I'll Take IT!

"God affectionately permits difficulties that He may develop unceasingly that which He is willing to do for us, and to this end we should not shrink, but if He gives us sorrow and hindrances and losses and afflictions, we should take them out of His hands as evidences of His love and care for us in developing more and more faith which He is seeking to strengthen in us." ~ George Mueller.

Let me tell you what I saw when I read this.  I had a picture of the hands of God, and in them was a gift neatly and beautifully wrapped, just for me.  I understood the gift was the faith I had been asking for, and He was ready to give it freely, just because I had asked.   But at a closer look I realized what covered the faith that was potentially mine was a trial, a hardship that I would endure.  I had a choice.  I could leave the trial alone, ignore it or try to fix it myself and miss out on recieving the gift God had for me or I could take it from His hands get through the wrapping and experience His unending faithfulness and goodness to me.  That's where I recieve the faith to get through the next trial that comes and therefore recieving more faith. 

Its not about trying to muster up enough faith to "pass the test", I believe its about finding His Word to be true and steady.  Do we believe it or not?  Its that simple.  So don't feel that hardship is necessarily a punishment for not having enough faith, the hardship can be where we find it, the very reason you need it.  He loves us enough to get us through if we let Him. 

No Pain No Gain......Seriously?

We've all heard the phrase "no pain, no gain" and most of us picture a body builder of some kind going through their workout ritual, sweating and grimmacing, putting themselves through what I would consider torture so they can have a head-turning physique. 

Why does pain have to be involved?  As I've always heard it, pain is an indicator that an area of our body needs attention.  Without pain we might not feel that we've broken a bone and need to get it set right or that we're burning ourselves to a crisp when we're out in the sun too long.  Pain tells us that something needs to be done....and sometimes very quickly.

I started thinking about other kinds of pain: emotional pain, suffering through trials, loss, inconvenience, putting up with human stupidity (whether our own or someone else's), financial difficulty, change of any kind.  I'm sure you have your own list going through your head right now.  If we dare to think about it, those are all indications that there is an area of our lives God wants to touch and exercise and improve. 

Just like a body builder takes their workout to the next level by putting themselves through a little more pain each time they workout because they know it's a benefit, we can be assured that the pain that we experience is not in vain.  Something is happening.  So pay attention, what can you learn or gain from your pain?  It can be a good teacher if you let it.

What am I doing?

After all that work getting this page set up, and now it is somewhat quiet in my house, my mind goes BLANK.  Does that happen to you?  When you're somewhere you can't write it down you have great inspiration and can solve your hardest problem, but when crunch time comes.....nothin.

Why did I start a blog?  After doing some soul searching over whatever length of time its been, I've discovered that I have something to say.  Now whether people want to hear what I have to say is debatable, but nevertheless, thats the way God made me and I feel better when I do it.  A creative outlet, if you will. 

I'm not quite sure what you'll get day after day, if it's that often, but my hope is that you'll find something useful in it.  I get so much joy when I can encourage someone, when I can touch something in the heart, or stir up some needed laughter.  I am, however, going to post thoughts that come out of my daily walks because that's the time when I get to be alone and think.  Those are the moments I like to talk with God and search out the deep things, hence the title "Footnotes". 

So let's walk this baby out and see where it takes us!