Locust

We see each other on Sunday mornings at church and we have exchanged quick visits but it wasn't until last night at a women of the church function that I really had a chance to visit with her. Now healthy and in her late 30's she was diagnosed at the age of three with Lymphoma. It was stage four and very aggressive and clearly left its mark on her life. She was not able to have children but married a darling man and they had adopted two children and had planned on adopting the third this year.

The call came...they had 24 hours to get ready....but then another call came shortly after and the mom had changed her mind....they understood and with a contentment and peace in their hearts that God knows what he is doing...they prayed for this baby to be in the place that God had chosen..wherever that may be....knowing the outcome would be God's decision. For they had already been blessed beyond their expectations...with the two healthy children that God had made way for... Sure enough, six days later, after much prayer and emotion... another call came and mom had decided to give the baby up. Mom had named the baby Faith and that would be the name that would be carried on in her new home.

Now, this is the twist to the story...this adopting mom, the one with Lymphoma, is the fourth child of four. She used to love to stand on her head...and one day...she just quit...her dad noticed and asked why she had stopped? She said it hurt too much...and that is when Dad said to her mom..we need to take her in and have this checked out. The mass was found in her abdomen and was a noticeable size upon professional examination. It was an aggressive cancer which had hit a great deal of her little body already and ten days later she most likely would have died. So every year on the date of diagnosis...the family celebrated God's gift of her life....and continue to do so to this day. But it was six days after the birth mom retracted her original birth right decision...that the baby was awarded to her adoptive parents and picked up..and that day.... was the same anniversary date that they have been celebrating her life for so many years. You just have to smile at God's gracious timing....He knew...this was not a coincidence...and they clearly recognized His hand once again upon them.

The adoptive mom and her husband and her family continue to praise God for his restoration of what the locusts came and destroyed in her tiny little body. A third baby....a baby girl named Faith. Now they have one son and two daughters and sing God's praises at every turn. All in one month she gained a baby girl and lost a kidney...that was damaged without a chance for repair. If you saw this mom...she is the tiniest little precious mom whose heart for the Lord just shines brightly through her smile and her countenance, her appreciation for life and her service unto him. Oh what a blessing she is to her family but also to all those she meets along her journey.

I thought about our conversation all evening....what have the locusts destroyed in your life? What tough times have you made it through? What scars still linger in your heart and in your mind? God can and does restore what the locusts have destroyed....but we have to be willing to seek the restoration and not content to dwell on the destruction. Most all of us have either been hit by tragedy or sadness or shameful actions that we wish we could take back...but God is a God of restoration, a God of blessings and forgiveness, a God of grace. He sees the scars that have been left...he knows the hurts that we have endured....but we must have faith that he is the victorious conqueror. Not in the flash of a moment but in the journey of our lifetime. We must have faith...and truly believe in the hope that God has laid before us. He is our restorer, our transformer, our redeemer....and He will bring to life that which has been temporarily destroyed.

He did that with his son, Jesus...he will do that with each of us...and in each of us....no matter what obstacles we have faced or are facing. But we must believe in his power, in his loving kindness and in his grace. Believe that God is able to do all things and change all things according to His majestic purposes....which do not always necessarily line up with our wishes. Life is not easy...it comes with unexpected pitfalls and sudden disasters and shooting arrows to our hearts...but if we allow God to be our partner in this life...he will surely direct us to the paths that he will grow us up on. For growing us unto Himself is his sole purpose for our lives......one at a time so that we can come along side others and show them the way that he has taught us to live.

The locusts do not win...for even in the darkest of days...God manages to use their demise for His glory...and our good. But we have to choose to have the faith and the belief in HIm and in His mighty power and seek Him and stand confident in His ways. God will restore...God will transform...God will redeem that which is His...thy kingdom come.... thy will be done ....on Earth as it is in Heaven.
2 Chronicles 7:12-14

12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:
"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Dear Lord, I know that you are watching and see the many of us who come to you who have been eaten away by fear or discontent, sadness or grief. I ask that you heal our hearts Lord....and restore our lives with a peaceful and joyful countenance that springs from knowing who you are and trusting what you do and allow to happen in our lives. Help us to establish a faith filled existence that gives us continued hope.Let us be mindful to praise you in all things...knowing that you have an intended good purpose in store. Amen
Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through.

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