Friday, October 29, 2010

A Facebook Challenge

I think I need to make another confession. I like Facebook. Some of you already know that about me because you like Facebook, too.

There has been an unintended but welcome consequence to me joining Facebook. Reading people's status reports has increased my prayer life. I am honored to pray for others.

Sometimes, I praise God for how He is working in people's lives, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't find myself before the Lord on someone's behalf because of something I read on Facebook.

Does your Facebook look like mine? Do you know any of these ladies?
  • the girl who missed the bus and is hoping her dad will get up and take her to school
  • the college freshman who procrastinated too long on a final project
  • the wife whose husband won't talk to her
  • the friend who is having to file bankruptcy
  • the girl whose heart is broken over a boy
  • the little girl in the hospital fighting for her next breath
  • the middle schooler who sits alone at lunch every day
  • the young lady whose mysterious medical condition leaves her unable to control her own body and with major memory losses
  • the young mom experiencing another miscarriage
  • the teacher writing substitute plans again because her little boy isn't getting better
  • the young girl whose two fish died
  • the high school girls who shamelessly post provocative photos
  • the friend fighting cancer again
  • the widow who can't pay her bills
  • the teen who can't figure out her homework and calls herself stupid
  • all the ladies who suffer with allergies, migraines, depression or insomnia
  • the young mom whose husband works out of town - a lot
  • the out of work
  • the lonely
  • the lost
You know them, don't you? They hurt. You hurt.
We live in a fallen world. Sin is a nasty thing.

Last weekend, my husband and I attended the funeral of my sister's ex-husband. He committed suicide leaving behind four children. The emotions were intense.
Grief. Anger. Sadness. Abandonment. Guilt. Bitterness. Pain. Loneliness.
The unanswered questions were as unending as the emotions.

My husband, who always seems to know the right thing to say, stood up to speak. He reminded us all that no matter how dark the moment seems, God is always good. He is always faithful.
Sometimes, it is hard to see. If you haven't known God too long, it may be hard to believe. If you don't spend time in his Word, you may forget. So, let me just remind you like Jeff reminded me.

God is good all the time.

God is faithful.

God never changes.


"Don't be deceived, my dear brothers (and sisters). Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:16-17

Thanksgiving is coming up. Let's do ourselves a favor, shall we? Let's remind ourselves every day this month of God's gifts. I want to remember every day the great God we serve and I'm praying you will help me along.

So, here is our challenge. Let's make our status reports every day in November start with the words, "I thank and praise God for..." Let's give God credit for the good he is working in this fallen world.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:15 - 18

I'll be watching to see what amazing things God has blessed you with!
  • I thank and praise God that she cares enough to want to get to school
  • I thank and praise God the final project was turned in on time
  • I thank and praise God she is faithful to love her husband unconditionally
  • I thank and praise God she has a family who loves her, a job and a roof over her head
  • I thank and praise God she is realizing what a jerk he was anyway
  • I thank and praise God she is receiving amazing medical care
  • I thank and praise God she knows Jesus is her friend
  • I thank and praise God for her family's love and support
  • I thank and praise God she knows with zero doubt that the life the Lord knitted together in her womb is living in heaven with Jesus
  • I thank and praise God for his comfort and healing
  • I thank and praise God for Facebook so she can share her sadness with friends without being yelled at to get off the phone
  • I thank and praise God there are people in these young girls' lives teaching them about purity and praying for them daily
  • I thank and praise God she knows the Lord and will rest in Him when her battle on earth is over
  • I thank and praise God for being her provider, the husband of widows
  • I thank and praise God for the brilliant brain He gave her and the friends who remind her of that.
  • I thank and praise God for being the healer
  • I thank and praise God every time he comes safely home from a business trip
  • I thank and praise God for the generous
  • I thank and praise God for the neighbor
  • I thank and praise God that He came to seek and save what was lost

Friday, October 1, 2010

Come and Listen!

Come and listen, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what He has done for me.

I cried out to Him with my mouth;

His praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;

But God has surely listened

and heard my voice in prayer.

Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld His love from me!

Psalm 66:16-20



Hey gals, I have something to tell you!

I want to tell you how the Lord was so faithful to me.

I really and truly did cry out yesterday driving home from work.

I just needed to be saved from myself and the horrible, critical running commentary going on in my head and I just cried out to God. Sobbed out. Probably looked a little pathetic -hey, that's heading towards critical again!

He changed my focus from critical thoughts of myself and my failures to focusing on His truth and His love and His plans for my life. As I stopped staring at all my obvious faults and started magnifying His amazing strength and love, I was given peace. Oh how I needed His peace!

What was the sin in my heart? It was pride. I don't like to mess up and look incompetent. I was so obsessed with how I looked, that I wasn't really considering how He looked in my life. I wasn't concerned for His reputation, just mine. That is pride. That is putting me above Him, and that is a miserable place to be.

So I confessed that sin. Called it by name and asked for forgiveness. And with that mess out of the way, He could speak truth into my life and answer my prayer.

Praise the Lord who did not reject me or give up on me or withhold His love from me. Some days it feels like the world does that, but never Jesus. He is faithful. Always. Praise be to God!