30 September 2020

Most children who are of school age now either own an iPad or have access to an iPad for study and activities for school. You may think it is only in first world countries but even some people in third world countries have a phone (a mini computer) even if Wi-Fi access is limited.  And so, from a young age little ones know how to use technology. They are a whizz at knowing how to play games, watch programs, make videos, take photos, even make phone calls.  My grandchildren have taught me heaps!

Willow was unwell and was lying on the couch with an iPad. I came over to talk to her and check on how she was. Returning to the iPad she was using (it was mums) it had gone off and had a black screen. The iPad has a number lock, a password on it. Mainly for security sake but also that the children have to have permission to use it. They don’t know the password.

Willow asked me to please fix it. “I can’t,” I said. “I don’t know the password.” She said, “No it’s easy, you just do this,” and pushed her fingers across the numbers. And so, she passed the iPad back to me, fully confident that I could do it.

I stopped in wonder.

There was no question within her that I could not solve the problem. I could unlock her computer for her.

The reason why I stopped and thought about what was happening was because just the day before I had been asking God some questions. I had been having a conversation with Him about my life, about circumstances that have arisen in my life that I was unsure about.

I wanted God’s advice on them. I had come to Him fully aware that HE had ALL of the answers that I needed. With confidence (like Willow did to me), that He could solve them. That’s what Willow was demonstrating to me. A confidence, a trust that I had the answers.

Did I have that same confidence, no discussion necessary, that God would solve, fix my issues?

David in Psalm 55 thought so.

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;

he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22 ESV

That’s actually the words that I felt God had impressed on my heart in prayer – in the conversation with Him

“I will sustain you.”

And again in Isaiah

I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Isaiah 46:4 NIV

That does not mean God answered all of my questions then and there. But I walked away from our conversation, from our dialogue and sharing, fully confident that He would sustain me. That MY GOD would ‘work out’ the issues for me and with me

The rest of the morning this word ‘sustain’ kept popping up into my mind. What did that actually mean?

So, I looked it up in an English dictionary AND in scripture.

“Sustain”

– to strengthen or support physically or mentally.

– to provide what is needed for something or someone, to exist, to continue, to hold up the weight of something.

– To cause to continue for an extended period or without interruption – like a chord on a piano.

Did that mean God would fix all of my problems? That nothing “Bad” would happen to me? To my family?

Why did my Uncle die from Cancer?

Why did I fail to get that job years ago?

Why do I continue to struggle in some areas of my life?

What is it for you? What do you sometimes blame God for? He could have stopped it. He could have prevented the cancer, the car accident, the disease, the lack of ………

God is not like a genie. He does not pop out of his bottle and grant us all of our wishes. He is not under our control.

He sustains us, strengthens us, provides for us in the circumstances of our lives. Yes, He can perform miracles (and He does) but it is truly HE who carries us. He can continuously, without interruption, without time restraints, keep us and look after us .

It is like that “Footsteps in the Sand” poem. Especially that last stanza,

“No precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

In Scripture you will find the heart of God for us, in sustaining us.

So, when you feel alone, that nobody cares – read these…

My Flesh and my Heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 ESV

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength

Isaiah 40:29

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together

Colossians 1:17

And this is MY favourite!

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, For I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

The AMP translation says, “Do not fear anything for I am with you”

These are the type of scriptures I read when I doubt, when life looks bleak. When things start to happen that cause me to worry, to be anxious. I go to MY GOD who sustains me.

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

Did I have confidence, no discussion necessary, that God would solve and fix my issues?

Do I have confidence that God will sustain me?

Are there scriptures that you rely on for God to sustain you?