We have recently started a wonderful Small Group study on the book of James. Tonight we will go over Chapter 1: 1-18. Now, if you have never read the book of James, you simply don’t know what you are missing. Just those first few lines basically tell me that I am to “consider it pure joy” when I face any kind of trials because the “testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:4 “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Now, you will probably think “this lady has totally lost her mind” when you read the rest of my note here. But, I actually DO thank the Lord for the trials that He has seen me through. I count it as a sign that I am in His Will for my life. If I am following the Lord and trusting Him in all that I do, then I MUST be thankful for what he allows in my life. Now, with that said. . . I don’t always necessarily LIKE what I have to go through, but I know in my heart that HE is in control of everything in my life and if HE allows it to occur, then HE will get me through it. James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
In my life, I have had several times when finances were of the utmost concern for me. I was always afraid of not having enough to cover the bills. Well, in 1996, I was confronted with my parents splitting up, my marriage fell apart as well, and having to figure out how I was going to make a house payment, car payment, credit card payments and utility payments on my meager $20,000 salary. Since I had been depending on my husband’s salary to pay a good portion of things, this really stressed me out. However, when I gave it all to God to handle, I was able to get a second job working 60 hours a week (nd getting overtime for any hours over 40). With this job, I was able to pay off my car, the other bills and pay ahead on my mortgage. God got me through it.
I remarried in 2002 & had a son in 2004. My son was only 5 months old when he was diagnosed with an infection of E-Coli in his kidneys. For several weeks, we went through grueling tests and treatment, all the while praising God for our son and knowing that He would take care of everything. AND HE DID! We had several people praying for him and prayed OVER him for God to heal him, as we knew that we had dedicated him to God and we believed that God was not finished using him here on earth. While we will likely never know the reasoning behind God allowing this to occur, we have our guesses. We were sent to a children’s urologist that I had heard wonderful things about over the years. And when he got the video results back from the VCUG that our son had done, he was speechless. You see, on the video you could see where there had been a blockage that had stretched the ureter tube coming out of the kidney, but then it didn’t go any farther. Basically, you could see that the blockage had DISSAPPEARED! The way the Dr explained it to us was that if the blockage had gone back into his kidney, we would see it on the video and if it had been “peed” out, it would have stretched the tube all the way down, since it is not an elastic type of tissue. We believe that God used our son to witness to this doctor. He had been a children’s doctor in the area for over 20 years and shortly after that he moved to California.
Now, I am facing surgery. . . for the 4th time. Over the last 3 ½ years I have had trouble with excessive hemorrhaging when I had a menstrual cycle. To the point where I could not go out of the house during that week of the month without a FULL Box of SuperPlus Tampons and a FULL package of overnight pads DAILY! Yes, it was that bad and I was on Iron supplements, my hemoglobin dropped one time below 5 and that was pretty scary, considering my heart was skipping beats. I’ve had 3 D&Cs, 2 hysteroscopy, and other tests and procedures I can’t even remember the name for. NOW, I am scheduled for next Thursday for a D&C, hysteroscopy, and uterine ablation (Novasure). It is supposed to be fairly quick at healing and I should be able to return to work on the following Tuesday. But no more pregnancies for me. I had hoped that we would have more children, but with the quality of life that this is not allowing me to have, I just don’t think it’s fair for my son and family to stay this way without treatment. I have been trying to avoid it for about 4 yrs. Besides, if I am supposed to have other children, then God will provide them too.
You see, God allows stuff to happen so that you can PERSEVERE through it and be rewarded in Heaven. He is such a loving and giving God! You may not like the stuff, but trust in HIM and KNOW that HE will get you through it ALL. He is NEVER CHANGING! And remember, OUR REWARDS ARE IN HEAVEN, NOT HERE!!!
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