FAMILIES SHARING HOPE
  • Blog
  • Resource Links
  • Books
    • News to Make You Weep
  • Prayer Requests
  • Contact
  • Connecting with Community

viewing challenges as opportunities to grow

10/26/2016

0 Comments

 
I keep thinking that as I get older I will be wiser, better prepared to handle the challenges that come my way. I am very grateful I am less impetuous, more likely to think and pray at the beginning of a challenging patch, rather than waiting until I'm exhausted and furious because my quick-on-the-draw ideas are not working as intended.

But it is still hard to speak truth with gentleness and humility. It is still challenging to wait on a sense of rightness and peace (and often amazement that the way forward is so different than I would have concocted for myself). This morning this passage from Luck 18:1-7 showed up in my morning devotional email:  "Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?"

A recent situation left me longing to give a few beloved people a piece of my scattered and tattered mind. My kind husband (and best buddy) sat with me in a park on a lovely fall day as I cried to God to help me, help us, respond according to God's plan, rather than our own fear and pain. I can't report that all is suddenly well and working according to our limited idea of "right", but I can state how profoundly grateful I am that God has given me a sense of peace, a strong sense that God is bigger than this difficulty that seems insurmountable and horrid to us and that God loves all involved as deeply and wisely as God loves us, so we can calmly watch for opportunities to listen and love without feeling the challenges are ours to fix. We can ask God to keep us quiet when speaking would add to the pain and to speak with peace and kindness when God would use us to speak wisely and lovingly to those we hold so dear.

Thank you God, for this timely reminder that You are always willing to hear our wailing prayers and that You have a plan for our hope and a future greater than we could ever imagine, and You love us into prayers of gratitude and love that we might bear the unthinkable, enduring the horrifying and know that You are calling all of us to a closer walk with You.  AMEN
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    CHECK IT OUT:
    BOOKS TAB 
    ​News Tab


    For information on meetings use the "contact" button above or call Jann @ 816-896-9815


    Author

    Jann's son was incarcerated.  She longed for a community where she could connect with others dealing with similar issues.

    Categories

    All

    Archives

    January 2023
    April 2022
    March 2022
    July 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.