Friday, November 4, 2011

THINK ON THESE THINGS - FRIDAY


LIVING THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES


A new and from feedback, favorite guest writer here - JENN TRUMM JONES - has struck a nerve with her Thirty Days of Gratitude for the month of November, leading up to Thanksgiving...and especially with this short, yet convicting testimony!


So many of our friends and families and even people we work with or know, down the street, are going through just the roughest time of it, in life! It is not just about unemployment or low finances, but there is such a hopelessness and feeling of Godly abandonment (not true) that it must be address.

Starting yesterday, for as long as it takes, I will be addressing any issue which fellow saints face, with the Hope of bringing encouragement to their souls, day by day. Occasionally, like today, a friend and fellow writer like Jenn Jones will  give the message. Please read on! I know it will bless you today!

Bernie


For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength....Philippians 4:13 (NLT)


JENN TRUMM JONES, 
This may seem odd to some people - to others it will make perfect sense. I am grateful for the adversity and challenges I have faced, still do face and will face in my life. Why, you may ask? Why not?

In my younger years, before I was a Christian, I faced many, many challenges in life. Most of them were brought on by my own unwise decisions. At the time I felt sorry for myself a lot, wondering why these things kept happening. Looking back and looking at who I have become - I know now that God used each and every one of my bad decisions, each challenge, and each obstacle to mold me into who I am today. He is still doing it. How can I not be grateful for that?

I have learned enough over the past 3 years to know that when I am facing a challenging or difficult situation to stop focusing just on the problem. Christ has taught me to look past my own feelings and look for what I can learn from it - how it brings me closer to what He has planned for me - how it strengthens me. If life was always perfect and we never faced adversities - how could we grow? We wouldn't. We would atrophy like unused muscles.

So, for today I am thanking my Lord for all of the tough stuff in life that I have faced, am facing now, and will continue to face time to time in the future. I am thanking Him for the lessons learned and the strength He has created in me through these situations and issues. He takes things that we think stink - and creates something good and beautiful - someway, somehow. 



In some ways that we may never even know or experience personally. But we should thank Him anyway. He doesn't just want to hear our gratitude when things are going peachy. He wants us to recognize even in the rough times, that He is there waiting on the other side of whatever it is we are facing. Waiting. Loving....




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1 comment:

Derrick Boyd said...

AMEN!!! It is the trials that we go through that define who we truly are. I posted a devotion on my blog that was similar to this. I put the link below. God Bless you Bernie and Jenn!

http://boydweeklydevotional.blogspot.com/2011/08/hurricane.html