Perspective helps me deal with things in life that I can not understand. I am a little overwhelmed right now. Our little house on wheels is broken. We do not know as yet, the cause or the extent, but it is not starting, it is not moving.
We move for a living. Our home not moving is a large problem.
This week, our revival is only 90 minutes away from where the bus is broken in Citronelle. Next week is 2.5 hours away and the next week is only one hour away from the bus. After that, it gets complicated real quick.
All of that troubles me. It perplexes me. It confuses me. It unnerves me. It puts a sense of urgency in me that can not be matched by the reality of the way things actually play out most of the time. My emergency is not automatically everyone else's emergency. I understand that perfectly, but I do not like it at all.
Perspective
When my eyes popped open and I began to prepare to meet with God in prayer Monday morning, I was pretty quickly neck deep in bus psychosis. What now? What if? What then? What now? What if? What then? What now? What if? What then?
Although I was praying in the hotel room, I felt an urgency to get away somewhere and talk with God alone where I would not disturb the girls and I could pour my heart out to Him. I made my way to the church and up into the balcony where I have become accustomed to praying while in Ellisville.
As I knelt in prayer, I began with glorifying God for who He is, after this manner, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. After a while I moved into exalting His will and way far above mine, after this manner, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
I often keep a prayer list near me when I pray because it works for me. The list helps me to remain focused in prayer and also reminds me of things I want to pray about and need to pray about. This list has things we need as a family, but many more things that others need from God.
I had not looked at the list, but along with my bus psychosis, I had already been thinking strong about needs that others were facing Monday morning. As I was asking God to work HIS will in our lives and in our day and in this revival, my mind was quickened even more to others that needed God to help them Monday morning.
Bro. Scott Morris is doing better now, but he had a rough 24 hours or so physically. He spent many hours on Saturday with us working on the bus and running other places trying to help. I told him that he was suffering from Bus psychosis too.😀
There are two people very dear to me that were having surgery on Monday. Bro. Scott and these two others came to mind and immediately took priority in prayer. Before moving onto the next larger segment of prayer, Give us this day our daily bread, I purposely veered off course and began to pray for my friends. They needed daily bread too.
I felt God's presence while praying for my friends in need. Then I moved onto a family that needs God to help them right here in the Ellisville church. This little family has a 4 month old baby, their first child. She was born without a soft spot in her head and her little skull can not expand.
Monday morning she was having surgery, a drastic surgery, to help begin the process to repair the problem. Compared to what that mommy and daddy are facing, I do not have any problems at all.
I hope I am making that clear. I am talking about the value of perspective.
Man made things break. Old man made things break at a higher rate. The bank and I own an old man made bus. It is going to break and it can be fixed eventually.
When I was first praying at the hotel I was sitting in a chair next to my little girl's bed. I could have reached out and touched her face from where I was sitting. I cannot imagine turning her over to the surgeon this morning, knowing he is planning to cut her skull open from ear to ear.
I only have one baby girl and I shudder at the very idea that she would need such drastic measures to keep her alive long term.
No, my friends, when looking from the proper perspective, I do not have serious problems.
So, Monday morning, I placed my problems in God's hands and spent the rest of my prayer time talking to God about that precious little family that needs God's help so much more than I could ever fathom at this moment.
Now, God cares about all of our problems, both great and small. He asks us to cast all of our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. I have prayed about what is going on in our lives many more times over the last 18 hours. God wants me to ask, seek and knock.
Ask, seek and knock with faith that all things are possible with God, then allow God opportunity to do it.
But proper perspective says there is no sense in me having a nervous breakdown in the grand scheme of things. Proper perspective says for me to spend time knocking on heaven's door in faith for people in my life that have much bigger problems than me.
Please help me pray for Landon, Ashley and little baby Sadie. God brought her through Monday and we are believing Him to continue holding up and strengthening this precious family.
I received word later in the day about a dear friend that is away from His relationship with God has suffered a horrible episode with his health and it reinforced for me that others are in much greater need than I. He is not only in a struggle between life and death, but facing eternal questions as well.
Helen Keller, who was born both blind and deaf said, "I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." It is a matter of proper perspective. Oh, God help me!
II Corinthians 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
The greatest perspective for me and my family is this. Even if we are covered up with trouble way too big for us, the trouble is not too big for God. We may be down in the valley, way down in the valley, but we are still in the hand of God and that is the safest place in the world to be!
Thank you for reading today and also for praying.
Davy
Wonderful words of faith and encouragement! I have found that as we fulfill the law of Christ in bearing one another's burdens (Gal 6:2), there is always somebody, somewhere doing the same for us. I love God's people!
ReplyDeleteWe love you and your family and we're holding you up in prayer.
Thank you, Bro. Matt. We have tried to help carry others in their burdens, but it sure seems like God's people have done way more than their share in carrying us through the trials. Thank you for your love and prayer.
DeleteDavy, Kelly and Odie