Читать книгу 52 Weeks of Ordinary People - Extraordinary God - Jody Neufeld - Страница 15

Week 8

Give thanks to the LORD and pray to him. Tell the nations what he has done. Sing to him; sing praises to him. Tell about all his miracles. Be glad that you are his; let those who seek the LORD be happy. 1 Chronicles 16:8-10 (NCV)

Isn’t that a great hymn of praise to God, who is so worthy of praise?! David spoke these words as the Ark of Covenant was brought into Jerusalem. Truly a time of celebration!

But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (NCV)

I am very blessed in my life. I have found our Father God to be faithful. May I briefly testify?

In April 1999, my then 12-year-old son was playing baseball and basketball and had discovered girls weren’t as bad as he previously thought. One day, he came to me complaining of a sore throat. I looked. There was…a growth …a tumor. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed with cancer.

Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NCV)

For the next year, that kind of Scripture was hard for me to read, much less claim and agree. For the next year, my son and I went every week for chemo and every three weeks it would require chemo in the hospital. Four weeks of radiation treatment would cause 2nd degree burns on in the inside of his mouth. No school. No baseball or basketball. No hair. Weight loss. Some visits with friends when he wasn’t too sick or too weak or having treatments or transfusions or…whatever. God is faithful and He is worthy of my praise.

Hundreds, no thousands of people prayed. I received emails from all over the world, as one person would tell another. We had compassionate doctors, nurses, technicians, and volunteers, who treated us like we were the only one they would care for that day. We had a family of God that held our arms up (like Aaron and Hur did for Moses) when we were too tired to pray for ourselves. God is faith and He is worthy of my praise.

I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13 (NCV)

I will not lie to you and tell you that I live these Scriptures. I continue to press in closer to Jesus to learn from Him and His friends.

My son was healed, miraculously and by God. The enemy, satan, would try to remind us of all that we do not have; of our troubles, all our unanswered questions…especially the ‘whys’. But what about all the many, many blessings He gives us? He has given me trust…that step beyond faith…where I believe in Him no matter what I ‘see’ or what the situation. He gives peace beyond understanding. God is faithful and He is worthy of my praise.

Suggestion: Share Scripture that is ‘hard’ for you right now.