I am blessed so much to have another blog by Lorraine. God is not only transforming her life but also the lives around her. Enjoy hearing about God's work in her unfolding story.
Making
Me Fireproof: Praising the Lord and Blessing Others in Extreme Conditions
My
Story Continues – Praising the Lord in the Storms
You may recall from the March 28, 2014
My TIE posting that my transformation began when I lost a job that I had loved in
2011 and God placed me in my current position in an extremely dark work
environment that is filled with brokenness and sadness. I am so glad I did not
wait until God has delivered me out of this storm to start writing my
testimony, as these storms seem to keep coming.
Since the introduction of my story, I
have been hit with a more severe storm. I
was told by the doctor at a hospital emergency a few weeks ago that my mom has
a serious health condition. Given her advanced dementia, the family made a
tough decision to not proceed with surgery.
Although mom is now at home and has forgotten all about it (a blessing
of being demented), this means I could be losing her any time between now and
up to a few years at the most. With many family members yet to give their lives
to Christ, this news has turned an emergency situation into a crisis that is
filled with emotions and panic. At the same time, we also have another family
member admitted into the intensive care unit for another serious health
condition, on top of a few other unforeseen situations. Needless to say, our
lives have been turned upside down.
God won’t give us more than we can
handle. When this most recent family
crisis hit me in the middle of the night with no warnings of any kind, my first
reaction was that God must think I am strong enough to handle the
“double-trouble”– the storm from work during the day and during the week that shows
no sign of calming, and one from home that is consuming my energy for the rest
of the time in a 24-hour day and 7-day week.
One day I did ask myself, “what have I done wrong to deserve this?” The answer
is of course, I have done nothing wrong; in fact I am just letting God stretch
me and transform me. As the storms get
more severe each time, I know there is only one way to pray, not for miracles
to happen, but for ways to find Jesus.
Praising the Lord in the storms is not
easy and I am exhausted and drained.
This has been going on for almost three years now and the storms just
keep coming. There were times when I
just wanted to give up. I had even thought of stop writing my story altogether. Thankfully I did not do that as I know God is
using my story to bless others. Continuing
to share my painful journey with God is one way He is strengthening me.
I remember a message delivered by a
pastor from a church in a neighbourhood of Toronto that houses socially and
ethnically diverse people groups. The vision of this church is that members
will be God’s mercy and live out His Gospel where they live, work and be
members of the community they serve.
This message has kept me going: expressing the fruit of the spirit
during hard times make the fruit taste sweeter:
v
Patience
is about long suffering, it is a quality to allow people to endure;
v
Disciple
means carrying the cross daily, by committing to God during hard times and put
Him first;
v
Showing
joy during hardship is not normal, but through Jesus Christ we will gain the
strength we need to endure;
v
We
must always remain in Jesus Christ, this is when the fruit will remain sweet
during hard times, and the purpose is to expand the Kingdom of God.
Praising God is our way to victory:
God is moved by our faith and not by our problems. A few years ago I came across this phrase on
a candle: “Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm.” This candle is now a permanent décor in my
living room. Many people say there may
be an underlying blessing for the hardship God put us through, but I would
argue that the reason behind why God put us through hardship is because He
wanted to bless us so that we have no choice but to rely on Him to get through
it, thus bringing us closer to Him.
A year ago when my colleague was
sharing a devotion piece with me, I came across a spiritual power tool known as
sacrificial praise. It means a
discipline of praying when you don’t feel like it. This greatly honors God
because He already knows that we don’t feel like it so when we do it, it honors
Him more. I guess this relates to my ability to sense and abide with our Father
when I praise during hardship. I learned that the more I praise, the closer I
am to Him and the more strength I am able to get to continue to endure.
When we see how God truly work through
us during difficult times, it is truly rewarding and we become hungrier for
more of Him – something I hope to share in future segments of my story. I have noticed in my weekly spiritual journal
in the past year that I have turned from pleading for help to praising God.
People who read my journal may think I had an awesome week but in fact, it was
the opposite. I guess this is when God turns a trial into triumph and a victim
into a victory. Here are a few things I have
learned to-date throughout my journey with God:
1.
Outcomes
of our faith do not always mean things will get better.
2.
God
is using the situation to grow us; He is transforming us every time we
surrender to Him.
3.
*God
does not always remove us from the fire, but to make us fireproof. There is a difference between a “delivering
faith” and a “sustaining faith”:
• Delivering
faith will keep us out of adversity – this is victory; while
• Sustaining faith
is where God takes us through the storm – this is greater victory.
Bad things do not happen to good
people, they happen for good people, those who are ready and wanting to be
transformed. Only trusting God will push us to our limits. I know until God opens the next door for me, I
just need to praise Him in the hallway. Blessed
people are those who can rejoice and be glad daily. Blessed people worship Jesus daily, even in
extreme conditions.
I would like to end this part of my
story with the same Bible verse, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial
because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that
the Lord has promised to those who love him” James 1:12 (NIV). May God bless you today and always.
Lorraine
April 27, 2014
*Taken from a Joel Osteen sermon on
being “Fireproof.”
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