Devotion: A Purpose for Suffering #2

1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

I used to pencil in a small "T.P." by verses in the Bible that I had tried and proven. This is one of those "T.P." verses. God has used and is using trials in my life to bring about the results listed at the end of the verse. I don't claim to have perfected these things by any means and perhaps that is why God continues to take me through the refining fire.

The word perfect means mature. Looking back at my life, I can see where the trials I've been through have had the effect of helping me to mature spiritually. I have a long ways to go, but I do see where this is one of the purposes of suffering.

"Stablish you" means to set fast or firm. Trials have made me dig into the Word of God and send my roots down deep to take firm hold of the Rock. What a blessing this has been in my life!

"Strengthen you" means to make you strong. I can say that my trials have made me stronger in my faith and trust in God.

"Settle you" means getting you to the place where you come to rest in Him. This one has been a little more difficult, but with each trial that comes my way, I am finding that it is getting easier to let go of my worries and simply trust and rest in His plan and purpose for the trial.

The pain of trials is not fun, but when we bow in humble submission to our loving Heavenly Father, He will bring us forth from the furnace as gold in His hands. Do you see yourself making progress through your trials in these areas? Don't give up! God will finish what He has started in you.

Marsha's Musings: On Hallowing One's Dimishments

I get a magazine called "Neurology Now". The last article of the current magazine had a piece in it written by a lady who has MS. She referred to a small booklet by John Yungblut entitled "On Hallowing One's Dimishments". It intrigued me, so I did a web search on this and found a sermon by a Quaker on the same subject. Here is what I find:

The book "On Hallowing One's Dimishments"...uses the word dimishments to describe any of the ugly and painful experiences we all have...The word "hallowing" means to regard something as holy...it also means to regard it as a trusted companion....

Hallowing means: make holy or set apart for holy use, consecrate; to respect greatly; venerate.

"It was a new and most encouraging idea to me." Yungblut writes, "That one's dimishments could be 'made holy', 'consecrated', 'respected greatly', even venerated."

This dovetails nicely with what I had been reading a couple weeks ago about being a good steward of the circumstances we find ourselves in whether they be good or bad from our perspective. When we accept stewardship of our circumstances, we in effect are accepting them as from the hand of God and that in itself makes them holy. When we realize this it will completely change how we view those things that come into our lives that are from our perspective negative or bad.

I know writing it is easy, but when you are in the middle of a bad circumstance or you deal with ongoing health issues or pain, remembering this is quite another. However, I have found that when I try to think of my circumstances as being from the hand of God to accomplish a specific purpose in my life or the lives of others, then I have moved from simply enduring them to taking stewardship of them and hallowing them.

Marsha's Musings: Here I Sit

Here I sit, sick again. This time it's not just sinus junk and feeling bad, this time it's in my chest with a deep cough. My daughter is sick too. My son is walking around the house with a container of disinfectant wipes in hand, wiping down anything he plans to touch and scurrying to stay three feet away from me as if I have leprosy or something. But, he is not sick yet. So maybe he is on to something here.

I am wrapped up in a blanket with heat packs on and a humidifier spewing mist over me, the lap top on my lap and Quartto Geletto playing on the DVD player. Apple cider Vinegar water sits next to me as well as Echinacea lozenges. I think I am all settled in for some time on the couch...I also have a stack of Cosby DVD's, Agent Cody Banks 2 movie and a Ken Davis comedy DVD. I even have the phone here so I don't have to get up to answer it! The only thing I need to get up for is to change the DVD, make lunch and use the bathroom.

Last night I did my study for the women's book study at church. It's tomorrow night, but I doubt I'll be able to attend. But it was an appropriate study for me. Jerry Bridges in his book, Respectable Sins, talks about anxiety, frustration and discontent. It was good that I did this study just before getting sick. It has given me new perspective on difficult circumstances. He points out Psalm 139:16 which says,

"Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them." (NKJV)

Jerry Bridges points out that God preordained my days before they even started. He knows all about me and He knows the plans He has for me each day. It is tempting for me to get upset and frustrated about the fact that each time I have set about to get my house in order, I have either gotten sick or ended up "wasting" time at therapy or chiropractic for my neck/upper back. But as I read what Jerry Bridges says and what the Bible says about God planning my days out ahead of me, it changes the way I look at being sick right now and all that is not getting accomplished around the house like I had planned. Obviously, God has other plans in mind for me that are different than my plans right now.

Marsha's Musings: What It Means to Trust God

Can I make these four statements?

1. He brought me here, it is by His will I am in this circumstance and in that fact I will rest.
2. He will keep me here in His love, and give me grace to behave as His child.
3. He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.
4. In His time He can bring me out again---how and when He knows.

Author Unknown

Marsha's Musings: Faith, Trust, Submission & Humility

In thinking over the audio book by Andrew Murray ,the sermon on faith, and the sermon on submission I am beginning to draw some conclusions about faith, trust and humility.

• It takes humility to trust when you can not see. My natural tendency is to want to be in control of my circumstance...to know what is ahead and be able to control it. To leave God in the driver's seat and not try to backseat drive, takes humility.
• Saving Faith takes humility. To bow to the Lordship of Christ and to repent of one's sins, accept His death on the cross as payment in full for salvation takes humility.
• It takes humility to obey God's directive on submission, whether it be submission to civil authority, church leadership or a wife to her husband. When I rise up within myself and want to be the leader where God has commanded that I be in submission, humility is absent.
• It takes humility to look at others and not compare myself to them. If I am comparing myself to those who I see as "less spiritual", then I am trying to boost myself up to feel better about myself. If I am intimidated by others in some way, then it means my pride is getting poked. I may feel humiliated, but this is the opposite of being truly humble.
• It takes humility to listen more than I talk. How often do I rattle on about myself instead of listening to others?
• It takes humility to simply listen to another's problems without offering unasked for advice. So often I want to offer advice when maybe advice isn't what is needed. So it takes humility to not try to "fix" every one's problems for them.

Marsha's Musings: God's Grace IS Sufficient for Me

Ah, yes! God's grace is sufficient! It is sufficient in the good times and in the bad times. He bestowed grace on me this past week in the form of a suggestion from my doctor. An IV infusion of vitamins has helped me tremendously and God has enabled me to feel so much better and be so much more productive this week as a result.


I realize that I can not put my trust in this, however. My trust must be always in God's sufficient grace and goodness. If I put my trust in this medical intervention and then I suddenly begin to have some bad days, I will come crashing down in despair. My trust must be squarely in God's goodness and grace no matter what the circumstances of life may be. He is in control and He knows what He is doing. I can trust Him no matter what. I praise Him for giving me this extra boost of strength and productivity this week.

Devotional: Asking for a Sign

Asking for a Sign

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: Matthew 12:39

Just prior to the statement above, the Pharisees had just been witnessing Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons and now they are asking Him for a miraculous sign as if what He had already done was nothing! Of course, this just shows how hardened and unrepentant their hearts were.

But how often do I do this very thing? There are many instances where God has met my needs in extraordinary ways and yet, I am still asking for a "sign". I still want Him to do something as a sign that He is with me or wants me to do a certain thing. It's like I want Him to prove Himself again and again instead of just looking back at all He has already done for me and saying, "That's good enough for me. I trust You!"

If we are looking for a "sign" that He is leading us in one direction or another, we only need to look to His Word. First Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." If the decision you are about to make can be made knowing that it is for God's glory and that God can be glorified through it, then move ahead.

If it's not the direction God wants you to take, He will put up road blocks. If He doesn't put up road blocks but it seems it's not working out well, remember God is in control and He may have something for you to learn through it or some way He wants to show His power and increase your faith.

We need to remember that God's past goodness is proof that He is with us. He sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. This should be a sign that He is with us.

Homeschool: Standardized Test Results

We got the big white envelope in the mail last week that had the results of my children's Standardized Tests. I was pleased with how they did. Nathaniel is a grade behind, so he was tested at the 5th grade level. I knew he would score low on math because he has such trouble with that subject. Since we are not using a pre-packaged curriculum with him, I was nervous. I was afraid maybe he would have fallen behind in everything. But much to my surprise he scored either right in the middle or above on just about everything but math. This was a great encouragement to me because it makes me realize that we really are moving in the right direction even without a pre-packaged curriculum.

Sarah is in 9th grade. She also scored high on everything but math. It seems to be a weak point for both of them. They are a chip right off the old block. Math is my worst subject. But knowing where they have their biggest weakness helps me in planning what I will order for the next school year. I plan to order a set of Math Tutor DVD's to help us. I've read the reviews on these and they work with any curriculum or no curriculum. It's a little spendy at first, but once you have them, they will be a great help from what I am told.

I really value the information that I glean from the Standardized Tests. It's a great tool to help me pinpoint my children's weak areas so we can focus more in those areas. I highly recommend it to homeschooling families.