God Nuggets Blog

At times, life is like a box of puzzle pieces. But only God can see the lid and know the final outcome of all the things that come together to form our destinies. I believe with all my heart, that if I could see what God sees, even the most difficult things in life I would choose for myself. And I think you just might, as well.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

As many of you know, we have a cat named Ladybug. We adore her. When she comes up and asks for pets or a treat, we are glad to oblige; it gives us pleasure to see her happy and content.

There was a time, though, when Ladybug was sick and I had to give her horrible pink bubble-gum-flavored medicine. She hated it. I’m sure that if she could talk she would have said, “NOOOOO!!! Come on, when was the last time you saw a cat chewing bubble gum? Please not the pink stuff; anything but the pink stuff!” But that was a request we could not accommodate, because if she didn’t take her medicine, something much worse than being forced to swallow the pink stuff could happen to her.

It’s important to note here that I took no pleasure in Ladybug’s suffering. Our episodes with the pink stuff tore at my heart. It would be unthinkable for me to make her suffer that way unless it was for a very important reason.

Somehow Ladybug sensed my good intentions. When I told her it was time for her medicine, she crouched, stiffened with dread, and dug into the carpet as if to hold on for dear life. But she let me pick her up. She didn’t run. Ladybug trusted me and knew I was trying to help her -- even though I think she believed I was stupid and terribly misguided in the way I went about it!

I can’t describe the pleasure I got from knowing that she trusted me anyway.

In the same way, we give God pleasure when we trust Him even through the hard times. My compassion for our cat is nothing in comparison to the infinite compassion of God. As Jesus said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

Our Father’s will for us is always “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2), although occasionally that good is disguised in the form of “pink stuff.” We can be certain that if the Father doesn’t give us what we want, He will give us something even better.

Blessings,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

God is our Fortress. That isn't really news.

But think of it this way. God is all-powerful so nothing is strong enough to break through. God is everywhere-present so nothing can get around Him to get to us. God is even inside us and can protect us from ourselves. He will never leave us nor forsake us, so the fortress can never be removed. And finally, nothing can stand against Him or thwart His will (Daniel 4:35; 2 Chronicles 20:6).

Keep these things in mind and look at this Scripture:

Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

So, what have we to fear?

We fear the door.


This is my problem. Sometimes God opens a door in the fortress and allows evil in. There is so much good in our lives that we know it isn't very often. Even though I am protected over and over, day after day, that tiny door of suffering makes me afraid to trust the Fortress sometimes. My question to you is:


In your mind and emotions, and with your faith: What do you do with the door? How do you get through the suffering in your life? What do you do with the problem of evil? Romans 8:28 promises that God will only open it for our good. But often I just don't want to go through the bad to get to the good. I'm calling a locksmith!

I would love it if you would leave a comment with your thoughts.

Peace to you,

Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

PHOTO: Fort Pulaski Door by Rachel Pennington. " Looking up at one of the huge doors into the fort, Savannah, Georgia, USA"

Is our God big enough? Theologically, yes. But because I cannot wrap my human mind around Infinity, my image of God is, frankly, marred. That's where faith comes in because it is in the Unseen, the unfathomable.

My faulty, puny image of God causes me much unnecessary anxiety. I am presently faced with a choice about an upcoming trip. Most people would be envious of our destination. It dropped into our laps practically for free. We have been scrimping and saving in bits and pieces for over a year to have spending money. If I miss it, I will be throwing away a rare opportunity and deeply disappointing the person who loves me most.

But I have a chronic illness that for some reason is aggravated by travel. Thanks to the limitations of traveling via frequent flier miles, this trip has a rigorous start: 3 days and 4 cities to get there. My gut tells me I'm gonna bonk. My husband tells me I'm setting myself up to fail. My God tells me that if I miss Plan A, he has Plan B ready and waiting, full of favor and grace and perhaps even more glorious than Plan A.

Please allow me to wax theological for just a moment: We can never get around God's will. But He has what I believe theologians call a "perfect" will and a "permissive" will: Plan A and Plan B.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve missed Plan A. They sinned and ruined it. Plan A was for them to populate the earth with good, kind people who had never fallen and to set up God's glorious Kingdom full of light and love right on this planet. That didn't happen.

But in my humble opinion, Plan B, set up from before the beginning of time, is even more glorious. God became flesh and dwelt among us. He died a criminal's death for you and me: By one beautiful, horrific sacrifice Christ atoned for all men, for all sin, for all time. God's Son was raised again to sit at the right hand of God and will one day come again to defeat evil once and for all. He will rule with power and set up that perfect Kingdom on a New Earth where pain and loneliness and decay and suffering are demolished forever. God has revealed, and will continue to demonstrate to a watching universe who would never have known otherwise, His infinite love and kindness by the death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son.

OK, theology lesson over.

Now back to my trip -- and any decision you may be facing. Many years ago, I took a trip that made me so sick that I could have died. Other trips have left me confined to bed for months. Some have had no ill effect at all. (You can understand why I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette here. Don't want to miss God's will on this one!)

What if I had discerned and chosen Plan A and not traveled at the wrong time on the wrong trip that made me so sick. What if I had never made some of the other choices that led to the development of my illness. I could have had a much easier life. But I never would have had the depth of compassion and understanding that I do now. I wouldn't have the ability to look across a room and see the pain that someone was hiding inside. I wouldn't have insight and hope to offer others who have suffered. There is no way I would know God in the intimate tender way that He has revealed Himself to me, and I certainly wouldn't be writing this blog. I believe I would be of much less use to God in general.

So maybe Plan B is Plan A after all. Maybe we're not big enough to screw up God's will for our lives. Maybe it all does turn out for the best even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment. Maybe the world is safe because God has it all under control. Maybe I am safe. Maybe, even if the worst happens, I'll be glad about it one day.

Maybe God is big enough. And maybe you and I can both dare to believe it!

With love,


Come visit us at warrenfamilylife.com

SpiritualGraphics.com

November 9, 1999 ... I felt like it was the most cruel and unfair thing that had ever happened to me, like God had betrayed me. I just realized tonight, that at that moment, I stopped believing in God's goodness and tenderness toward me. That's the exact moment when I stopped experiencing that vital, intimate love affair with my Papa God. That’s when my quiet times stopped being fulfilling. That’s when my mid-life crisis started: months of depression and disillusionment with life. And I have been disillusioned with God ever since. But I didn't know exactly why until tonight.

Tonight I reminded myself of the things that got me through the suffering when the arthritis was bad: that God would never, never, never let me, his precious child, go through something like this, except for a VERY IMPORTANT reason, a reason that I would even choose for myself if I knew what God knows. God had to do it; it was vital. But at the same time, He hated doing it. It caused Him more pain than it caused me, to let it happen. He cries with me. It rips His heart out.

Could you pray that God will re-establish the truth of his love, goodness, and tenderness toward me again deep in my heart? God has been my Lover, my Husband, my Brother, my Papa--even the Eagle who gathers and shields me underneath its feathers. I can be strong if I know He loves me. But the flesh and the enemy can steal it away in a heartbeat. I want that relationship back with Him.

October 20, 2008 ... Although I am past most of this now, I am still not experiencing the passion that I had with God before. I am in a season where He is showing me how to follow blind--to walk by faith instead of feeling.

Whenever I begin to question, I look at that old rugged cross. This amazing sacrifice that Christ made for me settles the matter of, "Does God really love me?" once and for all time.

Peace to you my dear friend,

www.warrenfamilylife.com

After my parents died last summer, I decided that we are all like puppies in a Benevolent Veterinarian's office. The Vet loves us, and only hurts us when absolutely necessary. But no matter what, we will never understand Veterinary Medicine. Still, nothing pleases our Vet more than if we love and trust Him anyway.


Blessings,

Cyndi
warrenfamilylife.com