I have added a page to my blog with the intention of offering a kind hand through prayer to those who struggle to forgive themselves. Is your past one like mine that is filled with pictures of where you never again want to visit…have you done stuff that seems unforgivable?
Please take a moment to view this page on my blog and maybe share the hope of forgiveness with someone you know might be struggling with past regret!
The Tough Stuff
It was back in February that we said goodbye to our older Bonneville and welcomed a Fusion into the family. (When the kids leave, vehicles and animals become your kids — sort of.) I had only driven the new vehicle a couple of weeks when while I was driving to town the low tire-pressure warning came on. I thought I would just go to the post office and then stop to get air when I returned.
But when I parked at the station and looked at my right rear tire, it was flat. How in the world could a brand-new tire be flat? I asked the attendant, Davey, to put enough air in the tire so I could park and he could fix it for me later. But the tire wouldn’t even hold air, and that’s when he discovered there was a hunk of metal in it. When I picked up my car, he said there was a utility knife blade stuck upright in between the treads and there was no holding air. But he got the job done.
It was only a week later that I went to get in my car and saw the low tire-pressure warning again — another flat tire. What’s up with that? Well, last year we re-shingled our house and garage and a leftover shingle nail eventually found that tire. God, why in the world are we dealing with this stuff? Oh, how He must laugh when I say things like that. Of course, stuff is going to happen, always. I am not exempt from difficulties; I live in a fallen world.
In the fall of 2011, I began speaking for an organization called Stonecroft. Most of you might recognize the name if I say Christian Women’s Club or Connection, which is what many of the clubs are calling themselves today. My trips take me on some pretty far journeys since I live at the top of Minnesota in the “Icebox of the Nation” and to go anywhere seems like a journey of several hours. My longest trip has been to the North Dakota circuit of Harvey, Minot and then down to Bismarck — lots of miles.
Naturally I prayed that my tire would hold its patch job since I would be in the middle of unfamiliar territory and alone. After six days I was set to return home and was pretty anxious to see my husband after he had gallbladder surgery while I was gone. I was rolling right along from Bismarck early one morning when suddenly my low tire-pressure warning once again came on. I started to get nauseous and fretted because there was nothing that looked like a gas station as far as I could see.
I am thankful that God reminded me of Philippians 4:6, which I immediately put to practice: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
As I recited that verse, I felt God’s presence and care for me. I didn’t stop but began to pray for a station that would be alongside the freeway so I could check the tire. I looked with my mirrors to see if the tire looked really flat, and it didn’t, which puzzled me. But I made the choice to trust the Scripture I recited instead of giving in to my anxious thoughts. Philippians 4:7 says: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I relaxed in knowing that God would provide for my request, and I had an unusual peace that also flooded my uncertain thinking. It wasn’t right away, but a nice truck stop appeared fairly soon afterward and I was able to check the tire (not the rear patched one but my front driver’s side.) and put in air. I then praised my God for His immediate care for me, all alone in North Dakota on a big freeway. Isn’t God just so good to His children?
I made it all the way home, only stopping two hours from home to check the air. None had leaked out. Well, our neighbors repaired that tire and found another nail. I guess it is inevitable when you work next to the transfer station road where all kinds of construction waste are hauled.
But I’ve used those two verses often recently to conquer fear and anxiety and to strengthen others who are in situations of similar uncertainty. Write those verses down and memorize them. Just get them in your heart so that when times of unrest come you will have some ready ammunition to defeat the enemy’s tactics of fear and anxiety. To all who are in Christ: You are armed and dangerous. Now use it.
Visiting over at Grace & Truth today just in case you need encouragement!
Most of us know the saying “pick yourself up by your bootstraps”–a saying that basically means “quit feeling sorry for yourself and get on with your life.” From a worldly perspective, it sounds like the right thing to do; but it can sure put a guilt trip on those who–hard as they tug–are not strong enough to handle life and its stresses. Let me just say that there are times when life is just challenging and stuff happens. So where do we run when it does?
As a young girl I learned early on to fend for myself. I developed the tendency to depend on no one but me. I left home at the early age of 15, became a mother at 17 and thought I was getting along just fine. However, God did not design us to live independently and apart from Him! I continued to mooch off others and be involved in relationships that were rather one-sided because of my selfish, me first survival mentality. I learned that if I were going to survive, I would have to keep picking myself up and moving along.
My world came crashing down around me as my first marriage crumbled into adultery and alcoholism in an effort to find true love. I became overwhelmed by the fact that I was insufficient as a wife, mother and human being; I was miserable. The only way I could see out of my hopelessness was to take my life. After all, I had made a genuine mess of everything. That became a turning point for me as, thankfully, God began stirring my heart and I finally began to think about somebody besides myself. What would happen to my children?
For the next few years, I sought help by going to church. I felt the arms of Jesus through the sweet women of the church who reached out to me and encouraged me along. My wild, spirited youngest son would run up and down the isles of church and I would just cry because I could not make him behave. A dear saint would gently stop him by scooping him up and holding him through the rest of the service while I sat there blubbering over my inability to control him. Oh, how those women made me feel loved and ‘church’ became a comfortable place to be.
However, this warm and fuzzy place to be did not fill the longing in my heart. I began to do a lot of thinking 
about church and what this all meant as far as the Bible and what role it would play in my life. I could not really understand most of it and the more I questioned the more confused I seemed to get.
It was during that time that I began to periodically listen to Focus on the Family during the noon hour. I would even tell my youngest son that he had to have quiet time for that half hour just so I could listen. The help for hurting families began to pique my curiosity, so that I would look forward to fitting that half hour into my day as a stay-at-home mom.
Then I discovered Christian television and the 700 Club. When I heard the stories of how Christ had intervened in the lives of people just like me, I began to have hope. I wanted to be helped just like they had been. The turning point in my life came when I prayed with Pat Robertson, extending my hand toward the television and I received Christ as I prayed the sinner’s prayer. This profound moment came at the age of 30.
The most notable difference to me was that the Bible, when I would read it, came alive for me. I also learned through trial and error that I was better off to grab the extended hand of my God instead of the boot straps that kept breaking when I would pull, trying to pick myself up!
Jesus has rocked my world and the process of being turned right-side up from wrong-side down has been a wild journey thus far, not easy a lot of the time but so worth the journey. God has filled me with peace and joy even when the road has been rough and rocky.
Friend, if you are tired of trying to make life work, will you grab the extended hand of the Father? He is waiting. I am not saying it will be easy, but you will begin a journey that you will never regret as you begin a new life in Christ!
