pulls the rug out from under us and we raise our fists to heaven and shout, "You are not good!" Doesn't the scripture say to "have joy in ALL things"? My pastor said that makes us human. I agreed with him, but I said, "Doesn't a God who loves us unconditionally deserve the same love back?" I know we're human, believe me, last time I checked I was too, but I'm tired of hearing that as a scapegoat.
Sure, we're human, we make mistakes. But the God that calls us to follow Him told us what we should expect by doing so. He warned us ahead of time. In the story in Luke where Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) and he drops everything and without questioning, follows Christ, that took some deep trust and faith on his part. In another story, Jesus has someone come up and willingly say, "I will follow you." Jesus then warns him and those around what life will be like to follow Him. It's heartache, it's pain, it's suffering, it's hard, it's tiring, but in the end, through it all if you depended upon His strength to get you through and not your own, it's Joy, it's Light, it's Peace, it's a Strength you never thought could ever be yours, but is there for the taking.
Walking with Christ is hard, but the key word is with Him.
So, why do I feel like the Enemy is striking pretty hard to me and mine? Well, because I shook my fist in his face and said, "I will NOT quit." In the end, everything that I have here on this earth is just on loan to me, that includes my friends and family. My prize...my ultimate goal is not heaven (though that's a bonus), but to see the face of my God and Savior; to hold Him at last in my arms and give Him one of the best hugs I've been saving up--just for Him. To finally tell Him, "I made it. Nothing and no one stood in my way." And to hear His beautiful voice say, "Well done Daughter. Well done."
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith."
~2 Timothy 4:7
I encourage those of you who read this blog, to keep on trucking. I don't know what some of you are going through, it's been a very long time since I've talked with most of you about anything deep or personal, but I just want you to know--I'm praying for you brother or sister. We are in this fight to the finish together, and I don't want to leave a man or woman behind. My walk with God is so very important to me. I'm in love with Him. He's my all in all. Draw close to Him, get a hold of His ear--cause you already have His heart. He has not forgotten you, beloved. He see's your struggle and longs to help you. After all, He's on YOUR side. :)
I hold you in my heart,
Karye <.)))><