Steadied!

My little granddaughter, Evie, is becoming a toddler. She toddles everywhere she goes. She walks and even runs but occasionally she needs to be steadied by a loving Mom and Dad. As she waddles and wobbles strong hands reach out to her to keep her from falling.

There have been seasons of my life when I have felt like my feet were in the mire of my world of depression and I struggled as I tried to follow Him. Thankfully my God does not ignore my cries or critisize me for my "problem". He is in the business of saving the weak and I readily admit my weaknesses. I have prayer for healing but then the Lord tells me, as he told the apostle Paul, "my grace is sufficient". Each time I find myself in the pit I ask the Lord to lift me up. That is why I love the beautiful words we find in Psalm 40:1-3.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.

Praise God, just like Evie, strong hands lift me up and steady me as I walk along!
I give thanks for those loving hands and the Father that never gives up on me. I glorify Him for giving me a new song.

The Carpenter

If I had been the carpenter, Jesus from the small town of Nazareth, would I have left my comfortable surroundings to preach the gospel?  Would the smell of the sawed wood and the contentment of making something with my own hands lure me to stay in the carpenter shop?  Did Jesus treasure the sound of Mary's voice as she called him to supper?  Did he have close friends that he attended school with that made him laugh and feel secure?  I believe he felt all of these things but the pull to bring salvation to you and me was stronger than the pull to stay in the carpenter shop.

Many times the new year brings calls to change our lives.  We want to change our eating habits, exercise more and most of all, we want to tell someone about Jesus.  But instead stepping out, we fall back into our comfortable ways and lose our desire to change.  I say, “I'll change tomorrow or tell someone about Jesus Monday or help the broken next year”.  I find myself never wanting to leave the contentment of the “carpenter shop”.

This year we lost two of our loved ones and it made me think about how fragile life really is.  It made me wonder who needs to know the hope of Jesus this year?  Who is God counting on me to tell about his unfailing love?  Which hurting person in my world needs to know that Jesus left the carpenter shop to die for each one of us and heal us from our brokeness?  How can I linger in my sameness and comfort, when someone needs to know about the Carpenter?

"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?”  Mark 6:3a