Yes. It has been a minute since I last wrote. Life has been a bit crazy over these last couple of weeks. As shared in the past, I am going through the bible with a group of guys and this week we are in Acts. I came across a couple verses that I am not sure I had noticed before. Acts 4:13,20 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus….“ As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” It raised the question in me, “Do others in my life, notice I have been with Jesus? When I see things going on that are wrong do I speak up or take action in some way?
I then remembered the last few verses in Psalm 30:10-12
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
When I cry out does my wailing turn into dancing? When I am lifted up out of discouragement or adversity, Do people hear me sing His praises or do I remain silent?
From these verses came two conversations this week. 1) How do I practically apply these lessons as it relates to the folks asking for money on the street corners? Honestly, I am at a loss as to what is the right thing to do but friends challenged me with the passage in Matthew 7-“Judge not, that ye be not judged.2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
My not doing anything is in fact, me being silent. One of the guys knew their names. Another gave money to someone even when the individual shared after getting the money, “you know I am going to buy alcohol with it.” I realized it wasn’t what the other person was going to do, it was me doing something to show that person I cared. 2) A young woman I know shared with Dottie and me how she had left a job because kids were being demeaned and bullied by the person heading up the organization. Without words, her leaving communicated that she would not allow herself to be part of what was a destructive environment. More of us need to have the courage to stand up and speak up for what we believe is right versus allowing things to remain the same because of our unwillingness to intervene in whatever way we can. And finally, a women was challenged to read the New Testament in 89 days. She wasn’t sure she had the time. A friend of hers who wasn’t a person of faith spoke up and said, I”I am going to do it, can i count on you to do it too” Needless to day the woman has now accepted the challenge. What if the friend had remained silent?
A regular contributor to my blog, Oswald Chambers 🙂 https://www.thespiritlife.net/facets/nurturing/75-process/process-reflection/1938-october-2-devotional-oswald-chambers reminds us we have get off of the mountain top so that we can take what we learned down into the valley. We are called to serve in the day to day and mundane places of our lives. That is where we can truly make a difference. I hope I have challenged you in some way to speak up and/or do acts of service to those paths God has you cross. I would love to hear how this blog has encouraged you. I hope it will spur you on to love and provide good works. https://www.biblehub.com/hebrews/10-24.htm You can reach by email at [email protected]
Last week I played my annual 100 holes of golf to raise money for FCA and AIA. When the person I played with found out about my recovery from Guillain Barre, his 1st response was “that had to be really scary.” My answer, in all honesty, is nothing scared me once it was determined I would not need to go on a ventilator. That in itself was a blessing as the doctor gave me a 78% chance of that happening within 24 hours of being admitted to UVA. It was the only time I cried. I have thought a lot about not being scared and it boils down to one thing. My faith allowed me to trust God in as Paul writes in Hebrews 11, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” I also trusted a good friend who is a doctor when he said, “this is going to get worse but you will get better” But why did I have such a trust?
The trust came from being able to look back over my life to the significant moments where God met me in that place and showed me the way forward. As I shared my GBS story with my golf marathon partner, the book “Hinds feet in high places” by Hannah Humard came to mind. The author titled it based on Habakkuk 3:19, “The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds‘ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” and also from Psalm 18:33 “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.” I was not scared because I believed my strength would return, I would walk again and yes, even be able to play golf all day long for FCA/AIA. “Much Afraid” in Hinds feet “had the feeling that somehow, in the very far-off places, perhaps even in far-off ages, there would be a meaning found to all sorrow and an answer too fair and wonderful to be as yet understood.” I have experienced that same wonderful meaning in my life.
Elizabeth Elliott expressed where rest is found in marathons or any challenge we face: ”God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His will. and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.” Pamela Bunn writes in her blog https://astherainandsnow.com/author/astherainandsnow/, “Though Elijah had his weak moments of discouragement and fear, Elijah would learn by experience that the Lord would never ask him to do anything for which He was not enough. Repeatedly, His adequacy came forth out of lack and impossibility, and that is where it best shines. (1 Kings 17:11-16; 18:32-39)
Prior to GBS there have been many times in my life that like Much Afraid in Hinds Feet, God met me which gave me the strength and courage to persevere in the midst of the adversity. Each time it made me stronger having gone through it. Little did I know I would need those times to not be afraid when lying in a hospital bed with GBS unable to move. Here are some things I learned from a sermon by Chip Ingram at https://livingontheedge.org that I hope will help you the next time you come up against a challenge.
God uses adversity to make us more mature because we are forced to depend on God rather than on our own power
We are weaned from the worldly and temporal things and made to realize what is really important In our lives
We get to witness the reality and Power Of God.
God gives us the privilege of showing others what it looks like to trust in God.
Finally, going through a struggle gives you the ability to help others who are experiencing some kind of trial in their life.
Paul sums it up well in 2 Corinthians 9:8. “It is in these very hard circumstances that His enough is the most welcome, satisfying, and glorious, showing forth the bounty of His nature toward us.” I pray you will find joy in knowing God is indeed enough. Be blessed!
Charles Stanley-“For us to accept that God allows–or even sends–afflictions, we must see adversity from His perspective. Is your focus on the pain of your experience or on the Lord and His faithfulness? As believers, we’re assured that no adversity comes our way unless He can use it to achieve His good purposes.” Even Paul faced adversity throughout his ministry which h called “the thorn in my side”
Do we believe what is stated above? People ask, “what did you learn from your bout with Guillain Barre?” The simplest answer is my faith life was tested, found real, and is stronger than ever. I don’t have the wisdom to know exactly how God works, but I Now know from personal experience that the more I submit to him, the more of His power He can entrust to me. When I become less (like not being able to move ?) and He becomes more, His power is able to move through me (which it literally did) more freely. I would rather have not been paralyzed and in a rehab facility for 2 months. The challenge, however, provided the opportunity for me exercise my belief and trust while relinquishing control of the outcome. He made real what I already believed. That through his power, love, and self-discipline, I don’t need to be afraid because His power is unlimited and like this song shares, unstoppable. https://youtu.be/De6gZZT1690 My only job is to love Him with all my heart, love others as He loves me so His power can flow through me to the world around me.
Little did I know how important these lessons would be a year and a few months later. If navigating Covid19 wasn’t enough, we must now study and learn from each other and humbly seek understanding on the matter of race. I have written in a previous post about our need to Study and Learn from others so that we can understand things from other people’s perspective. We need to make ourselves vulnerable so others can help us with our blind spots. Like Lazarus when he was raised front the dead (John 11) we have things in our life restricting us from the abundant life God want us to live. In verse 44 Jesus said to Lazarus’ friends after he came out with his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Who will you allow into your life to help you do the same?
Once you have done your due diligence and allowed God to provide you new insights ask yourself the question my friend George Morris is asking me. “What will you do to make a difference that you have never done before?”
To read more about my bout with Guillain Barre Syndrome go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelguthrie You can email me at [email protected]
