I biked home from the car shop on my little folding bike. It is really handy for that since it stays in my car, and doesn't require a bike rack. I have had the little folding bike for 25 years, with few problems. But yesterday, as I biked, the gear switcher plate fell off the handlebar mount. Not a huge deal. I super-glued it back in place and all was well. The loud squeaking I noticed while riding was healed with some silicone spray on the chain.
Sadly, my kayak was in the car which was in the shop. So I stayed home and worked on the second edit of my sequel to Joe-The Horse Nobody Loved then sent it off to my first batch of beta-readers. My editor has it as well. I even started the third book in the series while waiting for the car to be ready. Escaping into a fantasy world, and writing the plot helps me when my real life seems overflowing with trauma. I won't enumerate them all, but I feel like Job. Have you ever felt like your world is imploding? In my novel, I can gather the pieces and make a remarkably wonderful, happy ending. In real life, it seems we are at the mercy of the wind.
For one thing, my poor dear mom fell and gashed open her head. A few staples later, the wound is healing, but the bruising from the fall seems to have made movement not all it is cracked up to be. I am heading there today, to try to help ease the recovery.
I got part way down the road yesterday, and too weary to continue, found a hotel. I awoke with a heavy heart over the sadness of some difficult situations in my life. One cannot run away from pain, however. It lays on you like a block of granite, pressing on your soul. My morning study by Charles Spurgeon said:
Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are directly the work of heaven, for the text says, "I will sift the house of Israel." Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. Precious, but much sifted corn of the Lord's floor, be comforted by the blessed fact that the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.
Count it all joy when you encounter trials, James of the Bible advises us. I read a few studies about why we are to count the adversity in life as JOY. The message that most resonated with me was that without adversity, we have no testimony of the life-changing power of God. Everyone can be strong when everything goes perfectly in their lives. It is when we encounter struggle that character is not only revealed, but formed. More importantly, when we have reached the end of our own sufficiency, we learn to depend on God. Ultimately, He is the only solution anyway. What we need to ask is not why we are going through a trial, or even how we will endure, but what are we to understand and to learn from it? We know we are approaching spiritual growth when we begin to ask instead, how can God be glorified in this? In even this?
Strangely, this helps. God knows what is needed, and will never throw anything that is unnecessary in our path. Our job is to walk forward, in faith, trusting that His purpose and plan is superior to ours. As Charles Spurgeon said in his gentle words to me this morning, be comforted by the blessed fact that the Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal profit.
*********************
(If interested, an excellent treatise on how God uses trials to mold us: http://www.precious-testimonies.com/Exhortations/f-j/HowGodUsesTrials.htm )
**********************
Praying for you Vicky, and may The month ahead be better!
ReplyDeleteGo be with you, Vicky. All will be well, in all manner of things, all will be well." Espada enfrente."
ReplyDelete