By:Marilyn Ehle
www.thelife.com
Is it easier for you to be busy than quiet?
“…in quietness and trust shall be your strength…the Lord longs to be gracious to you…Blessed are all who wait for Him” (Isaiah 30:15, 18)!
We all want strength to face both the small and greater issues facing us daily. Whether it is stretching diminishing resources, dealing the newly independent two-year-old, facing (and loving!) a tempestuous teenager or ironing out relational difficulties in the workplace, we find ourselves in need of physical, emotional and spiritual strength. The problem is that we too often look for the strength in places that simply do not have the sufficiency to supply.
Four young men were taken captive by a powerful enemy king. They resolved to remain faithful to their God in spite of living in a culture totally foreign to their deepest beliefs. The king saw their commitment as defiance and a danger to his authority so he ordered they be “bound and thrown into the blazing furnace.”
As we read with imagination about the testing of Daniel and his friends in the blazing furnace, we shudder to think of the searing heat and licking flames. We read nothing of resistance or screams, only the absolute amazement of the king when he sees them “unbound and unharmed.” He shouts for them to come out and ultimately acknowledges that the God of these young men has power far beyond anything he imagined.
Isaiah, the prophet, reminds us that strength is found in quietness and trust. In his book The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen writes, “Solitude is the furnace of transformation.” Daniel and his friends walked in quietness and trust long before they faced the furnace. No doubt they experienced solitude when taken far from their own family and culture and from that solitude learned to trust in the one true God.
While no one wants a furnace experience, we would do well to prepare daily—in solitude—for whatever challenges may lie ahead.
MY THOUGHTS AND MY HEART's RESPONSE:
I know I have been so emotionally weak, or shall I say, in truth, I know I'm emotionally weak in nature?
I easily get hurt these days, just last night my husband were saying something like "cheer up, say it enthusiastically" I felt like he doesn't understand my feelings, I just can't do that.
Or sometimes, my voice is too low tone.
I was suggesting solutions or ways to come up with finances that our Daddy needs.
Daddy has been hospitalized many times for the past few months, and a million has been spent with the expenses. Lately, he had 3 injections everyday for 10 days two weeks ago, just this Wednesday dawn he was rushed to the hospital again due to kidney infections.
I just realized, my husband was trying to cheer me up. I just want to trust his heart.
He always have good intentions.
It also made me think how emotionally weak I am, seeing the brighter side it made me feel how it feels to be weak within. For the past few years in my walk with God, I don't really feel too weak like this.
But I admit though, I am weak in nature. That's why I need God, I need Jesus, because he is the source of all strength.
In HIS word it says: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.(2 Cor. 12:9, NIV)
Am relearning this, indeed I have to keep in heart all over again that HIS POWER is made perfect in my weakness. All the more that I should boast in my weakness because HIS POWER is in me.
Praises to God. It is my utmost privilege to lavish HIS altar with my thanksgiving and adoration to HIM.
My graciousmoments for a rainy Friday!!
In His Grace,
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