Tag: suffer

Write It On My Heart

“THE SHOE IS PERFECT”

DADDY TOOK MY HORSE, SMOKEY, TO THE BLACKSMITH TO GET NEW SHOES. I was about 7 years old, in 1945.  With wide-eyes I watched as the blacksmith put iron in the fire.  He left it there until it got red hot.  Then he pulled it out with a big, long wrench or something, and placed it on the anvil – red hot!  He beat and  banged on it until sparks began to fly! Because the iron was so hot it was kinda soft. He hammered and hammered and he twisted it into a horseshoe. He already knew Smokey’s size.  He put it in the water and it sizzled. He made 4 of them.  Smokey just stood there watching. As a little kid, I was wide-eyed.  When the blacksmith put them on Smokey, he was happy. Smokey was happy, too.
  1. I thought this was gonna be really bad with all the fire, noise and beating. Maybe Smokey did, too.
  2. Daddy knew exactly who to go to for brand new shoes.
  3. Daddy loved Smokey and so did I.  In a way, I think the blacksmith did, in his own way.
  4. Neither Daddy nor the blacksmith would dare to hurt Smokey.
  5. The blacksmith knew what he was doing and in no way would he hurt Smokey.
  6. I learned some lessons from that day.
    a.  GOD DOES NOT cause us to suffer;
    b.  He uses many circumstances and crises to make our life better;
    c.  Since He is LOVE, he knows just the right things to do to make the “shoe” fit;
    d.  He perfectly understands that things may look scary, but all in all the shoes He puts on us will protect us when we run over rough ground.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (kjv)

🎼🎶

“When I am swept by the tempests of life,
Jesus is all I need.
Peace He imparts whatsoever the strife,
Jesus is all I need.
“All that I need He will always be.
All that I need till His face I see.
All that I need thro’ eternity.
Jesus is all I need.”
(James Rowe)

Write It On My Heart

MUSCLEBOUND!

ARE YOU MUSCLEBOUND?  WE HAD A GOVERNOR here in California who was known all over the world. He was a bodybuilder and powerlifter.  He preened, primped and pranced before thousands with the crowd praising his appearance.  I looked up the medical definition of muscle bound.  It is,  “having some of the muscles tense and enlarged and of impaired elasticity sometimes as a result of excessive exercise.”

A musclebound person can have serious medical problems.

It is clearly understood that Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul) was not only ordained by God, but was a resolute intellectual.  He could have continued on to be a serious, intellectual, spiritually  “musclebound” man of history heaping praise on himself.  After all, it is known he wrote 13, maybe 14, of the Books of the New Testament.

BUT, HE WAS GIVEN A “THORN IN THE FLESH!”

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 Corinthians 12:8-9.

From this scripture, we learn a great deal about suffering, weakness, and the power of God. We learn from Paul’s experience that God will allow our strength to be sacrificed so that we may experience His true and greater strength. We can only go so far in our own strength for the following reasons:

1. Our strength stifles our experiencing God’s strength in our lives.

2. Our strength limits us to only what we can do.

3. Our strength can serve as a temptation to boast in ourselves when our purpose is found in giving God glory.

In God’s response to Paul, we learn two significant lessons when dealing with difficulties in life.”

(1)  I won’t boast “because I don’t want anyone to give me credit ….”

2 Corinthians 12:6 (nlt)

(2)  “… when I am weak, then I am strong,”

2 Corinthians 12:10.

Strange, isn’t it!  In our weakness, in our surrender God’s amazing power enters us.