Throughout all the time that I’ve written here my posts have tended to be about one topic or idea but today I am going to do something a little bit different. Instead of four to six-hundred words on one topic I have a couple of ideas I would like to discuss in smaller segments and the reason is just because I feel this is the way the Lord would like me to go with this.
Marriage, Family and Friendship – My wife, bless her, is a very busy person. She has a heart to give and to serve and her passion for Samaritan’s Purse: Operation Christmas Child means that she is often meeting someone at a church about new drop-off locations or on the phone discussing plans for an upcoming event.
On one such evening recently where she came home from working all day, ate a quick supper and then readied herself to head off again for a meeting I assisted her as best I could. Even though we only had a short few minutes to talk before she left again I made sure I found out about her day and about what was going on in her life. I helped her take various bags and items to her car that were required for her meeting and I opened the gate that leads out of our driveway so that she would not have to get out of the car in the rain to do it.
Truthfully, these are the things that a husband should do for his spouse but honestly I sometimes mess up and miss these opportunities. Sometimes I overlook the needs of those who are closest to me (not just with my wife but also with my friends and family) and that is an area where I want to improve, not only because I am called to be a servant but because I don’t want to take for granted the time that God has given us to be together.
If something happened to me and I was called home to be with the Lord, would my wife, my friends and my family know how much I loved them by the way I treated them during my time here? It’s one thing to say “I love you” (and we should tell folks that they are loved) but it’s an ever better and greater thing to show it and to live it.
Breaking What is Already Broken –Have you ever had a day where you felt like you were under attack? Like you were being squeezed for all you were worth by life and circumstances? I think we all have days like that and they can really be difficult to endure and hard to understand.
We know that there is a spiritual battle that is being waged and if we are trying to live for the Lord then the enemy is going to come against us and do everything that he can to disrupt and discourage us. And how we act and react during those most difficult days can tell us a lot about our spiritual maturity and those areas in our lives where we still need work.
We are all broken and flawed beings. Our Father seeks to repair and strengthen those areas of brokenness and redeem our mistakes while our enemy seeks to make us fail and to break what is already broken. We have a choice during those battles to fall once again into old habits and old temptations or to surrender to God’s grace, admit our brokenness and let his strength be made perfect in our weakness. What will we choose during our next battle? We need to prepare now, before the storm and the crises and in so doing we will be ready to call on the Lord and to thank him in the midst of all trials.