Update on the Wallet

Now don't faint.  I know it's just been a few days since my last blog post.  But when God get's moving, things happen fast.

Wednesday afternoon I arrived home (thanks for the last minute ride from Enterprise, Debbie!)   and saw a huge pile of mail on the recliner (thank you, Janae, for seeing it safely inside!) I was too tired to look at it much, but saw a letter from the police department and tossed it aside, thinking it was just a copy of the final report on my wallet.

Thursday morning, my plans changed, and so I started laundry and sorted through the mail.  I opened the police report, only it wasn't a report, but a notice  to pick up evidence!  I raced up (okay, I might have slightly exceeded the speed limit once or twice) to get my wallet.

Enough to say that it was intact (minus the cash) and all my cards were in it.  But no pictures (why?  What reason would they have to leave everything else, but not the pictures of my children and grands?).  I did hand back someone else's social security card, and two gift cards which were not mine.  (I thought, briefly about keeping them, after all, I was out $40! But then I decided I couldn't keep anything that wasn't mine.  They may never know,  But God would.  

Lesson learned:  temptation comes in many ways and forms.  But temptation is not sin.  Giving in is the sin.  Some days are better than others.  It's easier to resist when we are prepared.  

So, I"m going to state the obvious:  Be prepared!  Take time to read the word each morning.  Make that a priority before all else (speaking to myself here!).   Talk to God.  Ask Him to guide and protect your heart throughout the day.

Psalm 119:11 "I have stored up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

Aren't you glad that God has given us a hard copy of His heart, mind and soul?  Don't you love that we have this as a sword and shield?  I'm happy that we can read and discover His beautiful plan for us.  

 

Recently, a woman I thought I was helping, stole my wallet.  I was crushed!  I was angry, and disappointed, in myself, for not discerning her intentions; in her for misleading me and taking what wasn't hers.   

In the big scheme of things, it was an inconvenience.  I had to replace some documents, and in a hurry, it disrupted my routine and showed me how vulnerable I could be.  It took many hours to discover what I had to do to report the theft of my wallet, to remember what was in it and to follow up on the theft.  Several trips to agencies to replace important cards, calls to put alerts on my accounts, and the list went on.  God is good, and it went smoothly. My life is back on track!  I was able to make my flights the next weekend without dragging my lifelong accumulation of documents with me.

But the worst of it was the deep humiliation of the deception.  In the end, she only got about 40 dollars.  It seems she wasn't in it to steal my identity (we are still watching this one!) But I was embarrassed to find I had been tricked.  I did not listen to the inner warnings.  She wasn't what she seemed.

Before she bailed out of my car at the destination, I handed her a card with some websites on it to study the Bible.  Maybe she just threw that with the wallet.  I'll never know.  But did her intentions negate my good intentions?  I'm going to emphatically say, "No!"  God is in the little things too.  (And an emphatic, "No, I won't be taking any more requests from random strangers," as well.). I'm going to use every opportunity I have to share Jesus with the world.  

This is just a little thing, in comparison to what many experience.  But perhaps God is strengthening my spiritual muscles to endure something worse.  I'll never forget a ladies day many years ago, and the theme of the day was "The Storms of Life."  One of the other speakers made this statement,  "The struggle you are going through today is preparing you for something harder." (Thank you, Iris.)  I did not want to hear this.  I tried to dismiss it.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized she was right.  

At the time, I was looking back on what we had been through.  Some difficult times had been endured.  Moves I did not want to make, the loss of a much-wanted and loved child.  I thought I had been through all I could put up with in this life.  But God knows us.  He goes through those times with us,  walking with us through the fire, through the flood.  Slowly and steadily, as we continue to look to Him in faith and do that 'next thing', He strengthens us. We are stronger in our Christian walk.  Sometimes it is a short and intense time of persecution and suffering.  Sometimes, rather than a 'sprint', it's a marathon which we cannot see the end of in this lifetime.  

I love the words of this passage in Isaiah chapter 43:1-3;

    But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,

    And He who formed you, O Israel:

    “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by your name;

    You are Mine.

2 

    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

    When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,

    Nor shall the flame scorch you.

3 

    For I am the Lord your God,

    The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Isaiah is speaking to the Hebrew children.  But I believe the principle is still true for His children.  God has promised never to leave us. (Hebrews 13:5)  He does not promise we won't go through fire and flood.  He promises to be with us in this storm.

I just pray that my light continues to shine, no matter what the intentions of those around me.  I want the world to see that it is "Jesus in me."  I'm not living down here for myself.  It's important that others are pointed to the One who is the answer to life.  He is the life.  Without Him, it is worthless.   

    "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of                                                                                                                                                         the Lord In the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)

He will give us rest and eventually the reward of life in heaven with him.  1 Peter 5:10 reminds us,

    "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 

after  you  have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."

May you find the peace that passes understanding in  Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  

Overcomer

John 16:32-33 “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus’ earthly life is coming to the end God had planned.  He is trying to share with his disciples truths they will need to carry on and teach others.  Yet He knows they are struggling with understanding this on many levels.  God wanted his chosen followers to know that life was about to get harder than they could imagine.  Instead of being easier, they were about to be challenged at the very center of their culture. The people they counted on, family and synagogue, were going to betray and persecute them.

Sometimes we experience the same today.  We may be right there with the disciples who, having spent 3 years learning at the feet of Jesus as he turned water to wine, cripples into sprinters, raising the sick into workers, yet we *still* cannot quite grasp his nature as “God with us!”  We may have walked with God for many years, or just a few months, and here comes the inexplicable, the unexpected.  Our family or friends turn on us.  Disaster strikes our home or our business fails.  Death, illness or financial failure cripple our life and we begin to struggle and question.

My momma always said, “Forewarned is forearmed.”  Jesus is giving his followers (and us) the ‘heads up.’  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  1 Peter 5:8. Don’t be surprised when persecution or trials come.  It is part of the perfecting process.  But we know we can overcome whatever the enemy sends our way.  Jesus has traveled this path and stood firm In the face of trials.  We have a savior who not only withstood the trials of life, but overcame them.  He paved the way, he overcame for us, so that we, through His saving grace, can also be overcomers.  But how does this translate into our lives as believers?  Romans 12:21 reads, “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”  We are called to live differently.  I have been watching the first season of The Chosen, and when Jesus calls Matthew, Simon says, in essence, ‘Not him!  He’s different!’  Jesus reply is, “Get used to different.”  He turned their world upside down, and ours will be also.  We aren’t called to fit into this world, but to make it different with his love, good works, and truth, all to His glory!  We might not have an easy walk, but we have a victorious one.  1 Corinthians 15 is full of encouragement, but look at verse 57, “but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

Next time you get wound up, thinking, “Is this all there is?” Why no, it isn’t all there is.  It’s not even close.  We don’t have to wait for heaven for God’s love to comfort and encourage us.  I’m right there with David, who wrote, “I would have fainted, unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

Jesus doesn’t just have the answers, he IS the answer.

If you have questions or comments, leave me a comment!  I'd love to discuss this more with you!