
Blessed Assurance

Exploring faith and life
Sue’s Views
Yay! It’s magnolia season! These beautiful trees remind me that ….. in every season ….. there is something beautiful! Just as most trees have lost their leaves and blossoms ….. these beauties do their thing. The same God who waited for the wine to run out at a wedding and then made the best wine out of water ….. the same God who waited four days after Lazarus died to bring him back to life ….. is the God who waits till things seem hopeless and then shows up in amazing ways! If you are in a winter season ….. look out for the magnolias!
Sue’s Views
Are you going through a difficult time that is beyond your control? There are seasons in life when we’ve done all we can ….. and we just have to wait out the storm. That’s when we can go to the ‘secret place’ which is ‘under the shadow of The Almighty’ and ‘find shelter under the shadow of His wings until these troubles pass by.’ Troubles ‘come to pass’ ….. but the ‘Word of the Lord stands forever.
When things get overwhelming and all we can see is hopelessness and defeat ….. we need to remember the story of Elijah and his servant who were surrounded by an enemy army. The servant could only see certain defeat and destruction because that’s what was happening in the natural realm. Elisha however was a man of tremendous faith ….. and he saw beyond the natural realm to the supernatural. He prayed that God would open his servants eyes and he did! They both were able to see a much larger army of angel warriors surrounding the enemy. The result was that the enemy soldiers were struck with blindness and lost their sense of direction. Ask God to open your eyes to see what He is doing behind the scene. He is fighting the battle on your behalf. You just need to trust Him!
Stress comes in many different ways. We can’t avoid it! Miriam Webster defines is as : ‘a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part.’ Wherever there are two or more people ….. there will be differences of opinion. No more so than in a marriage! But stress doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Athletes use it as part of their training to strengthen their bodies. Whether it’s physical ….. emotional ….. or mental stress ….. we can view it as an opportunity to grow stronger. It can make us ….. or break us! We need to fight as a team. ‘A house divided against itself will not stand.’ But ….. ‘A threefold cord is not easily broken!’