HORSE WHISPERER!!!

When the Valley of Tears becomes a place of refreshment

I was talking to my daughter after she had gone through her treatment for cancer and she spoke about how close she felt to God. It reminded me of the Valley of Baca.

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs..."Psalm 84:5-6 Another interpretation for the Valley of Baca is the Valley of Tears. What can change the Valley of Tears into a place of springs and refreshment?

I have seen it go both ways. I have watched people go through heartbreak and become people who encourage others who are going through similar grief. I have also known those who became bitter from their difficult experiences and pass that bitterness to all they meet. The difference can be found in the preceding verse. "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage."

My daughter told me how she lay on the table waiting for her treatment and meditating on God. She found what she was looking for. She found her strength in God. But there is more to it than that there is also "setting their hearts on pilgrimage.” To set your heart on pilgrimage means you understand that this life is not all there is.

Lord Jesus, you have loved me and by your grace you have given me eternal encouragement and good hope. You have encouraged my heart and strengthened me and shown me how the Valley of Tears becomes a place of refreshment. Thank you for letting me see this transformation in my children's lives as well.

A Prayer for those Overwhelmed by Life

The task was overwhelming! I felt like was being crushed by the load I was being asked to carry. It was then I remembered the prayer.

This prayer begins with a deep breath. When I was in labor with my children this kind of breath was called a cleansing breath. The purpose of a cleansing breathing in childbirth was to give me an extra boost of oxygen  in order to help me relax and focus. So I take a deep breath through my nose and then exhale slowly through my mouth while saying, "Ah".

The next part of this prayer has to do with worship. If I really believe the God is sovereign and deserving of my trust  how should I respond to this situation that I have no control over? My first response is usually to murmur and complain. I find this pattern in the Scriptures but the problem is the people murmuring and complaining are also rebelling against a Sovereign God who loves them. I sigh deeply relinquishing the control that I don't have, bow my knees and and focus on God's sovereignty.

The next part of my prayer has to do with my relationship with God. When my children were little occasionally they would look at me defiantly and say, "Your not the boss of me!" I would always correct this misconception of our relationship. However, this form of rebellion against authority started in the garden when the serpent told Eve, "Don't let God tell you what you can and can't have. Eat the fruit and be your own boss." This attitude didn't work any better for my children than it did for Eve. Again after my deep breath, I bow my knees and then humble my heart. I acknowledge my relationship with the Sovereign God and call Him Lord.

Ah, Sovereign Lord! I am overwhelmed by what I see ahead of me. I feel crushed by the responsibilities I face and so I humbly bow before you. As I pour out my heart to you I am reminded of what Paul said in Colossians when he said that he toiled, struggling with all the energy of Christ that was working powerfully within him.  My your strength be manifested in my weakness. As I approach the difficulties of my life with humility my You be glorified!

Shattered or Healed?

I was at a funeral yesterday and someone quoted a Jewish proverb. It went something like this:
When sorrow upon sorrow is piled on a heart one of two things will happen. The heart will shatter and break and send out shards that will pierce and wound all those around or the pressure will cause the heart to break open and it will be filled with the love of God.

As I have pondered this my mind has been drawn to what the scripture says about the brokenhearted. "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 " He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalms 147:3 I have both seen and experienced the nearness of the Lord when the sorrows of this life have broken my heart and crushed my spirit. Yet, I have seen the other as well.

When my husband and I began opening our door to people in distress someone told me, "Be careful, hurting people hurt people." What makes the difference?  I think I can find the answer in the same Psalms that talk about God healing the brokenhearted. Psalm 34 and Psalm 147 talk about someone who is humble in heart. Someone who is humble in heart is someone who is seeking the Lord and crying out to Him when life becomes unbearable. Someone who is humble in heart is someone who hopes in the steadfast love of God. The opposite of that is someone who raises their fist then turns their back on God in times of distress.

Lord Jesus, when you began your ministry here on earth you said you came to bind up the brokenhearted. Lord let me be one who always turns towards you and not away from you when the sorrows of life threaten to break my heart and crush my spirit.

What does it take to see God's Glory?

It's been about a year since I began praying daily that God would allow me to have a humble heart. Most people who hear about my prayer ask if I'm crazy.Humility isn't like a package found under the tree Christmas morning; instead it comes from choosing to put pride to death. I was talking to a friend of mine this weekend about the things that have happened this year and their effect on me. They were not pleasant things and yet God has used them in my life to humble me.

I woke up the next morning,after our conversation thinking about Isaiah 28: 23-29 "Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod, Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh forever; when he drives his cart wheels over it with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom." What I see is that God does what is necessary to make me useful. We have walnut trees. I use the walnuts, but only if I remove the hull. In the same way I believe that I am only useful to God with a humble heart. Sometimes it's a painful process, but I trust God because he is,"wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom."

Some where during the year my prayer changed. My focus shifted. I began to say, "Lord, glorify yourself." My prayer was a reflection of John the Baptist when he said, "He must increase and I must decrease."  When I go outside on a dark starry night I can see the stars best if there is no artificial light shinning. This is what I am finding as I pray for humility. When the artificial light of my own pride is taken out of the way, others have a better opportunity of seeing Christ in me.

Lord Jesus, I want my life to be useful for Your Kingdom. I want to decrees and have You increase. I want to see Your glory!

With hands held open

She gave me a picture of her hands, her open hands. Then she told me the story.

Her first born son was born with a cleft lip. When he was three months old he had plastic surgery, but the incision began to scar within a matter of weeks. She made continual visits to the hospital to deal with the scaring. Her baby was often sick running fevers for no apparent reason. The effect on my friend was understandable she became an anxious mother.

When her son was ten months old she was reading Psalms 127. She read, "Lo, children are the heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward." As she meditated on the truth of these words her eyes were drawn to the preceding verses. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so He gives His beloved sleep." Her heart was convicted and she held her hands open as she relinquish her children to God but that is not the end of the story.

Less than a week latter she was back at the hospital. This time it was because her son had spinal meningitis. She was told that he might not make it through the night. God had prepared her heart and she prayed knowing that she did not have control over the life of her son. Her son lived and my friend learned a deep lesson. She told me how over the years in many situations God taught her to acknowledge that she had no control over people or situations. She learned that with open hands she is to relinquish everything to God.

Ah Sovereign Lord, how I struggle with this! Thank you for giving me friends who teach me by their lives to trust you. Grant me the grace to worship you with hands held open.

Before I knew your name

I was getting ready to pick my children up from school when the phone rang. "Mrs. Jones, we're sorry to tell you this, but the tests show a problem with your baby."

It was my sixth pregnancy. I had three children, two children had died. The news made my heart ache. I dropped to my knees and prayed using Psalm 139, "All the days of my baby's life have been written in your book before any of them came to be. Lord, you give and take away. I choose to trust you." I knew what it was like loose a baby. I had been bleeding for days and now the tests showed a problem.

I got into the car and mindlessly shoved the cassette tape into the player. My car was filled with the voice of Sandi Patty singing, "Masterpiece.” The song was being sung to an unborn child who didn't even have a name. She spoke of the baby being formed in seclusion, in God's safe and hidden place. After she finished singing she quoted from Psalm 139, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

I lost count of how many times I listened to that song. My children complained because it was their tape,"The Friendship Company.” However, I felt I needed it more than they did and I promised to give it back after the baby was born.

I had picked out the name Stephen Christopher for my baby yet by the time I got to my ninth month I decided it might be a good idea to have a girl's name as well. I began making lists but nothing sounded right so I enlisted the aid of my two prayer partners. On Father's day I was at my parent's home and my mother asked, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine? It is a family name," The next day one of my prayer partners called and said, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine? My husband was preaching about Abigail in the Bible. The name means the delight of the father. Abigail Divine would mean the delight of the Heavenly Father.” On Tuesday my second prayer partner called, "Sarah, have you considered the name Abigail Divine?" I din't need an ultra sound. I knew I was going to have a little girl and name her Abigail Divine.

When I came to the last week of my pregnancy I found it hard to sleep. I kept hearing the doctor's warning, "The baby could die at birth or be born with profound birth defects." I wanted to hear the song "Masterpiece" again so I put the cassette in and found that I had broken it by playing it so often. I was desperate. I pulled it out of the player lifted it up and prayed, "Lord, you are the Healer, please let me hear this song again!" I put the cassette back in the player and heard, "Miracles still happen for those who love the Lord! Trust in the Lord with all your heart His miracles you'll behold."  The next song was "Masterpiece.” That week a healthy baby girl was born. I named her Abigail Divine.

Lord Jesus, thank you for you tender mercies. Thank you for lavishing your love and grace on me. Oh yes, and thank you for giving me Abigail. May she always be the masterpiece you created her to be.