Posts Tagged ‘pain’

Impassioned Prayer

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ~Psalm 147:3 Lord, I don’t understand. My heart is heavy and my eyes burn. I hear the rain falling outside my window and wonder why it’s falling on everyone. Will it stop? I’ve always known that pruning was painful and I’ve seen some light pruning over my years but nothing like this. Your shears are cutting deep and further back than I’ve ever seen. Many it seems are falling prey to the pleasures of this world. You’ve pruned and they’ve withered and fallen away. Satan has tricked us, each in our weakest point, in to believing there’s nothing better. He’s drawn on our selfishness and brought us to places where our desires are fulfilled. When will You call them back home? Will You call them back home? I’m a broken man, a man who sees no place here for his head…. [Read More]

When Care Turns to Crutch

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber… ~Romans 13:11 It’s possible that every generation sees what I see. That the cycle continues on and I am just maturing enough to recognize it from my adolescence. To see it through my eyes in the lives of those younger than me(and some older) becomes a sharp pain in the heart. And yet, I am only human, and I wonder how God feels about it? I’m talking about relying on grace as our “out”. I readily admit that I am a victim as well. On more than one occasion I have thought about my actions beforehand(understand this means the Spirit prompting me)and thought well, the Lord forgives. There is an air of arrogance to our actions. To feel as though we have time as young people to fool around and do… [Read More]

What drives you?

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ~Matthew 19:21 I had to take a bit of a break this past week or so after dislocated and breaking my finger in 3 places in a football game. As I got up after the play I lined up for the next play feeling a little pain in my hand. It was cold and rainy and a brisk breeze was blowing across the field. My initial thought was that my hand was just numb from the cold and wet along with hitting the hard dirt ground. Upon looking down at my hand my ring finger from the top knuckle to the tip was bent up. It looked real bad. Not enjoying the look of my finger I pushed it down and in,… [Read More]

Walking in Darkness

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. ~Psalm 62:8 A little story I thought I’d pass along. I hear a still small voice saying “trust me” as fears and doubts pour in my head daily. And I speak back saying “I want to but I can’t see you”. I feel like I’m in a pitch black building with no windows. There are obstacles all over the place and I’m bumping my knees and stubbing my toes. I’m crying, part from fear, part from pain, and I just want to get to the door where there is fresh air and sunlight. There are whispers all around and I hear the scurrying of little feet like nails on a chalkboard. My flesh tenses and my head darts from side to side but I still see nothing. I’ve been walking… [Read More]

Confrontation for Growth

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ~Matthew 10:34 Confrontation is always a hard pill to swallow for all the people involved. It’s always awkward and almost always involves some one calling someone else out on an issue of sin in their lives. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:4, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” We all have our issues but when is the time to tell that brother or sister that what they are doing needs to stop? For anyone who knows me, they understand that there is no in between with me. I’m rough around the edges and don’t shy away from situations I feel warrant a voice. Never-the-less it… [Read More]

why does God allow satan to live?

this little excerpt is taken from John Piper’s blog (you can read the rest here): Why does God allow Satan to live? …before I answer it, let’s make sure that we agree that it is true that God could take Satan out anytime he chose. Because I think there are some who would say, “He really can’t, because of some rights (or authority, independence, free will, etc.) that Satan has.” But the reason I know God can take Satan out without turning me into an automaton or breaking any rules is because he is going to take him out. He is going to throw him in the lake of fire. And the question is, “Why didn’t he do it yesterday? If he had done it yesterday I wouldn’t be tempted the way I am today. The Bible says, ‘Lead me not into temptation.’ Well, the best way not to be… [Read More]

Defiant

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion” – 1 Peter 5:8 Have you ever heard the saying “everything comes in 3′s.”? It’s a common theme, you get a new car cheap, and find a $5 bill on the floor of the local stop and shop and one of your friends mentions “hey what’s next? Good things come in 3′s.”, and vice versa for bad things. Let me walk you through the last month of my life: I got severally sick for 2 weeks(bed ridden for days at a time), my heat broke, I ran out of heating oil, I hurt my back to where I thought I had just had back surgery again, I was down to my last dollar, a girl at work is trying to make my job hard and for some reason doesn’t like me, and as soon as I fixed my heat, it… [Read More]

Don’t freak out!

For nothing is impossible with God. – Luke 1:37 I went to leave for work today and there was an odd white ring around my tire. I took a closer look and my wear bars were showing. A very bad sign and not something I should drive to work on. Okay, no problem I told myself. I called my mother who works for a tire company and got an appointment to get new tires. I can’t really afford them but it’s a need not a want at this point. With my appointment set I called work and told them I’d be working from home. As I sat on the computer doing the work thing I noticed my thermostat wasn’t on. It turns off when the furnace is blowing so I didn’t think much of it until the blower stopped and it still wasn’t on. Ooops, heat stopped working! It’s 20… [Read More]

Roller Coaster

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering. -1 Peter 4:12 At the end of every school year my tiny Christian school would have an outing to a small amusement park about an hour from us. There was nothing great about the park, mostly kiddie rides, but they did have one ride all us older kids loved to get in line for. “The White Roller Coaster”. It wasn’t much to look at, an old school roller coaster made of wood. There aren’t many of these vintage coasters laying around anymore. It was rickety, it was noisy, and no matter how many times you rode it you always felt like this time could be your last and the cars could go flying off into the parking lot. There are four phases I see: The Anticipation, The Ride, The End, The Do-Over. The White Roller Coaster was… [Read More]

He told me to write a letter

He who belongs to God hears what God says. – John 8:47 Back in September I heard a voice. No I don’t need to be institutionalized. It took me a while to figure out that it wasn’t just me, that it was the Holy Spirit. John says: But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come(16:13). Okay, lets backtrack to January 8, 2006. My then girlfriends father gave me a recliner. Very long story short I decided to pick up the recliner and carry it into the house by myself. Being muscle man and all, I figured no big deal. 12 hours later four paramedics were lugging my large body out the door an into an ambulance. Turns out I… [Read More]