Where O WHERE, Are WE?!
©Sue Ray (of Sonshine, Silliness & Legends)
All Rights Reserved It's 11pm, somewhere nearby a car alarm goes off, disrupting my sleep. I peek out my curtains to see where the noise is coming from, and suddenly in that moment, I know. A babies cries are heard, not audibly?, more in my head. I know a child is hungry, or suffering some other form of abuse. A woman screams, a shot is fired, and another, and another.
Have you heard the alarm, have you heard that babies cries? Whether you realize it or not, you probably have. In today's society, people don't like really like to get involved in the problems of other people. Let them hit bottom, and they'll figure it out. In the meantime, We pray, & We're safe.... But ARE WE??
Have you ever found yourself smack dab in the middle of life, when all of a sudden, everything comes "unglued" so to speak? Chances are at some time or another you have. Our lives are full of trials and tribulations. God allows us to go through these, so that we will rely on Him and, in doing so HE will make us Strong.
Take a moment to ponder this thought? What if, God, didn't want to get involved? What if He never came to earth? Where would WE be? He could have been like that you know. He could have decided on that first sin, to just say? Ah, heck with it, they'll never learn. He could have, but He didn't. He chose us, so that we might choose Him.
I've often wondered how it is that we end up, where we are in life. To many, this is because we have chosen to be, wherever it is we are. And while that's true to some extent, I also believe when God created us, the plan was set in motion for our lives. So in another sense, I wonder if the choices we make would have to be in some way ingrained in our beings, that this is where we're going, this is the path we are to travel... kind of like auto-pilot if you will.
Just writing that got me thinking... "Wow, that's pretty deep... I'm not sure if *I* even understand that.
God gave me the attached song one night not long after I'd fled from my marriage and the life that had become overwhelming to me. I can see the path that God KNEW I would be taking. He prepared me years earlier by pointing me to the verse that I would cling to like a lifeline. "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." (Psalm 18:32 NIV)
Just a few years later, I was asked to lead a 2 day retreat at the women's prison, and did so using that as the main scripture theme. So it should have come as no surprise that when I was in the midst of my marital struggle, this verse would play a central theme in the song God gave me that night; and yet to some degree the thrill, exhilaration, and humbleness I felt that God was using my struggle for something so powerful took my breath away.
Ironically, while the central theme remained the same, the scripture verses that I read as this song came into existence were NOT the same ones that I had used for the retreat. One of these days I need to find the piece of paper I'd written the song on that night, as I had notated the verses God took me through on it as well. To this day, that main scripture verse gets me through the struggles of life.
When I was younger, I can't even remember the number of times, I planned on running away from home. The funny thing was, it was always clear to my parents... I made no bones about it, I wanted out. I can still picture one of the first times, standing in the hallway, ready for adventure, white suitcase in my hand, ready to head for greener pastures.
Much like God, my parents were way smarter than I, and used some kind of logic that blew the wind out of my sails. So I'd always end up, my suitcase unpacked, right back where I started from.
Looking back, I realize that even then, God knew what He was doing... Shaping me, and molding me into the person I would grow into. His design had taken root, and though many times, stubborn and sure that there was something better out there, I was, and still am, right where God planned me to be, growing deeper in understanding all the while. As a child, I was probably NOT NEARRRRLY as stubborn as others... My daughters, ventured, to areas in life I couldn't even begin to fathom. *I* have encountered things, that many will never experience. I would hazard a guess that the same can be said for your life experiences.
We're all on this journey called life, with enough differences to make us unique, and enough similarities to make us able to learn and grow from each other. The concept is mind boggling, but the end result is a tapestry that contains such beauty, it can ONLY have been designed by God.
Looking back on your own life, Can you pinpoint the times in life God has armed you with the strength to persevere in a difficult situation?
His Way is Perfect
©Sue Ray (of Sonshine, Silliness & Legends)
All Rights Reserved - 2001
The world's become a crazy place
There's violence everywhere
A child lives in misery
But many just don't care
Is it any wonder then, as we've turned
From all that's true
And tried to serve some other God
Ruin & misery describe you
(chorus)
As for God, His way is perfect
Faith is a shield of victory
He can make the darkness light
But where O where are we
--
He's the rock that can't be beat
He'll make our feet that of a deer
If we would only turn to him
And give away our fear
What Happened O so long ago
Seems all to be in vain
When a person flees from one they love
'cause they just cant take the pain
Peace and joy aren't far away
If you'll just reach out your hand
He'll be beside you all the way
'cause it's time to take a stand
(chorus x2)
As for God, His way is perfect
Faith is a shield of victory
He shed his blood for one and all
But where O where are we
His Way Is Perfect 1999 Retreat Scripture References from the NIV Abandonment: Matthew 26:38-46
38 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
Tears: Psalm 56:8
8 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll - are they not in your record?
Hope: 1 Corinthians 10:11-13
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Joy: Psalm 139:1-10
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Faith: Matthew 17:20
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Stumbling Blocks: John 10:28-30
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one."
Walking with God: Genesis 41:38
38 So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God
Strength: Psalm 18:30-36
30 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the LORD ? And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. 36 You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.
