Coffee Break - It's Working For Good

Coffee Break

"It's Working For Good"

I know I have already said it and I am sure that I will probably say it several more times before I finish sharing this journey with you.  But it bears constant repetition. 

It is:  God did not put this affliction and suffering on me-- or on you.  The things that we suffer in life come as a result of living in a fallen world-- one that is under the curse of sin.  Because of this, our bodies are subject to pain, trauma, sickness and death.  We won't live here forever.  If we live to be old our bodies will have aches and pains and begin to wear out.  They also come as a result of the actions of others against us.  They come as a result of consequences for bad choices, unwise decisions and mistakes we have made.  They also come because we have an enemy, the devil, who is out to destroy us. 

But when they do come our way, God can use them for our good.  The good that He can bring out of them may differ from one person to another.  The good that is being worked out through my situation may not be the same thing that is being worked out in yours.

In my case the good thing is to bring me back to a place of hunger and thirst for the Presence of God in my life that has been lacking.  It is also to bring me to a place of fresh surrender so that He can take me to the next level He has planned for me to go to.  When the Israelites were standing between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army, it was to bring them to a place where they could see the power of God over their enemies.  When the disciples were in the boat during the storm, it was so that they could see that Jesus is the Son of God and has power over nature.  When the three Hebrews were thrown into the fiery furnace, they learned that the Lord would never leave them-- He was the fourth man in the fire.  When Daniel was thrown in the lion's den, it revealed to him that the Lord could save him out of any situation-- man or beast.  When Job faced great calamity, in the end he gained a knowledge and closeness to God that he had never experienced before even though he was a worshipper.

Perhaps you are going through a trying time at the moment.  You may be facing sickness and pain in your body.  You may be going through a time of financial lack.  You may have just lost your job.  Your friends may have turned their backs on you.  You may be at a cross roads in life.  You may be fighting depression or some other mental and emotional trial.  The Lord can work in each one, no matter what it is.  For some it may be to show you that the Lord is with you always.  For others it may be bringing them to a place of repentance because of lack of faith.  For others it may be so that He can show you His awesome power to work on your behave.  For someone else, through it He can show you that He is your deliverer.  Then for another He can prove to you His amazing goodness and love.  He may be using it to show you that He is your provider and can make a way where there seems to be no way.  Etc., etc., etc. 

He knows what you are going through.  He knows where you are.  He knows how to take every situation and work through it for your good... whatever that good may be. 

Have a great day.  We all go through something at sometime in our lives. Is there something that the Lord is wanting to work out in your life through what you are going through?

Coffee Break -- So, Why?

Coffee Break

So, Why?

When I surrendered to the Lord to have the surgery, little did I realize at the time that I was actually being set up by the Lord to go on a spiritual journey.  It wasn’t about my physical well-being or healing.  After all, I was already healed by the stripes of Jesus.  And I had experienced His healing power in this same area six years earlier.  

Six years ago I was working in my yard and overextended my back.  When I did, pain hit my back and I knew something was wrong.  Several weeks later I had an MRI.  When the doctor gave me the results, the first thing she said was, “Are you ready for surgery?” I had five bulging disc.  My immediate reply was, “No, surgery is not an option for me.”  I did not have the surgery.  I took pain relievers, prayed and stood upon the Word of God.  I continued to experience pain (but not to the degree I did this time) for five months.  Then one day the pain stopped.  I have been fine since.  I know the Lord touched me and healed the bulging discs.  To confirm it, three years later I was in an automobile accident (fender bender).  It wasn’t serious but I was hit from behind while I was parked.  I decided to have an MRI done from the top of my spinal cord to the bottom.  (I wanted to make sure that I was alright.)  I went to the same Orthopedic doctor and he confirmed from the results that there was nothing on the MRI that indicated any need for surgery.  God had healed me.

When I surrendered to the Lord to have the surgery, it wasn’t about relieving the pain, healing or my physical well-being.  It was about something greater.  Something eternal.  Something that would glorify Him. God cares about us and everything that affects our lives.  He cared about the pain I was in, but He is more concerned about our spiritual well-being than our physical.  Our spirits are eternal, our body is not.  It will go back to the dust one day.  

When I surrendered to the surgery, I surrendered to His will.  Once I was surrendered to His will, He could then begin to do a work in my life that He desired to do.  When God leads you, it is about more than you think.  He is working out a greater plan behind it.  

Have a great day.  With God, things are not always what we think they are.  They are never what we think they are about.  It is about something far greater that the Lord is after.  Bottom line, you will miss what He really wants to do in your life if you don't surrender.    

 

Coffee Break- Devil's Trap

When I surrendered to the Lord's will, I had peace.  When we surrender, the enemy will  try to come in and make you question if you really heard from God.  He will try to distract you.  He will try to get you to turn away from the Lord's will and pursue your own.  He did with me.


I knew what I had heard from the Lord concerning going through the surgery. So, I went to see my primary care doctor.  After looking at the MRI results he suggested surgery, but he wanted me to have it out of town.  He gave me pain meds and was going to make a referral for me to a neurosurgeon.

I waited for over a week for a referral. The following Monday I called to see if I had an appointment yet.  I spoke with the lady who makes the referrals. She had not made a referral or appointment with a neurosurgeon. But she did tell me that the doctor also left orders that I could go to pain management.  Well, that sounded better than surgery, since I didn’t want it in the first place.  So I told her to set up an appointment with a certain doctor here in town.  The conversation ended with me waiting to hear back from her and hopefully we could “get this show on the road”.  In the meantime that same day I got a call from the orthopedic doctor’s office wanting me to confirm my appointment Friday of that week.  Appointment?  My husband had called his office after we had the MRI done to set me up an appointment, since he was sent the MRI results as well, but after the receptionist told him it would be over a week before I could be seen.  I cancelled the appointment because I was waiting to go to pain management.

On Thursday I still had not heard anything back about a referral.  All that night I kept pondering which doctor?  Do I have it in town or out of town?  This mass of questions and confusion kept coming against my mind.  We all know the Lord is not the author of confusion.  When I woke up that Thursday, I told my husband that I knew what I was going to do before I saw my primary doctor-- that was when the confusion began.  I decided to call the orthopedic doctor because he had the MRI results and I didn't need a referral to see him. Remember, I had cancelled the appointment for the next day.  I breathed a prayer before I called, "Lord, if this is you, please let him be able to see me in the morning." I called.. no openings. But while she was looking for the earliest opening, she asked if I just needed the MRI results.  I told her my primary care doctor had already given them to me.  She put me on hold and when she came back she said she would try to work me in at 11:00 the next morning. 

I knew the Lord's will but I let the devil entice me with what I really wanted to do.  He is good at opening doors to trap us and cause us to go against God's will and plan.  But, thankfully, The Lord knows how to get us back on course.  He knows how to open (the doctor could see me even after I closed the door by cancelling my appointment) and close doors (to this day I have not been called with a referral to pain management). 

We are not ignorant of satan's devices.  He will try to sway you, deceive you, appeal to your flesh and cause you to go against God.  We have to be on guard.  We have to be watching.  If you know that you have heard from the Lord, don't let the devil persuade you to do otherwise.

Have a great day.  When you know the Lord's will, don't let anything cause you to turn away from it...no matter how appealing it is.

Coffee Break - Stay Focused

Stay Focused 
When we are going through a trial, difficulty, pain, sorrow or grief, etc., it is so easy to focus on what we are going through.  It steals our attention and will consume us.  The agonizing pain I was in kept holding my thoughts captive.  I couldn’t think clearly because of the pain.  There was a battle raging in my body, but a war raging in my mind.   

The mind is the battlefield.  Whoever wins on the battlefield wins the war.  When David went out to face Goliath on the battlefield, either he was going to win or Goliath.  There could not be two victors on opposing sides.  It is either all or nothing.

“Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.  And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.  And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 1 Samuel 17:1-3,8-10

If you have read the story of David and Goliath you know who won—David.  How was David able to destroy the giant?  Goliath was bigger than David.  He was older.  He was trained as a man of war.  He had all the right weapons.  He was a fighting machine-- a one man army. He was intimidating. He placed fear in the hearts of those who saw him.  David on the other hand had none of those qualifications.  He was a young shepherd boy armed with nothing more than a slingshot and some smooth rocks.  So, what made David win on the battlefield?  His focus!  He didn’t focus on the size of Goliath, like the Israelite army did. 
“And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up.” (1 Samuel 17:24,25) 

Instead he kept his focus on God. “ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:45,46)

Had David continued to look at the giant, he would have only gotten bigger and bigger in his eyes/mind.  Out of the 12 spies that went into the land of Canaan ten looked at the giants and the longer they did, the bigger the giants looked and smaller they looked to themselves. "we are like grasshoppers". (Numbers 13) Joshua and Caleb, on the other hand, brought back a good report because they focused on the Word/promise of God.

Am I saying that we deny what we are going through like it isn’t real?  Of course, not.  David did not deny Goliath's presence or size, but he didn't focus on it.... it had not captivated or consumed him.  He focused on the victories that the Lord had already given him and knew that the Lord would do the same now-- this giant was not bigger than his God. When I was going through such intense pain there was no doubt my body was in pain—there was no denying that.  What I am saying is that we have to work to stay focused on the Lord.  I called out many times for Him to help me and give me the grace to keep my focus on Him and the pain in my body.  Had I not, I would have lost my mind the pain was so horrific. 

Whatever you are going through, keep your focus more on the Lord.  Don't act like your problem isn't real, but keep renewing your mind, keep bringing those thoughts captive, keep reminding yourself of the promises of God, call upon Him for grace and help. 

Have a great day. It may feel like you are losing the battle but if you stay focused on the Lord, you will win the war.        

Coffee Break - The Beginning

Coffee Break

"The Beginning"

I don't want to bore you or weary you with the physical details that I have been going through, but I feel I need to give you some background that will help you understand the things that I will be sharing with you over the next weeks.  Please forgive me for being so lengthy.  

One day I was in my office at home. I leant over the side of the chair to reach something on the floor.  It turns out that was not a smart idea. The farther I leaned the more pressure I put on my ribs against the chair arm.  The chair arm didn’t give, but something in my ribs did. I felt a terrible pain.  I didn’t know what I had done.  Had I fractured a rib?  Had I only bruised it?  It only hurt when I would touch it.  I didn’t go to the doctor—after all, they wouldn’t have done anything even if it was broken and I had no difficulty breathing so I just left it alone. I was lying in bed one night, almost a week later, and it felt like the pain traveled from the right side of my rib cage to the left side.  The next day my back started hurting and the ribs completely quit hurting. Let me skip ahead to the next week.  The following Tuesday morning when I woke up, I almost fainted getting out of bed. I could not put my left leg on the floor.  The pain was horrible.  I woke my husband and told him to take me to the ER.  (He knew it was bad because I never ask for medical help.)  When I finally saw a doctor, he asked me the question they always ask—“on a scale from one to ten how bad is your pain?”  Without hesitation I said, “FIFITY!!!”  Mind you, I have been blessed with a very high pain tolerance.  The ER doctor set me up for an MRI on Thursday. To make a long story short, the MRI showed I had a bulging disc at L3 and it was pressing the nerves between L3 and L4.  (Turns out it wasn't just bulged, I had blown part of the disc out.)

When I first felt the back pain, I knew something bad was going on.  I could not walk, sit, stand or crawl.  I laid on the couch for five weeks day and night crying in pain and trying to keep my focus on the Lord.  I texted my pastor, friends, family, prayer warriors, the intercessors in my prayer group asking them to pray for me and pray that I wouldn’t need surgery.  I was praying every prayer I knew to pray, confessing every scripture on healing, even listening to a download I had on my phone of nothing but healing scriptures. Watching faith preachers on television. I knew I was healed already because of what Jesus did at the cross through His shed blood.  Healing is part of my covenant. And actually, six years earlier I had done another stupid thing and wound up bulging five discs.  My doctor wanted to do surgery, but I didn't. Five months later the discs were back in place. The Lord healed me then so I expected the same this time.  
 
The day after the MRI I was to see my primary care doctor. Before I was to see him the next day, I had gotten to the point where even lying down, which was all I could do, was beginning to get difficult. I laid there crying out to the Lord for His help.  Remember I had prayed, and had everyone else praying for no surgery.  As I cried out to the Lord praying that He would touch me and give me a miracle and the healing that was already mine, deep in my spirit I heard that still small voice that I have heard on many occasions.  I knew the answer I needed was not the one I wanted.  I felt as though the Lord was telling me that His plan was for me to go the surgical route.  One of the things He said to me was, “My will is not always your will.  You no longer belong to yourself, you belong to Me.  I bought you with the price of the shed blood of My Son.  Your life is mine to do whatever I desire to do with it.” At that moment I had the option to surrender to His plan, though it was not mine, or rebel and demand my own way, after all, He has given us the free will to choose. Through the pain and tears I said, “Lord, I surrender.  I surrender to whatever Your will is.  I don’t understand because I know that I am healed, but I trust You.”  
 
I said all that to say this-- is there something the Lord has spoken to you about and you need to surrender to His will and plan and abandon yours?  Surgery was not what I wanted, but I wanted His will more.  To obey is better than sacrifice.  Surrender to Him. Trust Him even if you don't understand it.  You don't have to understand to trust.  Trust has nothing to do with understanding.  Trust equals faith.  The truth is, you may never understand His plan but you can trust it.... because you can trust Him.
 
Have a great day.  Surrender to the Lord 's will and plan.  Lay yours aside.  Trust Him.  He knows what He is doing.  He knows what He is has planned for your life... His plan is always better.