Help God, I need you!
Once, my heart was breaking over one of my daughters. A daughter that had been stumbling through the dark and I feared she was headed for a fall. I was afraid for her.
Then it happened.
Her sin finally got her into trouble,
Worse than I had imagined.
I don't remember the date, but it was a Friday in 1992.
I was so fearful I set aside the weekend for fasting and prayer.
Something I did very seldom because it was hard to really stick to.
But I was desperate. I needed God to come!
"OH GOD, DELIVER MY DAUGHTER FROM THIS TERRIBLE PIT SHE'S FALLEN INTO.
As I read my Bible that morning, a verse jumped out at me
!Psalm 25:15 "He delivers our feet from the net."
"But you were there God. Why did you let her fall into such a net? I‘ve been praying for her all along."
God listened to my prayer, and revealed another truth to me.
I was spending that morning flipping back and forth in Psalms looking for encouragement.
God opened my eyes to another verse;
Psalm 66:11 "Thou didst bring us into the net:"
Oh! Wait a minute. I began to see.
GOD, Himself, brought her into this net.
God had been protecting my daughter all along from many of Satan's pitfalls, but in God's time, and in God's place, He had allowed her to fall into the net of HIS CHOICE so that she would have to call out to Him . . . Then God could show His love and faithfulness to her by delivering her and showing her mercy.
Have any of you gotten yourself into a terrible mess?
By sneaking? Lying? Cheating? Stealing? Faking? Being impure?
If you find yourself or a loved one in a terrible situation,
even if it's a result of personal sin . . .
God wants you to know that He is still with you; He's still in control;
He still loves you; and He'll provide a way of escape for you when you call out to Him.
Ps 119:67-68 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.
You are good and do good; Teach me Your laws. NASU
PS. Looking back, I see the path God took my daughter through. There were many nets. But today, she is a woman sold out to God. God pulled her kicking and screaming into the place of her own submission. Neither she nor I would change one thing. She knows, that without the pain and failures, she would never have given up her own will and submitted to His.
If you know Him, and if you're praying you can trust in His faithfulness.
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I also know that God didn't put me into the situations I was in as a child, but simply allowed it to happen as he did with Job. At the time I still prayed and was delivered as a child of God!
Krystal. I am sorry to hear about your friend. I will place her in my prayers.
"Have you seen my servant, Job?" (something like that) "noble and upright". & then gave him permission to temp him but limited what he could do. It had to be one of the worst personal calaties in history. God must have used and recorded the incident so none of us would think He had forsaken us no matter how bad things got.
I hope no one thinks I am indicating God leads us into bad places to hurt us. But He is in control and often protects us from the results of our own sins. But, He is not like a parent that spoils a child until they become weak undisciplined adults. He knows just what it will take to strengthen us and transform us into His image. Loving does not mean all fluffy sweet stuff. It means harsh denial to a child sometimes even though it is breaking your heart. Real love always acts on what is best for the object of that love.
Thank you LaRue. I'm glad for all the glory you give to God and all the benefit those children receive from your suffering. LaRue, read 2 Cor 1:3 ... I had just shared this with Carol but see that you too are reaping the benefits of God's true love and passing them on.
Blessings ~
Rene
I've had company all day ... actually for 3 days because My Mom called my sister and my son and told them she thought she would die within a few days. Word spread and one sister/spouse came in from Texas; my son & 2 children from Nebraska (leaving wife & 4 children behind) and other sisters, children, nieces, nephews have been coming from little towns all around. I was not prepared for this :) For the first time in 3 days no one is in our apt except Mom and I. . .and she is feeling fine at the moment :)
For coming by and for commenting.
Thank you for coming by.
Thanks for your encouragment. I'll read The Magic Wand this evening.
Thank you for coming by.
Amen Marsha. I've decided to forget about 3000 and just work on posts :):)
We all need an adversary to keep us on our toes. I vote for you :) :)
Thank you for sharing this with us. It is so true. The Lord chastens those whom He loves. We all wish for our loved ones to go through life with a minimum of pain and travail but the Lord must mold us into the vessels He will use and this often means webs and snares. Great reminder!
-Mark
Thanks for your comments. One thing I've noticed, God has often showed His love by overcoming the earthly consequences of my sin. I know that is true of all His children. Our hearts really overflow with love then. Actually ... I think that is my favorite reaction :):)
I miss you!
You're sounding like a Buddhist again, examining the concepts of "good" and "evil."
An apparent evil turns into good, as you see that your God has had a part in it. You understand the subtleties of the universe well.
Thanks for taking the time to read my article :)
I don't mean to indicate my daughter has no scars. There are. There were losses. God has given she and her new husband a child when she wasn't supposed to have one. But it turns out her husband has BPD. Borderlin Personality Disorder. It is a very troublesome problem.
However he has accepted Christ and is making much effort to get himself under control. He does love his wife and son & wants to live for Christ.
Her first daughter, at 12 yrs old was raised by one of my other daughters which brings her to tears often. But she and her daughter are together a lot and have a sweet restored relationship. There are many scars Patricia. But God has restored joy and purpose to her life.
Sometimes, if you don't explain, it makes things look like a bed of roses. I'm glad you said what you did Patricia ... so I could tell the rest of the story.
I'm beginning a series on the book of Romans ... Don't know, but don't imagine you'd enjoy it. But after that I'm writing on, perhaps what I would consider my life's message, Forgiveness. It ill be fun, but can change lives. Not that you need it :), but I'm just thinking there might be things you could enjoy and add to. Although from a Christian perspective, the 'law' of forgiveness is like the 'law' of gravity; it works for everyone. The crux of the lesson is 'making forgiveness so easy anyone can do it.' So we might be able to have fun doing that together.
Thanks you for your blessing and for coming by.
Thank you so much for coming ... and I agree with all you say. He is good to all.
Guess I will go ping you to say hi :)
PS Love your flowers.
I love that you came by :)
When our children are on the line that's exactly what we feel. I know God is delighted to see both of you trusting Him even though things are dark concerning your child.
I LOVE your verse. God said if we ask anything according to His will, we have the thing that we request of Him. The verse you quoted prove His will is for repentance.
Thanks for sharing your heart ache.
I think often times we are confronted with certain situations (or in your words "nets") in order to make us realize what we are doing isn't right and changes need to be made to pull us from those nets. Whether those changes are acknowledging and asking for guidance or whatever. I also think often times we want to question "why is this happening" when we just need to realize it is "happening for a reason".
It's so difficult to see someone suffering when their caught in the "net" (even if it is sometimes of their own making), however we must have faith that it will work out. I'm so glad this situation turned out for the positive.
Blessings ~
Your Friend,
Rene
I can truly say I regret no net I've been in. I regret some of my actions ... but without the nets I think I would return to my same old ways.
I loved seeing you come in. Thank you.
And that is why you are such a minister here in Gather. The life of your son is still affecting the world through you. God gloriously delivered you from a very frightful net so that He could reveal His glory through your son and you. Thanks Carol.
What a world we live in!
I like the example of Job that you used in your comment above. Your thoughts on why God did what He did in terms of allowing the calamities to come upon Job (with limits) at the hands of satan was well stated.
Looking forward to more of your writings Glome ~ You KNOW that!
Blessings ~
Your Friend,
Rene
In fact, your encouragement is one of the reasons I decided to begin publishing articles of a different nature when my muse for poetry dried up :):)
Studying & discussing Christian philosophy with other members was actually my reason for coming to Gather but could not determine whether or not to jump in. I've been overwhelmed with the type of people here. It is different from any other public forum I've been involved with. I enjoy them so much.
So thank you to all of you & thank you to Rene. (Who, I might add, said she liked my addition of jewlrey, but wondered if I had ever considered putting on clothes. Up until that point I didn't think anyone had noticed)
We're doing a study on Romans. We just completed three short articles on definitions and then the first chapter of Romans. If that sounds interesting please join us and express your own thoughts.
Some thing I'm unsure of. Chapter two (coming up next) is a favorite but leaves me with some questions. Maybe you'll have answers :)
I've never lost a child. I can't imagine what it is like.
I know there are several here on Gather ... and my sister and my Mom ... but not me. I don't think their could be anything harder.
daughter. I am glad she came through it.
I think we all have been there at some point. I heard a Catholic Priest
say once, "you meet God at your deepest, darkest, most lowest point."
That is what happened to me. God bless, robert w
After the darkness ... LIGHT :)
I will come to visit. Thanks for stopping by.
Your daughter's experiences remind me of a Maya Angelou quote. After a life of many mountains climbed and obstacles overcome she said, "I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now!"
I have a feeling it is the heart of most people that know the Lord. Somehow He works out the most terrible things in a way that ... as long as they stay behind us we'd rather just keep right on trucking through the life He gave us rather than try again :)
Thanks for coming by Sandi.
May God Bless you and keep you closed to his Heart. In the name of JESUS.
I decided to quit carrying her burden. It wasn't mine to carry, but I knew I could trust God to guide her ... and guide her He did. It took a long time but she, her new husband and new little 2 yr old boy are doing so well. He really worked a miracle in bring them to Christ. They are in church by their own choosing and excited about God.
Rest assured Leora ... God will be faithful to you in dealing with your loved ones.