Dearest Ones,
Many people have no hope in this world. To those who don't know Christ, bad
things happen with no purpose. This is not so for those who know the Lord.
What is the difference between a Christian and the rest of the people
in this world? As the Christian faces life in this world, with all
its bumps and bruises, he knows God is guiding his life. Even when
the storms of life are heaped upon him, he has no fear. Though he
does not know what will happen tomorrow, he is certain in the long run God's plan for his life is perfect.
He is satisfied and he has perfect peace in his soul.
How can we live in this world where tragedy is never far away? The
answer is simple, though not easy. We live this way by faith. We
choose to believe that God is at work in everything that happens to
us. It's hard to do this when nothing makes sense and seems so
unfair. The world says, "Seeing is believing" but God says,
"Believing is seeing." We will see God's hand once we believe it is truly there.
A Christian firmly believes that Romans 8:28 is true in every circumstance.
He believes that all things work together for his good because God said so.
He walks by faith, not by sight. Someday he will see that all the
circumstances in which he was involved, led him straight to heaven. He knows
that all will be well later. I pray each day that I will be satisfied with
God's dealings with me. I don't want to be a complainer or a "poor
me" type of person.
How do we continue to praise God when we are unjustly treated and when
our world seems falling apart? We endure unjust suffering for one
reason and one reason only - because we know God is in control. Can
we believe in these statements?
- I am where I am right now because it is God's will for me.
- If God wanted me to be somewhere else, I'd be somewhere else.
- Because God is good, it must be for my good to be where I am right now.
- God sometimes allows things to happen to me that seem unfair and harsh.
- I won't understand those things while I am going through them.
- The one thing I can do is to endure them patiently, because I
believe God is right there with me every minute of every day.
- God loves me and I am on my way to heaven and I am going to be in
heaven forever!
We may spend days or weeks with sickness, heartache, tragedy,
mistreatment and betrayal, which may cause us to believe God has
forgotten us. But God is forming you into His masterpiece. We will
not see how we look on this earth, but God can see how beautiful we
are becoming by trusting in Him. We will only see ourselves clearly
in heaven. In heaven we will see that everything that happened to us,
even the pain and the heartache, as a vital part of making us beautiful.
Life is like a giant jigsaw puzzle and we are like little children
trying to put the puzzle together, except we don't have the cover of
the box with the completed picture on it. We can only guess what the
big picture will be. As the years go by, we begin to see that what troubled us, now seems to fit into
place. As I look into the future, I can't see where I'm going. I can't
predict what will happen next week, next month or next year. But
that's OK, I am trusting God to make my path straight and lead me in
the way He wants me to go. I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
When hard times come, I need to say, "It is the Lord, let Him do what
is best for me." I pray every day that I will be able to see the hand
of God in my trials. We know our troubles do not happen by accident.
When we get hurt, it's easy to think only of the people who have hurt
us deeply. But as long as we focus only on the people who have hurt
us, we are doomed to fall into bitterness. Bitterness can creep up on
us without us knowing it. The Bible calls it an ugly "bitter root"
that grows within us. It is far better to try to understand that our
enemies are actually God's instruments, used to shape us into the
image of Jesus. It is His way of bringing us closer to Him. God does
not have the same intention as our enemies - they want to hurt us, but god wants us to grow in our trust in Him.
No one is more miserable than the person who harbors secret hatred and
wishes for revenge. And no one is happier than the person who finally
opens the door to the Holy Spirit and says, "Come in and do your work
in me." The minute you say that, healing begins on the inside.
Instead of hatred there is love. Instead of bitterness, kindness. Instead of revenge, forgiveness.
I pray that everyone has a safe and beautiful Fourth of July. As we
thank God for all our blessings in this great country, let's try to
remember those less fortunate than we are. God Bless America!
Love and prayers...let's keep praying for each other...
Sister Francelle
Many people have no hope in this world. To those who don't know Christ, bad
things happen with no purpose. This is not so for those who know the Lord.
What is the difference between a Christian and the rest of the people
in this world? As the Christian faces life in this world, with all
its bumps and bruises, he knows God is guiding his life. Even when
the storms of life are heaped upon him, he has no fear. Though he
does not know what will happen tomorrow, he is certain in the long run God's plan for his life is perfect.
He is satisfied and he has perfect peace in his soul.
How can we live in this world where tragedy is never far away? The
answer is simple, though not easy. We live this way by faith. We
choose to believe that God is at work in everything that happens to
us. It's hard to do this when nothing makes sense and seems so
unfair. The world says, "Seeing is believing" but God says,
"Believing is seeing." We will see God's hand once we believe it is truly there.
A Christian firmly believes that Romans 8:28 is true in every circumstance.
He believes that all things work together for his good because God said so.
He walks by faith, not by sight. Someday he will see that all the
circumstances in which he was involved, led him straight to heaven. He knows
that all will be well later. I pray each day that I will be satisfied with
God's dealings with me. I don't want to be a complainer or a "poor
me" type of person.
How do we continue to praise God when we are unjustly treated and when
our world seems falling apart? We endure unjust suffering for one
reason and one reason only - because we know God is in control. Can
we believe in these statements?
- I am where I am right now because it is God's will for me.
- If God wanted me to be somewhere else, I'd be somewhere else.
- Because God is good, it must be for my good to be where I am right now.
- God sometimes allows things to happen to me that seem unfair and harsh.
- I won't understand those things while I am going through them.
- The one thing I can do is to endure them patiently, because I
believe God is right there with me every minute of every day.
- God loves me and I am on my way to heaven and I am going to be in
heaven forever!
We may spend days or weeks with sickness, heartache, tragedy,
mistreatment and betrayal, which may cause us to believe God has
forgotten us. But God is forming you into His masterpiece. We will
not see how we look on this earth, but God can see how beautiful we
are becoming by trusting in Him. We will only see ourselves clearly
in heaven. In heaven we will see that everything that happened to us,
even the pain and the heartache, as a vital part of making us beautiful.
Life is like a giant jigsaw puzzle and we are like little children
trying to put the puzzle together, except we don't have the cover of
the box with the completed picture on it. We can only guess what the
big picture will be. As the years go by, we begin to see that what troubled us, now seems to fit into
place. As I look into the future, I can't see where I'm going. I can't
predict what will happen next week, next month or next year. But
that's OK, I am trusting God to make my path straight and lead me in
the way He wants me to go. I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
When hard times come, I need to say, "It is the Lord, let Him do what
is best for me." I pray every day that I will be able to see the hand
of God in my trials. We know our troubles do not happen by accident.
When we get hurt, it's easy to think only of the people who have hurt
us deeply. But as long as we focus only on the people who have hurt
us, we are doomed to fall into bitterness. Bitterness can creep up on
us without us knowing it. The Bible calls it an ugly "bitter root"
that grows within us. It is far better to try to understand that our
enemies are actually God's instruments, used to shape us into the
image of Jesus. It is His way of bringing us closer to Him. God does
not have the same intention as our enemies - they want to hurt us, but god wants us to grow in our trust in Him.
No one is more miserable than the person who harbors secret hatred and
wishes for revenge. And no one is happier than the person who finally
opens the door to the Holy Spirit and says, "Come in and do your work
in me." The minute you say that, healing begins on the inside.
Instead of hatred there is love. Instead of bitterness, kindness. Instead of revenge, forgiveness.
I pray that everyone has a safe and beautiful Fourth of July. As we
thank God for all our blessings in this great country, let's try to
remember those less fortunate than we are. God Bless America!
Love and prayers...let's keep praying for each other...
Sister Francelle
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