Holding on to Heart Truth

This morning I sit here and contemplate,  is a physical sickness worse or mental illness and battlefield of the mind? 
 Either way,  they are both bad, any sickness is bad, and will bring you to your knees. When your physical is brought low often your emotions and mental psyche are brought low, but often when your battle is the mind or mental illness the physical doesn't matter because the mind will often over rule any and all other systems. The heart is stronger but one must realize it is and find that truth in their mind. They must want that truth. 

I sit here knowing that both the physical body and the mind are so vital to living, to life and how everything we do kinda revolve around the other. 

When one or both are in jeopardy we suffer, we cry, we get frustruated.  We are in the fire and we wonder if we are made out of enough 'Stuff' to endure that fire. 
I often think of the story of the silversmith- The Refiner's fire : 

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ (Malachi 3:3) She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

That story doesn't answer why little children get sick, why people hurt, why people are depressed or suicidal or angry at the world. I realize that, however God wants us to allow him to refine us, he wants us to find the heart truth,  he wants us to hold on to him as he carries us and though we only see one set of foot prints in the sand, he is carrying us and we have to hold on tight. 

You are made of enough stuff to withstand the heat, the fire and the pain. You feel like you are not strong enough but you are-  dig deep, take care of your immediate physical being - get sleep, eat and take a minute or more to pray to lean,  to hope, because in the end,  HE, our Father is and always will be the answer of hope, the steadfast refuge and strong tower to lean upon, to hold on to. This life, this journey is but a vapor and gone, the bigger vast infinitude is the here after and the hereafter or  this life after- is and will be amazing. 
Paul says  " I live for that prize".
Hang on, hold on, remember he is carrying you right now. ~Abba

The Hope of 2018

I can remember an invitation to go to the World Fair when I was younger.  I had heard about it and read about it and was so very excited. I even raised money to go. My grandmother helped me, she crocheted little hair ties and I sold them at school and around my neighborhood.

Well when the time came to go, the family member that invited me could not go and I was left deflated and disappointed. I was so very disappointed and maybe at a vulnerable age that often after that I was skeptical that anything good would ever happen to me. I often did not get excited over invites, until I was on my way or in the car to go.

As I say farewell to 2017 and it's heartaches but also some great times, I welcome the hope of 2018.

I didn't really make resolutions, but in my heart of hearts I resolved to spend more time with my girls, and to be healthier.  I also have a plan of how to make that happen, so maybe we could call them resolutions.

Anyway I was reading my devotion this morning and as I read Rick Warren pen the importance of committing to God, I thought- I am committed to God. I have given up homes, jobs,  and even some hopes and dreams to try and fulfill the great commission. I have known loss and hurt because of his service and missed out on so very much with my family to do God's work to be where I thought I was supposed to be for HIM.  As I made my list in my head. I was reminded that even all that is still not enough, it's not some magical recipe to do ENOUGH. It's not about the loss or the hurt. It's about staying committed. It's about making a choice everyday.

Though the end of 2017 has been harder than I would have liked and though there is still a mountain to climb, my story is not over. I have hopes, I have dreams and I serve a God that will help me and wants the best for me as an individual. He is in control and though I have said it many many times this last month I have to believe it. I have to stay committed and in HIS WILL. Noah had a project that lasted for 120 years that required him to be faithful and to keep hope in his heart to get him through.

As I look forward to 2018, I have hope in my heart. I know that my God will sustain me and keep me and though I do not have privy to know how my story ends, God knows and he has given me the tools and the hope in my heart to live each day committed to Him and for Him and in His service.

I want to challenge you this 2018 to exercise your faith and trust in God and do something for him, work for him, enlist in HIS service, we do so much to serve ourselves, I want to challenge you to do do something intentional for Him- commit to something for HIM and see your blessings flow. The Bible says that God is always on alert and looking for people who are committed to him (2Chronicles 16:9).

If you don't know God and you wonder what this hope is, try Him today, commit your life to Him, get to know Him through His word the Bible and see how your life changes for the better.

God is the hope of 2018 and He can be your hope too.