Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Victory Belongs to God

I catapulted from teaching art to very young kids two days ago to teaching my nursing home residents yesterday. The elderly folks had the same absorbed attention, gratitude, and surprise at the final product as the kids did.

I love my life. Praise God He gave me the ability to draw and to remember how I learned to draw. It is how I teach others, and it is fail-safe. What a precious gift it is for me to watch young and old delight in the ability to create something beautiful with both smooth and gnarled hands.

Another wondrous event occurred yesterday. Many days ago, I wrote about a pregnant teen that Cities4Life counselors were trying to rescue from some pretty horrific circumstances. I cannot share details, though one day, I will tell her story.

The basic facts are the girl was being coerced to abort, and when she saw her baby on ultrasound, she was adamant she would do anything, including risk her own life, to save her baby. The coercion was so severe that the county Sheriff, police, and DSS all became involved. Cities4Life counselors and supporters went into full gear to help her. I have slept little, worked not at all on my books, and made thousands of phone calls between many trips to a host of places to insure her safety. Every day, a new obstacle faced us, and threatened to defeat us.

However, as of yesterday we overcame the last major hurdle, and she is safe. She and her baby are in an incredible, wonderful situation now, and a bright future awaits them. We plowed through a path that had never been tread before (at least not by me), and succeeded. The model of the church working together to save a vulnerable soul was successfully executed.

It sure feels good.

There was one brief  moment when I literally felt I was having a heart attack during a tense time in 'the negotiations', but it subsided, and I didn't call 911. And then miraculously, the pieces fell in place, and suddenly, all the problems were solved. The symptoms of a heart attack dissipated. God was glorified, and His providence and mercy again exalted.

While I have had no time to work on my books which is my income producing job, God is always working. Check out this screenshot this morning of the top Amazon sellers in Horse books:


The first two books in the series are #2 and #3 top sellers, and the third book in my series is the top 'hot new release'. I am ecstatic. (Book 2 - Gidget: The Horse Formerly Known as Witch, is only 99 cents for the next three days, FYI.)

So what did God teach me?
1. Don't give up in impossible situations if the core issue is one of deep moral significance. It will not be easy as Satan hates giving God the victory in things like building the moral fiber of anyone to follow His commands.
2. Obstacles do not mean God is blocking you if you are prayerfully helping someone who is vulnerable and in need. It means God trusts you to persevere and rely on His strength when your strength is depleted.
3. His miraculous power is often most spectacularly revealed when the obstacles are so great that you know you cannot overcome them on your own.
4. Don't worry about your needs. When you must put them aside to help others who are vulnerable and truly helpless, God provides.
5. Follow the desires of your heart. When you love God, your desires begin to transform to His desires, and His purposes will be fulfilled.
6. Never go into spiritual battle alone. Surround yourself with like-minded believers who will help you, uphold you, and bathe you in prayer.
7. When you come out victorious, praise God. The victory belongs to Him.

Finally, draw pictures often, and delight in the wonder of creation.

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Colossians 1:16 

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.




2 comments:

  1. Praise the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within we praise His holy name!!!!God bless you mighty warrior of God!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Praise the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within we praise His holy name!!!!God bless you mighty warrior of God!

    ReplyDelete

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