 Perhaps I should not get All Spun Up about everything that comes into my life. Or, I should reserve that energy for certain things that call for spun up energy. Why do I say this? Because God has my life in His hands and He knows that plans for me according to Jeremiah 29:11. He knows what it will take to get me to that expected end. Therefore, there are paths I will walk that will be both pleasant and unpleasant. I may not understand what I experience in its totality, but I know that my life in in His hands and He will allow what He has approved. I just have to make sure I am not willingly giving the enemy access to my through sin and disobedience.
As I was all spun up about a situation, I thought about Job. You know, Job could not be touched in certain areas of his life because God had a shield of protection around him against the enemy. The only way that enemy could touch Him was through permission from God. The enemy was fully aware of the hedge and he knew he was limited to what he could and could not do to Job. He could only touch Job in the way he did after the hedge was moved.  If you have ever struggled to forgive someone that has hurt you deeply for reasons underserved and unexplainable, the book, "Victory in the Pea Patch”, is for you. The author, Cleola Irene Spears, unfolds her true story going back generations to give you full insight into her life in its entirety. In the pages, you will see how she was destined for greatness, yet it did not come without tragedy, victory, regrets and other life lessons of wisdom. She allows the reader to not only read words, but to imagine and feel the world she lived in as words become an experience.
After reading “Victory in the Pea Patch”, I was encouraged to know that God’s plan will prevail, no matter what comes into my world; He who started a good work will complete it, no matter how dismal it seems. If you are facing life challenges that have you down and you need a miracle, I believe this book will give you answers, perspective and insight to continue your journey forward. Make this investment. You won’t regret it.  At certain times in life, it seems like we spend a lot of time on a street called “Disappointments” that may occur one right after the other. Once I think I am over one disappointment, here comes another. What’s going on? A tag team or something? Disappointments come when our expectations, spoken, understood and/or assumed, are not met. Seemingly within seconds of a commitment, people undue the commitment for various reasons. The best thing I can do to ease the effects of disappointments is adjust my expectations as much as possible. If there is a thorough understanding of who will do what, when, where, how and their limitations, this will curve the emotional roller coaster when disappointments occur.
Accepting things as they are is another way to deal with disappointments. Some things and some people are not going to change; and if they do, it probably won’t be when you or I want change. I found that when I consistently embrace the words of the Serenity Prayer, disappointments are not as devastating. Now, there are times, not matter how much I do to adjust myself, a disappointment will come out of no where. There were no signs or warnings. I may have done what I could to adjust my expectations, but the unexpected happens. I just simply cast the disappointment on the Lord. Because of I Peter 5:7, I am assured that He cares about any and everything I care about. In addition to casting that care on Him, I must forgive the one who has caused the disappointment. The last tidbit about disappointments - I’ve focused on disappointments with others, but in reality, we can be disappointed with ourselves. We can say and do things that are disappointing. I can raise both of my hands on this one. I have responded to circumstance in ways I thought was “mature”. When the truth of my heart was revealed and opened to the Holy Spirit’s scrutiny, I was disappointed that I behaved or responded in an immature way and I say to myself, “Could I have done better? Acted more mature?” Many times the answer is “YES”, but I did not. We all tend to have a high expectation for ourselves and when we fall short of the self-expectation, we become disappointed. Guess what, we even have to forgive ourselves. We are all on a good journey with Christ. So, let’s make a critical decision to learn from life and keep moving. Don’t get stuck on the street called “DISAPPOINTMENTS”. Blog post adapted from The Encouragement Newsletter - "The D's of Life".  Last summer I started having problems with my right shoulder. I thought it would go away, but after several months, the pain intensified and I could not perform certain motions without pain. My pain did not allow me to reach up without pain. I could not place my hand above my waist when reaching behind my back. By the end of the year, it was evident that I could not continue and I had damaged something. After going to my primary care physician, I was given a referral for physical therapy because I had some damage to my rotator cuff. My first appointment with the therapist consisted of observing my motion and the lack thereof. The therapist pulled my arm in many direction and most of the time I was in pain. She stated to me, “You are stiff” and I was because of my limited mobility. In my first session, she laid out an 8-week plan to return my mobility and gave me some exercises start at home right away.
When I returned for my next session, I began by doing the same home exercises with a few more added exercises to my regimen. To be honest, my initial thoughts were "I can do this at home instead of leaving work early, taking leave, commuting from downtown DC and paying a co-pay". I was feeling like this will be a waste of time until the therapist said, "Veronica I am going to work with you after you finish those exercises". I had no idea what "work with you" meant, but I would soon find out. I laid on the table; she took my arm and began to "work with me". It was very painful as she pulled my arm, rotated my arm, rubbed my shoulder, applied ice and electrical stimulation to the shoulder area. Each session included pain and more pain as she worked to restore my arm. I have a high pain tolerance, but I was almost in tears. In one of the early sessions as she "worked with me", I thought I was going to jump off the table because it was so painful. From the very first session until the 6th or 7th session, she would gently place my arm in a position and say, "Just let it go. I got you". Most of the time, I was anticipating pain and I was not relaxing. So her soft voice would help me relax. From day one, I heard the Lord speaking to me with those words. I was not putting it all together, but after my therapy session, I would learn why her words were resonating deep within me. About a week six, I was feeling much better and experiencing more mobility and a lot less pain. Although I still had pain reaching behind my back, I could reach up without pain and the aching was pretty much gone. In my closing session she said, “Oh you are much better, do you feel this has worked”. My answer was, “Yes!” She conducted the same test from the first session and observed me. She wrote notes and took some measurements of my ability to reach and compared them to the measurements from my initial session. She then said, “You were really bound when you came, but you have really good movement”. She provided me with more exercises to do at home and encouraged me to see a specialist if I felt I needed further attention. As I stated, the words “Let it go” and “I got you” resonated with me, but I did not know why. Well, a week or two after my therapy sessions ended, for some reason, a not so pleasant life event of my past came to mind as I was having a morning talk with the Lord. As the thoughts came to my mind, I heard the words, “Let It go. I got you”. I began to weep and cry unashamedly. It was in that moment that I was able to let go of the effects of that event. All because my Father had me, just as the therapist had a gentle hold off my painful arm, and worked within me. I could fully rest in His healing power. Painful events are a sure part of our life experience and they cause us to be bound. Some events will have a greater effect than others. Some will be more traumatic than others. Perhaps, as you read this account of my life, you instantly recalled a painful event. I say to you “Let It Go” because “Your Father has you”. He has brought you to this moment to heal you. Let go of the pain, shame, offense, deep hurt and all of the negatives of that event or events. God has the healing balm and will apply it to that painful area, move it from you and you will be made whole. That pain no longer has me. I can recall it, but that pain no longer has me because I “Let It Go”. Because of this God encounter, I am assured all the more that He’s Got Me and whatever unpleasant events that comes my way, I can “Let It Go”. Did you discover something you needed to let go as you read this blog entry? Now, my journey is your journey, so let’s dialogue about this. |
Welcome to Bloggin' The Journey @ the E-Place where there will be a variety of blog posts for you to both read and provide wholesome comments for the encouragement of others. Archives
November 2017
|
RSS Feed