Troubled Times

I’ve reached a point where I don’t like to watch the news because it can be so depressing but we can’t be oblivious to what is going on around us in our world today.  Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the death toll of the war in Afghanistan reaching a new high mark, a revolution in Egypt spreading unrest in the Arab world, Gaddafi's son’s warnings of civil war as unrest spreads in Libya, an uprising in Iran, Bahrain joining many other Arab countries in demanding democracy, etc., etc., etc., reminds of things I’ve read and heard regarding wars and rumors of wars in the last days. 

I reflect over the past couple of years and think of the natural disasters the world has experienced with flooding and earthquakes. Earthquakes alone have caused so much destruction and taken so many lives.  The Sichauan Earthquake in China on March 12, 2008 claimed an estimated 68,712 lives with another 18,392 missing.  The earthquake that struck Haiti in January of 2010 claimed an estimated 316,000 and is considered one of the ten most deadly natural disasters in history. Now the earthquake that recently shattered Christchurch, New Zealand with the death toll rising.  Matthew 24:7 says there will be earthquakes in various places in the last days.

World Bank recently reported that food prices increased an astounding 29 percent in 2010.  The soaring food prices are leading to a dangerous situation that can send millions into poverty.  Food riots have already been reported in the Middle East.  The rising food prices are reportedly due to floods in Australia, drought in Russia and crop failure in China.  We in America are not exempt from famine.  Many of us Americans are more susceptible to living like those in a third world country now more than ever with the unemployment rate reaching all-time highs due to a recession.  With all the job losses and foreclosures Americans are experiencing situations in life like my generation has never seen. Oil prices have reached an all-time high and our fuel prices are creating a financial burden for many.  I think the only thing that prevents us from equaling The Great Depression of 1930’s is unemployment insurance. 

These are troubled times we are living in today and every time I hear another tragic report on the television I’m reminded of the prophecies of the last days and can’t help but feel we’re living them. Granted Matthew 24:36 tells us “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”.  However Jesus did speak about the last days on the Mount of Olives in  Matthew 24:1-14 “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

I certainly don’t claim to know when Jesus is coming back but I do know I want to be ready for Him when he comes.

Hope, Expectation, Faith and Belief

I have a habit of asking the Lord to lead me to what He would have His word say to me as I take my Bible and randomly open it to read it each day.  A couple of days ago I opened it  to Matthew Chapter 8 and read the story of the centurion whose servant boy was lying paralyzed at his house and in intense pain.  The Lord told the centurion that He would go to the boy and restore him.  The centurion told Jesus that he was not worthy or fit to have Him come under his roof, but if Jesus would only speak the word his servant boy would be cured.  Jesus replied to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.”

I have spent the past few days pondering hope, expectation, faith and belief.  The definition of hope is to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment. Romans 8:24-25 “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?” Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  The definition of expectation is eager anticipation of something wished for. So, expectation is a step beyond hope. Romans 8:19 "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."  The definition of faith is belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence and is synonymous with belief. Hebrews 11:1 "Now, faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.” The definition of believe is to have firm and unquestioning faith to accept something as true.  Matthew 8:13 “Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go and it will be done just as you believed it would.” And the servant was healed at that very hour.”

I spent the majority of my weekend ponding this and wondering why it was in the Bible that so many asked Jesus to perform miracles and they were granted immediately yet, I ask for miracles and it seems I spend so much time waiting for God.  Ecclesiastes 3:17 tells me that God has an appointed time for everything; every purpose and every work that He has planned for me and Psalm 46:10 tells me “Let be and be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations!  I will be exalted in the earth!

I realized that though I have hope for better things in my future such as my husband to be able to come home to be with us; and though I expect the Lord to make a way for that to happen; and though I have faith that He has a plan for us; I had not truly BELIEVED with all my heart and soul that it IS going to happen and instead have been very fearful of what the future MAY hold in store for us.  I now BELIEVE with my whole heart and soul that the Lord will answer my prayers based on my faith for the plans and purpose He has for me; as I await His timing expecting great things in regard to those things I hope for.  May God bless each of you today.

Dealing With The Death Of A Loved One

My mom called me last night to tell me the last of my father's siblings had passed away.  I was glad to hear her say that the pastor from Hospice had visited with him several times and he had begun to leave his television on a channel broadcasting a local preacher.  I hope and pray he had accepted the Lord as his savior prior to his passing.  His wife had passed away years before and he never had any children.  I was glad my cousin, my mother, my sister and brother along with their spouses were with him and he wasn't alone.

I've spent the night reflecting on the loved ones I've lost over the course of my life.  I remember one of my father's brothers who sang in a country music band.  When he would come home to visit he would spend the night playing his guitar and singing with me sitting on the floor in front of him.  I remember him playing one night until his fingers began to bleed from the guitar strings and he reached down into his guitar case to retrieve guitar picks which he placed on each finger and continued playing his guitar and singing for me.  I was young when he died but his passing away was the first sense of loss I experienced.

My mother's mother, passed away when I was seventeen.  I loved her so much. I loved spending time with her over the summers.  She always made me feel so grown as a child because she would allow me to drink coffee with her each morning, but most importantly she communicated with me.  She talked to me, she listened to me, she made me feel that someone cared for me, her.  She had developed the symptoms of Alzheimer’s before they ever named it that.  She would go through the names of all the grandchildren before she ever got it right.  Most of the time you would have to tell her who you were and she still wouldn't remember it. She eventually began living with my aunt and uncle and they eventually had to come up with some creative means of keeping her in the house at night after finding her out by their pond and tobacco barns looking for my grandfather who had passed away many years before.  She was such a strong Christian woman so when she died regardless of my sense of loss I knew she was finally at peace.

I remember the day I received the call at work informing me that my dad had been taken to the hospital and the doctors weren't expecting him to survive, therefore had suggested that my mother notify family members.  After arriving at the hospital my dad looked at me and said, "If you will stay with me I'll make it through the night and part of the day tomorrow".  I think it came as a surprise to everyone else as well as me that he wanted me to stay with him.  I surely thought he would have wanted my sister to stay with him.  He and I had butted heads and exchanged angry words on so many occasions because of the way he would curse my mom as she bathed, shaved, dressed, feed and cared for him for a number of years during his illness.  Prior to that night I wasn't sure what I was going to feel when he passed away.  I knew I longed for my mother to have some peace and happiness in her life which I knew she would never have as long as he was alive.  One of my siblings once made the comment that the only sense of loss they would feel when he passed away would be "the father he could have been but never was."  (If you read my story you will better understand these feelings.)

I'm very thankful for that night with my father.  We shared so much during the night.  He told me that one thing he admired about me was the fact that I was outspoken and he never had to wonder where he stood with me. He pointed out to me many characteristics which we shared and said, "As much as you may hate to admit it, you're a lot more like me than you might want to admit, but atleast you got the good ones."  We read Psalm 23 together.  I remember hearing the birds the next morning and he said, "Well, we made it through the night."  My dad shared so much with me that night, including the fact that he had made his peace with God and he knew he was ready to go.  I was so thankful for that.  I was also thankful that my dad and I had made peace with each other.  I left to go home to get a shower the next morning after my mother arrived.  When I returned to the hospital shortly after noon my mother, sister, both brothers and a sister-in-law were in the room.  A few minutes after I got there my father died.  It was almost as though he was waiting for me to get there.  My father, the man who had been so afraid of dying alone died peacefully with wife and all of his children in the room with him.  He had made it through the night and part of the next day just as he had said he would.

The loss of my oldest brother was the one that really hit me the hardest.  He died in May of 2008 at the age of 57.  I experienced an enormous sense of loss when he died.  The finality of it seemed so hard to grasp.  For weeks I felt like it was just a bad dream because it couldn't be real. 

After my father died I was spending the night with my mother and awoke gasping for air because I couldn't breathe.  I had been dreaming that my mother had passed away and was consumed in grief.  I went into my mother's room and got into bed with her, holding her and crying.  She asked me what was wrong and I shared my dream with her and told her I couldn't take losing her.  She replied, "Honey, you wouldn't want to deprive me of going where I've lived my whole life to be would you?"  I said, "Mom, you make me sound selfish."  She didn't reply.  As painful as the loss may be and believe me I pray I never have to go through the experience of losing some loved ones, there are those that are inevitable.  II Corinthians 5:8 tells us "We have confident and hopeful courage and are pleased rather to be away from home out of the body and be at home with the Lord".  Amplified Version

I have a dear friend who is caring for her terminally ill mother and is having a difficult time facing the loss of her mother.  Please remember Dianne and Ms. Helen in your prayers.  Who have you lost?  How did you deal with it?  What gave you strength?