Thursday, July 25, 2013

Share

Our little HOW (Hearts of Women) group met this week and Jan my partner in this ministry was out of town and instead of canceling it, I felt that consistency was important so I decided to wing it.  I had prayed all week as to what God wanted me to have as a topic and Sunday my Sunday School teacher taught on empowerment of the Holy Spirit and how important it is that we seek to know God and try to follow through with his commands, but how really important it is to come to the realization that we cannot do anything on our own that involves significant change without the power of the Holy Spirit activated and  involved in helping us! For it is through God's very Spirit that we gain strength, wisdom, confidence, motivation, clarity, perseverance, courage and the will to keep on trying. 

I spoke for a few minutes but did not harbor the fact just reintroduced it as such a valuable tool of love and strength that God has offered and if only we embrace it and learn to depend on it, it is then that we will reap the rewards of the benefits. One other thing that I had realized about this precious group is that I really didn't know too much about what their days were like.  If they worked, what hobbies they might have etc.  So I decided since we really had no planned agenda to ask three questions: 

1) What do they do or like to do? 
2) Is there a specific bible verse or quote that has been meaningful to their healing or comfort?
3) Is there something particular or specific that hey would like us to pray for?  

This may sound a little scary but God had only called for 12 of us to meet that night so the group was small and made for a comfort level that is not often found in larger groups.  This was not a requirement and if they wanted to pass on talking, that would surely be fine but what happened in that next hour and a half was clearly God's doing.  
I will not break the trust of confidentiality but I learned how important it is that night to share your story.  Every single one of them was rooted in sincerity, wisdom, coping abilities, dreams, needs, and to my greatest surprise some serious gut laughing comments.  We so often are hesitant to let the real inside stuff show, but when we are brave enough to reveal it, especially in a group where a common thread has bound heart strings, it is amazing how it graciously and encouragingly effects others and diffuses a bit of the heavy hearted baggage that seemingly finds it way to our shoulders.  

These precious ladies are to be commended, everyday in every way for taking their one next step and dealing with the issues that are before them.  This is a tough journey and I cannot begin to understand for it is a road I have never traveled but just listening to them and being blessed to now be a part of their lives is a gift that God knew I would not only cherish but learn from. 

I know that many of you reading this too are not in a position to travel a journey such as this, oh but I suspect you have got your own baggage.  

And my points are two:
1) If we want to change ourselves or something about ourselves, we have to ask God for some help. And for some of us we are too prideful and controlling to even begin to hand over the reigns of our lives to God but he truly is the only one who can make substantial, visible, heartfelt, lasting adjustments to our lives.  Sometimes circumstances force us to reinvent ourselves and our situations while other times we have hit a low due to habits or lifestyle that has become unhealthy and even dangerous.  The whispers for help can hardly be heard due to the static of the distraction. Change is hard and to reinvent something of familiarity and transfer and transform it into something positive and worthy we need Jesus, the one who has an infinitely greater power and overview and can and will help us to succeed if only we faithfully ask him for help.  God hears whispers, and he sees our troubles.  

2) Share your story, don't be ashamed or embarrassed, and realize that everybody has got something that they are dealing with.  And I have learned that  whatever pain or adversity that is tucked away within me, there is always someone who can relate and most often has experienced many of the same emotions and feelings and hurdles.  It might make you feel a vulnerability but when you are in an environment of trust, it also endears you so to those that you have held in confidence. 

Here some of the verses and quotes that were shared; for many are familiar and are great treasures to tuck away:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Psalm 23

Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; Iwill turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are thethings I will do; I will not forsake them.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. 

Ecclesiastes 3:3-5

    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,


Psalm 30:11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.



    Philippians 4:6
    Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
    2 Timothy 4:7
    I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
and this one was sent to me by a friend who did not attend:

Joel 2:25
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you.

Praise God that he cares about all our troubles and is there ot help us 
Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

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