An Unexpected Miracle

A favorite scripture of mine is, James 1: 2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." 

It truly is pure joy to face trials and hardships.  I have found that the greatest miracles happen during the most challenging seasons of life when we place our faith in Christ. Suffering is not fun. But joy can come from a season of hardship. It is especially hard to watch a loved one suffer. 

One of my close friends (Lori) has had serious health problems for many years and to make matters worse, her family has been struggling financially in recent years due to the economic crisis. Her husband has worked for a real estate investment firm for over fifteen years. But with the economic crisis, the real estate business is probably the worst to be working for presently.

Circumstances have been very hard for them. Yet, in the midst of her hardships, she is a shining example of the light found in living for Christ. Lori is a Jew by birth, but she found Jesus and I don't know anyone more in love with her Messiah than she is.

Lori's life proves that it's during the trials of life that we get to experience the most amazing miracles. During the past months, their family car has broken down repeatedly. It's a 1993 model and has been on its last leg for a while. Just a few weeks ago, she called to tell me her car had broken down again.

I felt so bad for her. I wanted to let her in on a secret I knew. But I couldn't because I would spoil the BIG surprise.

Just days before her car broke down again; I received an e-mail from a mutual friend letting me know that Lori's family had been chosen to receive a car as a gift from All State and Sterling Auto Body in Decatur. To see Lori's family receiving their new car, click here.

My friend Lori has a very petite stature, but she has the faith of a giant. And in the midst of their major problems she exudes the joy of the Lord.

My joy level is through the roof! When a friend is blessed it is way better than when I am blessed. I am elated. I can't stop thanking God for this unexpected miracle. I pray that He will continue showering my friend with blessings and that He will keep using her life to show that true joy comes through a relationship with Christ.

In every storm of life there is a treasure to be found. If we look toward heaven with a grateful heart, we will most certainly see a magnificent rainbow in the sky.

Live Abundantly!
Amy 

The above photograph was taken at my son's football game when another unexpected miracle happened in the form of a magnificent rainbow.

Beauty for Ashes

It was a clear, winter day and I was sitting on the family room floor making valentines. I was 8 years old and didn’t have a care in the world. I was enjoying the moment I was in and safe in the comfort of my home with my mom close by in the kitchen.

That’s the last thing I remember before I heard my mother’s panicked voice hollering out, “It’s a fire!” 

I looked up and there I saw the kitchen curtains engulfed in flames. My mom tried putting the fire out, but her main concern was my safety.

We ran outside to get away from the smoke. A gentleman who had seen the smoke from the post office next door ran over to our house, grabbed a hose, busted a window and put the fire out.

Later on that day, we went back inside to assess the damage. In a matter of minutes, the flames had completely destroyed our kitchen, and the smoke had damaged most of our house. 

We never stayed in that house another day. We packed up our salvageable items and moved in with my grandparents for a few months. My parents made the decision to build a new house a few miles away. It was months before our beautiful, new home was completed.           

My life had been turned upside down by the rampant flames that raged through my house on that winter day. It was difficult to have my life so shaken up, but knowing a beautiful home was being built for my family helped to ease the difficulties. I remember visiting the new home often to see the progress that was being made.

I’ll always remember the day I first saw my completed bedroom with the brand new carpet I picked out myself. It was breathtaking—nothing like my young heart had ever experienced. It was almost more than I could take in at once. It was amazing. After losing my old home and many of the things I had been attached to, the new home was sweetness to my soul.

The new life Christ has given me is much like the new home I moved into after the fire during my childhood. Before I fully surrendered my life to Christ's purposes for me, fiery trials swept through my life and destroyed many things that were important to me. After surrendering everything to Jesus, He rebuilt my life and turned the ashes of my past into a beautiful display of splendor.

I remember times when I wondered if I would ever have beauty in my life again. The stress of a struggling marriage relationship, the tension from strained finances, and not being physically well—it seemed impossible. 

As I wrestled to believe, my faith won and things began turning around for me. Step by step, Christ renewed my marriage, restored our finances, and taught me ways to improve my health. 

When we believe things are hopeless, then we will have a hopeless life. When we teeter on the fence of disbelief, we miss out on the miracles the Bible promises we will see. 

In 2009, I made a commitment to stop doubting God forever. Whenever a doubtful thought taunts me, I meditate on the scriptures to bring life to a worn out and weary spirit. Doubt cannot penetrate a heart that is fixated on the truth of God’s Word.

Christ has good plans to give every person a future filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He is the redeemer and restorer of broken lives.

Are you struggling to believe God for good things? Leave fear and doubt behind and begin believing that Christ is the author of beauty. Surrender it all to Him and watch as He rebuilds and recreates the beautiful life He longs to give all His children. 

Trust Him to give you beauty to replace the pain of your past. He will bestow on you a crown of beauty instead of ashes and He will give you the oil of gladness instead of mourning. He will plant you firmly in His promises to be displayed as a glorious vessel of His magnificent splendor.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61: 1-3

Live Abundantly!

Amy 

This post has been revised from a piece originally written several years ago. The above picture is one of me at the Biltmore House gardens. 

The Abundant Life

It was during one of the most difficult seasons of my life that I learned the most about abundant living. My husband had recently been laid off from his job. I was working tirelessly to make ends meet and life was very stressful. I wanted desperately for my circumstances to change.

While battling hardships and trials, I was wondering why everything that had brought me security had been lost. I sought the Lord for answers, and He diligently answered me. He led me to a scripture in the Old Testament that jumped off the pages when I read it. Deuteronomy 30:6 says, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart, and with all your soul, and LIVE.”

In these verses, I found the answer to what my heart longed to know. The word "circumcise" is derived from a Latin word meaning, to cut. In the midst of excruciating trials, it felt like my heart was being circumcised. God was cutting away the things in my heart that were hindering me from fully loving Him and fully living life. The process was far from easy. At times it was excessively painful. But ultimately it led me to a full, abundant life.

Everyone wants to live abundantly. John 10:10 says that Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. Yet, how many people truly tap into the abundant life that Christ offers? Could it be the way we view our lives, or what we equate happiness with? For years, my thoughts of the good life were completely intertwined with the external circumstances in life—having a good income, having constant harmony in my relationships, and being able to  do the things I love doing.

For a season, I only sought abundance in the external joys of life. But in God's infinite grace, He took me through a season of testing because He wanted to give me true life—the life Jesus promises to everyone. It was in the dark times that I found His greatest treasures.

Are you in the midst of being pulled and stretched? Do you feel as though life is caving in around you? To be rebuilt, a house needs to be torn down first. It can be an excruciating process. Do not lose heart. God is building a beautiful house out of your life. He uses every loss and every struggle for our good. Nothing He allows in our lives is in vain. He uses it all.

The struggles I experienced many years ago are the very substance of the good things in my life today. The things that were the hardest to endure are what led me to the abundant life in Christ. 

Through the hardships, God gave me a new heart—a heart more like His, one that rejoices because of His love. There is nothing that compares to His great love. It’s worth it all.

It really should be pure joy to face trials because we know that no matter what is happening Jesus is walking along side us, carrying us, allowing us to bask in His love at all times and in all circumstances.

Jesus is everything. When we know this, then we know that anything else in life is the icing on the cake.  
  
...I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  ~ John 10:10 (NAS) 

Live Abundantly!

Amy 

This post has been revised and was originally written in 2008.