Proverbs 3 - "Anchor"

Charles Spurgeon once said, "To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust Him in the dark--that is faith." This statement is so, so true. It is 'easy' to trust God when all is going right but the doubts begin to creep in when the storm waves come. Proverbs 3 is rich in nuggets to keep us on track in the 'good' and the 'tough' days. Verse three reads in the VOICE that we are to Stay focused... Yesterday's sermon for the first Sunday of Advent was on the theme of Hope. As we stay focus on God we have the Hope of eternal life with Him. I love what I read about life and death in "Unwrapping the Names of Jesus." We do not have to fear death because when we are believers we will never die. Our physical bodies will someday no longer be but praise God our souls will live forever. The book reads:

“Death is defeated in Jesus as He transitions us from temporal life to life eternal. We live the lives of the resurrected.” Woo hoo! I also love this. “May we be an aroma of life to a dying world so that they, too, may enter eternal life with You.” 

Woo hoo! I love this! I desire to be an aroma of life to a dying world... We all should have that desire in our heart. In order to have such a desire we first must allow God to be our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We must repent and ask Him into our heart. As we live for Him, we must trust Him and allow Him to love in and through us. Proverbs 3:5 uses the words of trust...relay...depend. When the waves of the storms hit hard in life, we must remember these things. This storm we are in now with Rickey in ICU and on the vent is challenging. A lot of 'what ifs' come into my mind but I squelch them down. I refuse to allow the enemy a foothold into my life. God is the Only One who knows the outcome but I continue to pray for restored health. I am blessed as I look through pictures of our time together. Rickey brought laughter back into my life and encourages me daily. These days of not talking with him are hard. So many times I will reach for the phone to tell him something and realize that is not possible right now. But I pray it will be once again soon. I want to make more memories with him. This picture was a fun day in Savannah. After I picked him up at the airport we had a picnic in Forsyth Park and then walked at the waterfront. It was at the waterfront the rain came pouring down. Instead of being upset he started laughing so I joined in. What a blessing! We need to realize there will be disappoints in life but when we keep our focus on God those disappointments will be OK. God has other plans. Sometimes I think he allows things to happen in our life just to make us realize we are not in control. I love the song the Lord took me to this morning. It is one that is a combination of my style and Rickey's style.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for giving me the strength to not just get through yesterday morning but to glorify You in the process! Thank You for the season of Advent where we are expecting You! Thank You for Rickey continuing to fight and being stable! Thank You for the medical personnel that are caring for him! Father, I pray Your strength over Anna, Michael, and Matt along with myself through this storm of life. Lord, cleanse me so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. May You shine brightly through my words, actions, attitude, and thoughts today. Father, I pray for Beth, Shellie, and Charlene who are having surgery today. Guide the doctor's in these procedures. I also continue to pray for Tisha and her family with her Daddy in what appears to be in his last days on this earth. I continue to pray peace over Kathy with Tim leaving this earth; Michael Johnson with the loss of his mother; and Pastor Brenda with the loss of her nephew. I pray Your peace over many going through 'storms of life' to realize You are there with them. May we all realize You as our Anchor as we become tossed and torn by the waves. I pray for: My Momma; my sisters Linda, Sally, and Mary; Ben and Colleen; Pete and Delores; Tony and Madeline; Cait; Norma Hall; Carrie; Little Jensen who needs a heart; many with COVID; Sharon Sebolt; the Pottenger Family; Serena's husband; some young ladies with anxiety; a man in rehab for anger issues; a young man out of rehab who needs strength in his daily walk; a teen in a volatile home situation; a husband/father separated from his wife; and many others. I also pray healing prayers over many who are recuperating from surgery and/or having treatments for 'c' and those dealing with diseases. JoAnn; Donald; Kate; Mike; Little Ivy; my pastor friend who finished radiation again last week; Doug and Gay; Sharon's daughter Ashley and niece Amy; Chrissy's cousin; George and Sharon; and a breast cancer survivor that had something show on CT scan. Lord, may we all trust You so our faith will go deeper. May we all realize You are in control. Thank You Jesus for being My Anchor! Amen.