Valley series--Intermission A

This song has quickly become one of my favorites.  The title is Take Me through this Valley.  

As of late many people seem to be having 'valley moments' in their lives.   Myself included.

For some time I had stopped blogging and even writing on the side in my journal and other projects.

Life appeared to be at a standstill.  Work was not too important and I just wanted to be alone.  

These 'valley moments' used to take me away from God.  Now, they draw me closer.

I began to read the psalms more and then something happened.  Just as I knew the presence of God during my happy days, I began to experience the nearness of God in all of my struggles.  

I was not moved to the point of not wanting to be in His presence as I had been before.  

God was not the cause.  God was the answer.  

I started praying the psalms.

I started singing the psalms.

Not long after, my spirit found peace and joy once again.

Valleys are not easy to get through.  The road seems long and we are always looking up at the peak which looks to be far beyond our endurance to reach it.  

Look at it from another perspective.  Look past the peaks and the difficult mountain climb and look to the One who made them and know that:

(1). He is with you every step of the way.  God will never leave you nor forsake you.

(2). Once you climb out of the valley, you will realize God has taken your faith to new heights and stretched you beyond what you thought possible.

Enjoy the song and if you have a favorite song or two that has helped you through 'valley moments' please share.  

God bless.

Good good father

I looked up into the sky this morning and I saw two clouds.  One cloud, the bigger one, looked like a giant hand.  The second cloud, above it, looked like a smaller hand.  The second cloud appeared to be reaching out to the first cloud, as if it was the hand of a child reaching out to their father.  

Pausing in the middle of my walking prayer I simply smiled.  At that point in my prayer I was asking my Heavenly Father for comfort.  

So amazing. 

Over the years I have heard many people say "God answered my prayer before I finished the sentence."  Today started as such for me.  What a blessing.

The storm clouds are gathering above and even in the midst of them my Father still bids me to come.

Have a great day and God bless.

Life lesson

The race is not to the swift,

Nor the battle to the strong,

Nor bread to the wise,

Nor riches to the men of understanding,

Nor favor to men of skill;

But time and chance happen to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11b

Famous Quote

We see hardly one inch of the narrow lane of time.

To our God, eternity lies open as a meadow.  It must seem strange to the heavenly people, 

who have reached the beautiful End, that you and I should ever question what Love allows to be, or that we ever call prayer "unanswered" when it is not what we expect.

Isn't no an answer?

Isn't heaven an answer?

Amy Carmichael 

14

MY FATHER, I BELIEVE I see it now.  I always want You to do something for me.  (Or at least to clear the way, so I can do it for myself.).  And You want to do something in me.

      Now I see that You want to come with Your word and Your powerful Spirit, and splice them together with my words and my spirit.  

     I have wanted answers.  You want us to become one....Thank you, for Your unending patience with me.

A prayer of Amy Carmichael

Famous Quotes

God's timetable is not altered by the times. 

Dr.  Rexella Van Impe

The Absent Self

Many accounts within the bible have stood out to me over the years.  One of my favorites can be found in 2 Kings 20:1-11.  It is the story of King Hezekiah when he was sick and dying and the LORD visited him.

In my many years of working in the prehospital (ambulance) and hospital settings, I have seen a lot of death.  That is, possibly, the second hardest part of being in the emergency medical field.  I say possibly because at times with the great number of faces we "see" they are hard to forget.  Faces of children, distraught or worried parents, grandmothers and grandfathers, young adult male and females and all in between.  The faces are countless.  Our chief goal is to stabilize and transport as quickly and safely as possible.

Death affects people in different ways.  Many times have I seen that final battle in which the person struggles to stave of the inevitable, if, God chooses not to prolong their life here on earth.  

Why choose a passage such as this if it evokes memories of loss and death?  I cannot say.

While walking down the street and mulling over ideas for my next blog post, the title "The Absent Self" popped into my head.  Soon after the account of Hezekiah made its appearance.  

How could I make these two halves a whole?  Stopping a few further along the way, the answer came to me.  

God sent the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell the king "to get your house in order, for you shall die, and not live."  There are no hidden words in that very one sided conversation.  

Hezekiah upon hearing the words of Isaiah, turned his face to the wall and prayed.  

As I have previously stated, being in the medical field I have seen many people die and their fight to retain life.  Yet, God knows the number of our days and He alone can extend or end it.

Hezekiah did not plead with, fight, curse or try to bargain with God.  

(3) "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight."  And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

At this point in my life I was backsliding.  God and faith were no where in sight or the back of my mind. Everday I saw the brevity of life and how fleeting it could be and yet I sought no life for myself.

God was and is merciful.

Hezekiah accepted what God had to tell him.  Was he happy?  The bitter tears say no.  I think King Hezekiah wanted to live so that he could continue serving God and do more to further the name of God.  Just supposition not established fact.

In the absence of himself Hezekiah thanked God for the life he had been given hoping it had been pleasing to His God.   

God being pleased with the heart of Hezekiah chose to heal him and add 15 years to his life.

There was no pleading for one more day or hour.  No requests for his family or friends came out of his mouth.  It was time to die and he was ready.

What an example?  I/we as children of God should live our lives in constant service to God.  Will it lead to good fortunes and long life?  Not always.  Even so, bad days will surely be a part of it as well.  Yet, when we get to the end of our lives and God is calling us home will we be as accepting of it as Hezekiah was?  Don't answers that.

What matters is how we have walked before our God and was it pleasing to Him.

The absence of self makes all these things possible because God will surely fill us to over flowing with Hos Holy Spirit to endure.

God bless.