Tag: Fear

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Warning: No Mercy Hoarding Allowed

Dearest sisters,

I must tell you that although my letter is brief it comes with a fervent prayer that it will stir in you the sincerest desire to be thankful and generous with God’s mercy.  When I think of how our great God loves new beginnings there is no scripture more telling of this Truth than:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Everyday God pours His mercy out to His beloved children because, each and every day we awaken from our slumber and open our eyes to this world, He knows we desperately need it.  We desperately need Him. Without Him we could easily be swallowed up by the world, the enemy and our own sinful flesh, the three battlefronts of our souls.

Because His love is sure and steadfast His mercy is endless. It does not take being in Christ very long before we realize how incredible this Truth is. If we have ever tried to forgive another person without this anchor you know, and I know our bitterness and resentment eventually resurface. Soon, the love and forgiveness we gave becomes something we wish we could take back. We become very choosy with whom we will give our mercy and forgiveness to. We decide who is worthy of it and who it is not! Wow! Wait just a minute that sounds familiar!  The servant who was graciously given mercy by his master and forgiveness for a debt he could never repay now chokes the person who owes him a day’s wages, comparatively speaking! Matthew 18:21-35.

“God so loved the world, that He gave us His Son…” (John 3:16). The language of this well- known verse exemplifies what the Lord says to us in Lamentations.  God loves so He gives. If you ever wonder why it is difficult to give mercy to another person, or that you want it back it could be that you don’t understand love at all. Love always gives and is constantly looking outward not inward. Check it out in I Corinthians 13:4-8.

The mercy which comes from the heart of God is never to be stored up and rationed out. That is what I call greedy. There are many excuses for hoarding the mercy God gives to us, but I think fear is most likely the number one excuse we are reserved in our giving. We are fearful of being hurt by the one we are making ourselves vulnerable to. We fear being rejected, we fear that if we give mercy to another there won’t be enough left for us. We fear being without at a later time, thinking God’s door will someday close. We fear that whatever we give out will not be given back to us. We fear looking stupid in the eyes of the world. We fear losing control of our little storehouses when in fact they do not even belong to us in the first place. You and I have been bought by the blood of Christ therefore we belong to God, He owns us! That includes our little storehouses.

We do not deserve God’s mercy, yet in an act of love He freely gives it to us.  It was not meant to be held on to but to be given out to others each day.  And at the end of the day our storehouse should be empty. Sister when I close my eyes at night I want my heart to have been emptied out, wrung out of all the goodness and mercy God has bestowed on me that day. Because, come the dawn of the next day (if He wills it to be) He will provide me (you) with it once again! New mercies each and every day. A new day a new beginning!

Who needs your mercy today? Will you choose to open the storehouse of your heart today and share what God has graciously poured into it? I pray that all who read this will do so gladly.

With love and mercy,

Susan

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All is Calm, All is Bright

Dear sister,

Are you familiar with the phrase; “the calm before the storm”? That little ditty creates an anticipation of fear doesn’t it?  It tells us to watch out when we experience peace because fury is sure to follow in its steps! How sad for us when we are in the midst of silence and serenity to fear that all hell may break loose at any moment?  This is not how our Heavenly Father works.  Instead, when chaos surrounds us and peace seems to elude us, He speaks and it brings forth order to our messy lives. How sweet and awesome is His grace!

This year as I prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming, which serves as a reminder to me of His second coming, I want to concentrate on this Truth. Perfect Love has cast out fear!! God has not given us His Son so as to then yank the proverbial rug out from underneath us! He has sent His Son, that those who trust in Him will have peace…everlasting peace…peace that passes all understanding. He delivers us from the tumult of sin and gives us rest in our hearts which guards our hearts and our minds. (Philippians 4:7)

Tis the season that you and I scramble about to prepare for time with family and friends to share in the celebration of this glorious truth.  Yet, the longer our lists grow the more stress and anxiety elevate, until there is no peace of mind and heart to be found. I have decided to take a few minutes each morning before my day begins (somedays before my feet hit the floor next to my bed) to thank God for this costly peace.  For it has come to us through His precious Son Jesus Christ who stepped down from heaven (He stooped or condescended to us) that we might know Him and His peace.  In other words, like the hymn Silent Night says, in the stillness of the night when the world was lurching in the chaotic mess of sinful darkness, Jesus came, and all was calm and all was bright.  Let’s be still and know that He is God, the great giver of ALL that is calm and most definitely ALL that is bright.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Hebrews 1:3

Peace Be With You,

Susan

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Faithful In The Storm

Dear Sister,

Hurricanes are not fun and that is an understatement. The constant news coverage for days and days before the storm arrives is enervating. By the time the winds begin to blow, the sapped energy gives way to fear-filled emotions overflowing to bursting. Fear for life. Fear for property.

As our family was undergoing storm preparations for this latest to overwhelm Florida, the relentless Irma, I thought about those tempests which rise suddenly and unexpectedly over the Sea of Galilee, allowing no time at all for preparations.  To be in a small fishing vessel in the black of night, being pitched to and fro with virtually no protection from battering winds and waves, desperately and fruitlessly trying to steer to a haven of safety, the physical and emotional dread must be overwhelming and incapacitating.

We read about a story in that setting in sacred Scripture. The disciples are involved in this scenario, terrified for their lives, desperate to save themselves. And where was the Master? Peacefully sleeping in the same boat. (Matthew 8:23-27)

This story scared me and thrilled me as a child and it thrills me now. I love how Jesus, the Creator of the weather conditions, the Sovereign over all our storms in life, was able to sleep while the little boat was being pummeled to smithereens. His desperate friends had to wake Him! Their plea of desperation was, “Save us Lord, we are perishing.” And what does He say? “O, my dear friends, I’m sorry you have to go through this. I didn’t realize what you were experiencing. I sure don’t want you to have to suffer like this.”  My pastor would say, “No, no, no, no, no!” What Jesus actually said was, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Sounds very much like scolding. They had just been through the Sermon on the Mount with Him. He had taught about not being anxious for life, about the wise and foolish men building homes on solid or shifting foundations, the observation of the crowds that Jesus had some kind of other-worldly authority, the cleansing/healing of an outcast leper, the centurion’s servant healed, not in person but from a distance, and people being set free from satanic possession and physical diseases. He had given His disciples plenty of evidence that He had all power over the physical and the spiritual. And yet, He has to now chide them about their fear and lack of faith. But Jesus doesn’t leave them in guilt over imperfect trust. “Then He rose (from sleeping) and rebuked the winds and the sea” as if these elements of nature had ears to hear and knees to bow low before the Creator. “And there was a great calm.” Shhh. Immediately the sea became quiet, not a ripple. The disciples did not seem to wonder at the how of His act but at the Who.  Scripture tells us, “And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’ ” I was reminded in a recent sermon I read that the parallel passage in Mark says the disciples were “exceedingly afraid”. During the storm they were fearful, but in the aftermath they were really, really fearful as they stood in the presence of God Himself. The Bible does not say they fell on their knees and worshipped. Not here, not yet. But they are beginning to get the picture.

During our hurricane I wish I could tell you I fell asleep in perfect peace like Jesus in the back of the boat. After all, my home is well-built of concrete block and double-paned windows. My Mama and my daughter did sleep through that fierce Irma, seemingly without a care in the world.  My husband kept his watchful eyes and ears on the goings-on. Me? I hid in my closet with my little battery-run radio on full blast to drown out the frightening noises of wind gusts and falling branches and tree trunks ominously thudding.  And I was scared, as I always am during hurricanes.

Dear Sister, I wish we weren’t such fearful creatures, sometimes asking the Lord what He’s doing or if He even cares about us or knows what we’re going through. Like the disciples, we’ve seen our God at work in the Scriptures, in the world, in our lives, but we still falter in our faith when the trials heat up, forgetting that God Himself is with us. Jesus is in our boat, so to speak.  He’s not riled up. He ordains the storms in our lives to teach us lessons about His good and purposeful character and to spur our faith on to higher heights and our love for Christ to deeper depths. He is faithful when we are faithless. Even if the disciples had drowned, Jesus would have remained faithful. They would have immediately been in heaven. He never leaves or forsakes. Even when God does not answer our prayers the way we would like, it does not negate His faithfulness. Some of the worst storms attacking us are our flesh, relationships or circumstances, our own troubled thoughts which are not settled on the truth of God’s Word. All these are as powerful and beyond our control as hurricanes. But not beyond God’s control.

He will keep us safe and for Himself, whether in this world or the next, whichever He pleases. After all, “even the winds and the sea obey Him”.

Love,
Cherry

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Leaning Into Hope

Dear sister,

Have you noticed that when we talk about suffering we often talk about when a family member gets cancer, we ourselves get sick, or a loved one passes away? I’m not discounting the pain and struggle that comes in these difficult times but what sticks out to me is that these things are outside of our control.

What about the disappointments and shattered dreams we bring on ourselves? I don’t hear anyone talking about those. When I look at my own life and look at the lives of those around me, I feel alienated and alone. Does it ever seem to you, dear sister, like everyone else has life figured out? Do you ever feel like you’re the only one struggling?

I do. That’s why I want to take a moment to shine a light on our depravity. I want to consider Eve, who was the first person to disobey God; David, who committed adultery with his best friend’s wife and then had him killed in battle to cover it up; and Peter, who willfully denied the Lord Jesus in His hour of greatest need. I want to hear their stories. I want to know that I’m not alone. Don’t you?

Some time ago I was in a relationship with a really great guy. He really liked me and wanted to be with me. I liked him as well but was experiencing some doubt and fear. Long story short, a little bit of doubt and fear turned into a lot of doubt and fear and I ended up going down a destructive path and breaking things off with him.

Months later, it suddenly clicked; our future together was as clear as if it had already happened. Shattered, broken, and empty, I ran to God in my distress, giving him the pieces of my broken heart and there he revealed the sins, idols, and wrong beliefs that had been guiding my decisions for a long time.

I was angry with myself for messing up and angry with God for letting it happen. Yet I heard him calling: “Are you willing to go with me? Come, follow me.” I could see where he was taking me; it was dark, scary, and far away from the things I wanted. I did NOT want to go with Him. But after some kicking and screaming I finally surrendered to the work God was doing in my heart.

Let’s fast forward to where God and I, through counseling, mentorship, reading the Word, and prayer, began to identify my idolatry and my enslavement to the approval of others. Then God the Holy Spirit unraveled the lies that had caused me to break my own heart. He also revealed deep hurts that had never healed, and brought reconciliation to broken relationships. Finally, with this new knowledge of the truth, I was able to discard the lies I had been believing.

Even though I still have moments of regret, I am learning to lean into the hope and healing the Lord has brought about through my brokenness, that God is the Always Good Father and that this hardship was necessary for my own salvation and the situation that ultimately will bring Jesus the greatest glory.

Sis, if you have fallen into a snare, please know that you are not alone. It may look like everyone else has it all together, but they don’t. We are all sinners and we all have struggles. Remember that God holds your life and in Christ there is no condemnation but only forgiveness, mercy and grace. Take courage, dear sister, and be strong in the Lord. Whatever you’ve done, it is not beyond redeeming. Whatever you’ve done, it is not the end. God is an expert in redemption and making old things new. You can trust Him.

Fighting with you,

Kayla

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground.  These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.