On Trial {God's Refining Fire For Our Faith}

    I love the "Aha!" moments. Those times when something just clicks and things get 'brighter' inside. :-) That happened to me this morning, while talking with Mom, and I thought the subject was important enough to share.

Have you ever heard those verses from the Bible that talk about trials and temptations?
You know: the "hold fast to the faith", "stand strong", and "whenever you face trials" verses?
Well, James 1:2-18 contains a good many things to be said on the subject of trials and temptations.
And where they come from and how to handle them. (Mom was studying James in her personal time this morning, and then she read James 1 aloud to me.) Here are two special verses that caught my attention, but their very juxtaposition:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (vs. 2-3)


When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (vs. 13&14)

 The first thing I noticed as Mom was reading through it aloud (sometimes hearing a passage brings it out to our ears more than reading silently would) was that trials and temptations are not the same. Not at all. I suppose I 'knew' this, but I did not realize it! But yes, it is true. Think of Job. God was not tempting him, He was trial-ing him, if you will. Job was on trial! Why? For his faith. It's like God was saying, Job, "How much faith do you have in Me? Through how much will you 'stick' to Me?"  Because,

"In this you [should] greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ..." (1 Peter 1:6&7)

This chapter in James talks about trials and how whenever I face them, I need to remember with joy that they will produce perseverance, because they are testing my faith! To my normal human thinking, this does hardly seem something to be happy or joyful about. :( Trials always puts me in mind of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. He has these bad things happen to him over and over again, often right at a time that would have been otherwise joyful! His act of looking to the heavens with a sort of, "Really, God? Was that necessary?" attitude is something we all feel like doing once in a while at least...
And yet. And yet, I am to welcome trials! Why? Why is that, and, how could I?
I can do just that, and rise above the temptations and make it through the trials because I know that:

• Trials from God are refining me & my faith in Him! He is making my faith stronger and stronger; He is refining my trust & hope in Him until it is a beautiful and true as gold!
• Temptations never come from God, always from the Devil and I am tempted only because my flesh wants to be. My spirit is God's and in communion with Him, so temptations can't touch that! But I must resist the temptings, and stay on the narrow path.
• The greatest (i.e. the most faithful) of Christians from history and time were able to be and do what they did because they knew that through the trials and even in the temptations, God was with them. He never ever left them, and  still promises this to us: 

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13)

So there you have it. I really learned something today. Something about God (He is so merciful, and thoughtful!) and something about myself (if I trust God, I can overcome!)  :-)

Happy St. Lucias Day, Everyone!
~Hannah

- - - - - - - - - - - - - * Merry Christmas! *

Quiet...

He got up, 

rebuked the wind 

and said to the waves, 

“Quiet! Be still!” 

Then the wind died down 

and it was completely calm.

{Mark 4:39}

I just need Jesus to speak that over my life right now,

Quiet, Hannah, be still.

Karl, Silence, and Friends

K-a-r-l

We might be selling my car, Karl.
[insert sobbing]
I can't believe it, but it's true...this may be happening in the near, unforeseeable future!
It feels a little like sending your kid off to an orphanage! (Mom says I exaggerate here; I might be.)
But I was raised in that car, practically! My older sister, Victoria learned to drive in it, and so did I. It wasn't my brother, Josh's style so he got a VW Fox. Which was pretty cool too....but still. Nothing compares to driving my Karl, a powder blue 1986 Dodges Aries station-wagon. Thus named "Karl" for the plastic, meaningless, blocky little 'K' on the side of the driver's door. He also has this odd quirk of accelerating faster than you want to. ;) There is also absolutely no winder-shield washing fluid (the reservoir cracked and leaked ages ago), and the mice like living in the warm heating ducts. >.<
But! It's still works! Some of the time. :)
Time to let go, I tell myself.
*sniff*
And looking at the new one that will replace him (shhhh) I don't feel too bad about it anymore. ;) Who knows, maybe some artistic hippie will find him, fall in love with him and paint him psychedelic colors like I always wanted too! Wouldn't that be funny seeing the old car you sold, being driven around town like that? It'd be funny, indeed.

S.i.l.e.n.c.e

I was laying in my bed last night, trying to force myself to sleep, trying to drain the day's worries and consciousness of all the mistakes made and trying to just be quiet. Enjoy the silence. It was hard. Sometimes I feel like I am not living unless I am talking, or hearing someone talking at least. Maybe that sounds extreme. Maybe it's not though. Reading about Richard Wurmbrand, and how he spent years in solitary confinement created a gratefulness in me that hasn't gone away--a gratefulness for speech, for talk. Yes, there are times I just want to yell, "Would you all just SHUT UP!" to whoever is talking their heads off. However it is, at other times, that the comforting sound of Mom talking with Dad, or of Lizzie explaining something interesting to Mom and Jon, or the sound of a good friend's voice on the other end of the phone makes me all happy and tingly and sunshiny inside! :)
You know the feeling don't you? It's that feeling that says, "I am alive, I am human! Breathing, living, loving, hearing humanly alive!" What an amazing thing, God. (He talks too, you know.)

But silence is important at some crucial times; say, when you need to decide something. Often, if I really examined why I was talking so much, so fast I would find that I was doing it to drown out something. The other person, my heart, the situation, others' opinions,or maybe even...God Himself. :( It's true.
Silence leaves everything to the imagination.
Silence leaves room for those bottled up things in the corner of your consciousness to blow up, or diffuse.
Silence opens up an audible way for God to get to you (finally.)
Silence can be scary.
And yet, if the Lord helps you fill the silence, and helps you sort all the knots out, silence could turn out to be a good thing. A tool to open up, to grow, to humble yourself. And that, that...is wonderful thing. :)

F-r-i-e-n-d-s

My sister Lizzie, is doing a informal survey of those around her based on the question of what things are important in a friend. What must they be, to capture our hearts? At first I admit I thought this ground had been covered already, but then...when she asked me what three things I thought were most important in a friend, I had to think. And even then, the answers I gave ("a good listener", "cares about you", and "love you") seemed okay, but cliche and 'fluff' answers.

So, she got me thinking, with that survey. :) What is a friend? Or, more importantly for each of us to stare in the face:
What kind of person is a friend for me?
Who draws me, sticks with me, loves me for who I am and never leaves?
(Were the friends that drifted away even 'friends' in the first place?)
How can I be that person to someone, or several persons?

I feel like these questions (and more) are so important to answer, at least for myself, but I am definitely going to need a lot more silence around here to find some answers.

Here's to Life, and It's Questions,
~Honnah

Today Is A Rainy Day

~~~~~
Today is a rainy day and,
I believe that calls for celebration as,
a) it hasn't rained in a good while
b) I love rainy days
c) I need something to celebrate
d) school work is not as exciting as rain
and there's too much schoolwork around here.
^_^

Join me, won't you?
We'll make up a poem:

pitter patter rain
running down my face
washing away my woes
carpeting the hills in glisten
pitter patter rain

And we'll....
look and see if there aren't any Scriptures on rain:

Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As the droplets on the fresh grass
And as the showers on the herb.
(Deuteronomy 32.2)

Who does great and unsearchable things,
Wonders without number.
He gives rain on the earth
And sends water on the fields,
So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

After my words they did not speak again,
And my speech dropped on them.
They waited for me as for the rain,
And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.
I smiled on them when they did not believe,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.

Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.
For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,
Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly.
(from the book of Job)

As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day,
so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD
And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking...
(Ezekiel 1.28)

~~~~~

What beautiful passages. God, beautiful, strong and life-giving, like rain.
Waiting for Him like for him to come down
like it is waiting for a rain after years of drought...

When I first heard Selena Gomez's new song A Year Without Rain,
I kept thinking about Jesus as who she was talking about (rather than a human):
"A day without you is like a year without rain..."

Is one day without Jesus in my life like a year without rain?

"But do not let this one fact escape your notice,
beloved, that with the Lord
one day is like a thousand years,
and a thousand years like one day."
(2 Peter 3.8)

I Never Thought I'd See the Day...




{Actress Claire Foy}

 

Heard that phrase before?
"I never thought I'd see the day when..."
I can think of two ways it can be said. One way, there's a smile too be found at the end, when you look up at the speaker's face and see that they are proud of something, or something you did. Or, there can be a tiny hint of disgust or disappointment found in the saying of it: "I never though I'd see the day when my own children would [do this or that.]" That's when the phrase is sad, very sad. And that's when using it hurts.

I can think of many things I could use this phrase for now, both ways, too. {We don't always like to mention the negative--or, conversely, we dwell on it too much-- but you know, life is not always sunshine & roses. There's real issues and words that aren't sunny and happy, too.}

So I'll start by sadly, mournfully noting that:

I never thought I'd see the day when...
...so few people think about God. Even remotely. {Like He is no even there...}
I never thought I'd see the day when...
...the use of electronics became balls & chains and gods to the users.
I never thought I'd see the day when...
..."liking" and accepting so many secular, evil things (even if evil only "in part") becomes normal amoung God's people.
And I certainly never thought I'd see the day when...
...everyone would become so preoccupied with everything else, it would feel like God did die.

But.
And here's where I stop with the negatives, to also note that:

I never thought I'd see the day when...
...so many beautiful miracles of God are taking place!
I never thought I'd see the day when...
...more and more of my whole family is serving, and worshipping, and loving the Lord!
I never thought I'd see the day when...
...I would be blessed with SO MUCH, beyond (far beyond!) what I need!
I never thought I'd see the day when...
... my siblings and I would not only get along, but deeply love & respect one another!
And I never thought I'd see the day when...
...my Jesus, God Lord of all Creation, would become so real to me.


To tell the truth, I never really thought I'd see this day. :)