So, what did you expect?

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Back in the day, my inlaws had a great place in the Ocala, Florida area. The entire family loved it there, right on a canal for boating and fishing, plus it was not too far from Disney World. There was great shopping and restaurants nearby, not to mention The Mighty Ocean.

But the best part?

It was FREE.

One summer, my mother, grandmother, younger brother and the only one of My Three Sons to grace the planet at the time, Kyle, decided to take advantage of the free vacation spot. The Sweetheart couldn’t get off work (or could he???) but graciously said we could go without him. Hmmm…little did I know that we would look back later and wonder who really had a vacation.

Heading  south, we made pretty good time considering our diverse party. It was a great week, the weather was fantastic and we just relaxed.

The decision was made to spend one full day at the ocean. So, this group of Indiana rednecks piled in the car and in no time we were claiming our spot on the beach. Kyle had a great time building sand castles and the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine.

Until the tide came in.

Being the newcomers we had no clue about tides and oceans or the rules of the beach. We had pulled our car up to our spot just like everyone else had done. This was the 80’s; obviously things have changed!

What we didn’t notice was that the other sun worshippers had MOVED their vehicles an hour or two earlier in anticipation of the changing tide. But the Hoosiers had not gotten the memo. Suddenly, a man came running over with excitement in his voice and yelling, “Why haven’t you moved that *&^%$#@! car?”

Blond and totally oblivious at the time, I didn’t realize that the wheels of our car were half-buried in the sand. Panic set in as we all jumped to our feet but that Buick was going nowhere, no way, and no how.

Our knight-in-shining-armor, who I assumed was there to save us, just kept shaking his head as if we were idiots. Okay, okay, we weren’t the smartest sand lovers on the beach. Finally, he hollered to a few guys around us for help and just like a scene from Beach Blanket Bingo, we were surrounded by muscle in no time. They heaved and pushed and rocked the car back and forth as it spun in the sand but she wasn’t budging!

Exasperated, our hero looked at me and said, “So, what did you expect?”

A valuable lesson was learned that day and even a beloved  Sunday School story came to mind that went along with our scenario. You can’t build anything on a sandy foundation. It sinks. Period. You will always need someone to come bail you out. Maybe it’s because the tide is coming in or because your sand castle is collapsing, but that house will just not withstand the storms of life.

Because you need a sure thing. You need a solid foundation.

In this world of uncertainty we must be established in what we believe! It is imperative that we KNOW Jesus Christ, not just know about Him. All of the Sunday School stories in the world will not do us any good if we have not been filled with His spirit. They are just stories until you know Him.

Look at what Jesus said here in the book of Matthew. I don’t normally use The Message version but this is so good, (don’t skip it! It really is good!)

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” Matthew 7:24-27

Stupid carpenter on the sandy beach. That was me that day because there was no plan, no thought that if you park next to the ocean you are going to have problems!

Today, at 99% of the beaches in the Sunshine State, you must park in the PARKING LOT; surely that rule/law came about the day after we left the ocean behind. I am a trendsetter like that! Mercifully, Frankie Avalon and his beach buddies saved the day and rocked the car right out of the sand…eventually.

Thankfully, I do not have to worry about that happening to me again. Nor do I worry about the spiritual house I am building. It is fixed on the Rock, Christ Jesus, and nothing can sink it or tear it down. These are homeowner improvements to my life! My house will not get washed away when troubles come.

so what did you expect

What do you expect when storms come your way? They will come, friend, they will come for sure. But we do not have to be afraid when we are built on the solid foundation, Jesus Christ.

What are you building on?

For the kingdom

Does fear threaten your faith?

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Does fear threaten your faith?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV.

It seems we cannot get away from it. The television newscasts are overrun with it, Facebook screams about it all day long, the images and headlines play over and over in our heads until we cannot possibly erase them. So much fear.

Wildfires.

COVID-19.

Hurricanes.

Coronavirus.

Floods.

SARS-CoV-2.

Earthquakes. 

Covid pneumonia.

Threats of nuclear war.

And the list goes on…

Fear and Faith.

Can we have both at the same time? King David did. He tells us in Psalm 56: 3, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

David was hunted down, literally, by King Saul who was so jealous of David that he thought the only way to get rid of this nemesis was to kill him.

We can assume David was afraid most every day while he was on the run and that is the cool thing about this verse. He is admitting he is afraid but when he is, when he is overcome with that emotion that we are born with, he knows what to do.  Even though he might be scared, he doesn’t let it paralyze him and turn him into a shivering coward. When he is afraid? He trusts in the One who does away with fear.

In the last few months, fear has taken hold of many people, those that know God and those that do not. But our God doesn’t want us to be consumed with fear and trembling. If you are filled with His spirit, you have the power to overcome that fear!

If we let that anxiety consume us, then we would never overcome. This is not the will of God. We must TRUST in the One who orchestrates our lives and give Him these fears every single day.

  • Purpose in your heart when you get out of bed in the morning to tell the Lord that you will not give in to fear today or give place to the enemy!
  • Don’t even let him have a foothold into your mind but fight that fear and anxiety by putting your trust in God.
  • Speak His Word out loud and claim His promises as your own.
  • Bind the spirit of fear in Jesus’ name and loose the peace of God in its place. It works!
  • Put on the whole armor of God!

Now, what about those that trusted in God but have perished in the storms, fires, earthquakes, wars, etc.? They may have gotten up one morning and placed their trust in God for the day and before it was over they had not survived. Did He not hear their prayer that morning? Why did He not protect them from evil or disaster?

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18 ESV.

What the enemy meant for evil…God will use for His glory!

Jesus was there, He was with them, He did not leave them! You can’t have a testimony without a test; use it for His glory!

Even though we live in the HERE and NOW it really isn’t all about that, is it? It is about our future, our eternity, where our soul will reside when all is said and done. The Bible says we WILL be persecuted for His namesake. It also says He will never leave us or forsake us but that doesn’t mean we won’t face trials, temptations or even have our very lives threatened…or taken.

We are not exempt from suffering; we live in a fallen world. But our hope is not in this life or in this world! It is in what is to come, HE is our hope!

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV.

One day, His Word promises that Jesus will come back and take His people out of here. And we are promised 1,000 years of peace! We lean on that promise as we see the days grow darker and darker.

Until then? We go on sharing the Gospel, living each day to the fullest and being Salt and Light in a dark and evil world.

No matter what comes upon us, we do not have to let FEAR overtake us. We have hope beyond this life and a promise that He is with us to the very end, whenever that might be.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10.

What are you afraid of today? Would you take a moment to ask God to deliver you from fear and replace it with His peace that passes all understanding? Then, believe what you have asked Him for and walk as a child of the King and don’t let fear threaten your faith!

“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name…” 1 Peter 4:19 ESV.

For the kingdom

 

When the plan falls apart, then what? Part II

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Make a decision to adapt and climb on board!

In 1786, Scottish poet Robert Burns penned the line, “The best laid plans o’ mice an’ men often go awry.” Apparently, things not turning out exactly as planned is an incredibly old phenomenon. The blog Stranded here at Hope in the Healing, as well as the first part of this one, attests to the fact that plans are not fail-proof. 

While thinking about the many trips I have taken, I could not forget our family vacation to Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone Park. I think it was 1977 and as we were driving away from Mount Rushmore, Dad’s car started overheating. We ended up stranded seventy miles away, in Spearfish, South Dakota. The car’s engine was beyond repair so Dad bought the only used car available there. Money had to be wired from Indiana to South Dakota, and it took a couple of days. While we waited, we indulged in a local favorite, the Polka Dot drive-in restaurant. (Picture bright pink awnings with big white polka dots.) We kids snuck off to enjoy The Apple Dumpling Gang, showing at the theater. Although the plans had most decidedly gone awry, and Dad’s stress must have been intense, we ended up creating some fun memories. Dad drove the Oldsmobile he bought for many years and we still talk about this and have a laugh together.

My thoughts turned to the more philosophical idea of our lives as a journey. Almost every youngster has an answer for the question of what they want to be when they grow up. At age four or so, one of my great-nephews would answer he wanted to be a garbage man. Now that he is a mature seven, he wants to be a marine biologist. Plans change; we adapt. By the time we leave our teenage dreams behind, most of us have at least a vague outline of our life journey. I had what I considered a great plan; I would become a pharmacist. Marriage was only an option if I found my soulmate, no settling for less. I would work hard, put in extra hours, and save, save, save, making sure I owned a home mortgage free, and be able to retire at age 58. Then, I would shift from career to doing things I really wanted to do and then would be free to travel. I would go to Ireland and connect with my heritage; life would be mine to enjoy.

Early on, things began to go awry! I became a pharmacist, and worked hard: driving all over Indiana filling in shifts for other companies after working my own full-time position. I had some nagging health problems that had been in the background since college. The fatigue of working so much seemed to aggravate what was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. As these diseases became more problematic, I was determined to push them to the side and win the battle they were waging. I had a nice home with a nice mortgage attached. 

During the fifteen years after college, I did nothing except work. No travel, no spa days, just work! (At age 35, I did find my soulmate which was the bright spot in this period of life.) By age 40, rheumatoid arthritis had destroyed my right knee, requiring it to be replaced. Despite always declaring I was fine, the progression continued. At age 46, I could no longer work, and have since been on Social Security and private long-term disability. I just turned 58. Now is when I planned to travel and enjoy life to the fullest. Those plans have gone awry! Travel is defined as going to the kitchen from the other end of the house.

What do we do when the journey seemingly gets so off course? First, maybe we should consider if it is truly off course, or if our plan was amiss. Maybe we are right where we should be for this season. We also need to decide how we are going to react to this change of course. You could consider if your pain serves a purpose; you may inspire someone you do not even know. Just because there are obstacles along the way, do not give up on your journey! Keep persevering and enjoying the things you can in the ways you can. Attitude dictates a great deal. Just because I cannot hike trails in Arches Park, I can still enjoy the beauty while riding in an RV. 

We enjoyed our RV journey so much, and found we can adapt it to work around the physical barriers. Guess what? We are now in the market for an RV. That sure was not in the plan! None of us knows what is around the next bend in our road. Do not put off until later the things you want to enjoy along your journey. Seize your opportunity!

Joy is a pharmacist in early retirement due to health problems. She is trying to live the best version of life and be willing to adapt to the continuing changes. She and her sweet husband, Doug, have two golden doodle furbabies. Oliver and Kenzi have recently discovered their love of going on RV trips! It’s become a family affair.