22 July 2020
I did it again. Had a bad day and ranted and raved to God. Actually it was not just one bad day that did it. It was a progressive addition of things going wrong. Doors closing personally and in ministry and none (or so it seems) were opening to replace the blockages standing before me.
Ever had a rut in your career? Parenting skills not working? (Actually sometimes I wonder why you call them skills, for they seem non-existent at times.)
Have your retirement plans gone astray? You thought you would have at least 10-20 years of enjoyment of travel, family, doing the hobbies you love. But it did not work out that way. The news from the doctor was not good. You need an operation. A change of lifestyle. Maybe you even heard that C word come from the doctor’s lips. CANCER.
Then the travel has gone out the window with the Covid-19 Pandemic…… Not only that -the financial pressure on so many…..the unemployment of your family members, friends……yourself…..
It’s difficult mentally even to stay positive. To cope. If God was not in my Life….. If Godly people were not in my life……
Well that’s the few months, actually sometimes it seems like years, that has occurred in my life. What about yours?
With God looking into the future I have hope. Where MY plans have not eventuated, I know My God has greater plans for me.
I know this but still sometimes I crack under the pressure.
It came to boiling point when I felt I was the one in the family that was doing it all. Every time I was trying to be positive about life, about situations, someone pushed back against me and told me my ideas or hopes were unrealistic. “I needed to face the facts.”” Stop putting my head in the sand. “
Sad to say I cracked. I fell apart, weeping and telling God life “sucked”. Excuse the language! But it was how I felt. I did not blame God but I was just sharing where I was at.
Ministry in any arena today has its struggles. You would think since Covid-19 people would be turning to God for answers, for help. Sad to say on the whole this is not the case. I had been asking God why so difficult? Were we even making any headway? Was what we were doing even helping people at all? Could we do better? How to do better? How to reach more people? To tell them of the love of God. To tell them there is hope.
These and many more questions were going around in my mind.
My husband knew what I was struggling with. But no one else.
God then surprised me. Comforted me. Blessed me even.
It was the next day. A friend emailed me. I have not seen her for six months, but we keep in contact often, encouraging each other with our walk with God.
She dreams often and she had a dream. She shared it with me, and it brought me to tears. For I saw in it an answer from God. An answer that comforted me in some of my questions that I had been struggling with.
Her dream was a picture of three trees. The two on the outside were mango trees full of fruit. The tree on the inside was a tree bearing sandals, all kinds and colours.
This dream spoke to me. One of the main questions I had been talking to God about was “Is there any Fruit?” Fruit that will last. For that is what Jesus asks His disciples to have.
The tree with the fruit of sandals in different sizes and colours gave me comfort for I felt God was saying the fruit you bear are different people. Races, cultures, nationalities, creeds from all different age groups.
Then not a few minutes later I was reading an excerpt from Padre Pio’s writings. This is what I read.
“It is not new to fall; what is wrong is to lie down after you have fallen. Remember where you stood before you fell. The devil once mocked you, but now he will know that you can rise stronger than ever before… Do not draw back from the mercy of God.”
I felt like the mercy of God was poured out upon me and I was being restored. I had slipped and fallen flat on my face, but God came and set my eyes to His Victory. The enemy has NOT won. I will be stronger than before. I will with God’s help do better than before. Persevere. Push on. But right now – Stop and get some nourishment. Stop at Gods watering hole and get refreshed.
And so, I took the day for me and my refreshment. I poured out my thanks to my Father in Heaven and Earth who looks after me, who saw me where I was at and came and comforted me. His mercies are new every morning.
Have there been or are there now times when you need refreshment? Where have you cracked under the pressure?
What stories can you share where God came and comforted you?
These stories encourage all of us that God sees us. God cares. And that God has all of the answers. He WINS.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’
Love
Rosemary
Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups. If you would like more information please click HERE.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Have there been or are there now times when you need refreshment? Where have you cracked under the pressure? Where have you needed God?
What stories can you share where God came and comforted you?
7 Comments
Rebecca
Thank you Rosemary for your word & encouragement today. I just needed to hear it & praise God that we have HIM who is merciful & welcomes us with open arms. Thank you for being real & honest with us ladies, I can certainly relate to what you said. I will contemplate on what you said & be with our Lord who is the answer for all our questions. God Bless you & your ministry.
Mimi
THANK YOU ….. FOR SHARING YOUR FEARS, ANXIETIES AND HOPES . YOUR WORDS AND POSITIVE ENCORAGEMENT
HELP SO MUCH IN THIS ROLLER COASTER JOURNEY OF UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE. ESPECIALLY IN THESE TIMES WE ARE ENDURING.
ALL OF US NEED TO HEAR THESE WORDS…. GOD CARES, HE LOVES AND NEVER ABANDANTS US . WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP CLOSE TO HIM,
GOD BLESS YOU, AND ALL YOUR GREAT WORK.
Mary
Thank you for sharing your journey. Yes, I have cracked under the pressure of this life! If I did not have my faith to know that there is a path for me, I am sure I would have given up trying to go forward a very long time ago. The few times in my life that I have heard God speak to me, it was to guide me in a direction that I really did not want to take. It was not necessarily an easy road, but He was there with me so I was ok and I knew it was the right way for me.
I so appreciate the ministry of you and of Bruce and I have been praying daily for you both that God would bless you and give you what you need to continue blessing so many with His word. Keep doing what you are doing. So many people need you and need to hear your message.
Valerie Simms
Thank you for sharing with us your current difficult times with us and with such honesty! Thank you for helping me to see
that I’m not the only one who has more than just a bad hair day! Lately I had got into the habit of spending most of my
time with the Lord, directly in prayer, in His Word studying, writing and watching videos that helped me learn and understand
more about my spiritual journey. Bruce’s messages are a great example as are your jottings. I was very happy until I was made aware that this was not the case in the family! I tried making up for it by doing as many tasks as I could in one day to lessen the load on others, that would have normally taken several days to accomplish! It did not have the desired effect that I would have hoped for.
All it took was just one word and I was weeping! Then all the other past disappointments and failures bubbled up to the surface.
As a result I could see no value, achievements, successes in my past and little if any for the future. What seemed to be consistent
were the memories of what I perceived to be rejections of me.
It took a lot of encouragement and persistence by the Lord to get through to me that even if I was of little value to the world and
according to my own personal standards, THE LORD LOVES ME JUST AS I AM WITH ALL MY FAULTS, WEAKNESSES AND LIMITATIONS.
It took a while for me to settle quietly, to take in not knowing exactly why life has been so difficult, why so much suffering and listen through His Word what the Lord wanted me to hear. Adding to my own personal discoveries of the Lord’s encouraging Word there was also Bruce’s Facebook page containing many encouraging, uplifting scripture verses, videos and Daily Devotionals!
I was very surprised that one of the scripture passages I personally discovered and read contained Zerrubabel and Jeshua rebuilding of the Temple prophesied by Ezra. While pondering why this passage has come up at this present time, I saw a wonderful video from the past from Bruce. The title of the video rang Church bells for me; ‘ Begin Again’! This morning when I opened my new Bible,( I highly recommend this Bible from Bruce Downes Ministries! ) my eyes fell upon Habakkuk 3: 17 -19 Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength, He makes my feet like a feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights. Thank You Lord!
Rose Chan
Thank you Rosemary for showing your human side – I always thought people like you with unshakeable faith can never fall.
I can identify with you even more now as I have so often fallen short & still stumbling along this journey.
May we continue to be united in our prayers & encouraging one another as we are never alone….
Be rest assured I will always pray for you, Bruce & your wonderful Team!
Rosie Imbert
Thank you so much Rosie for the beautiful message that gives me so much hope and encouragement to keep going. In the ups and downs of everyday life, I ask God to walk beside me and help me get up all the time.
Bless you all and we’ll keep praying for each other.🙏
Janja Radas
Thank You Rosemary for being so raw and honest. It is rather refreshing to read what is sitting in the depths of your heat. It is so powerful and I so relate to you words.
Praise be to our Lord!! .May he give you strength to continue your Ministry in such a humbling fashion. AMEN
Gods Blessings
Janja