Chapter Five God's Higher Calling: Despite Adversity.

“Trouble and Anguish have taken hold of me: yet Thy commandments are my delights.” ~ Psalms 119:143 A note about chapter five: This chapter was written during the time I found out I had Bell’s Palsy. It was written in a present tense and not in a past tense as the earlier chapters. I was going to change the tense, but I believe I need to leave this chapter just the way it is. I pray it will be a blessing. “Moses and Daniel and prophets of old they were trusting God I’m told and He drew nearer to their troubled souls. Trials are worth more then gold. Through fire and water if that’s where HE leads I am willing go, if more like Jesus I’ll be trials are worth more then Gold.” I wonder how many songs that I have sung that proclaim this same message and I wonder how willing I am to go through adversity? Could I say as Job said in the mist of trouble? “The Lord gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD:” ~ Job 1:21b. This was Job’s first reaction to adversity. What I wonder is yours and my first reaction to trouble and trials? I know what I want to do when trials come that seem so over whelming and that I can’t bear them. I want to wallow, to have self pity and others attention. “Woe is me!” is the attitude I find myself content to have. When trials come whether it is financial, physical or emotional, my reaction is the same. I want to quit serving the LORD. In the process of the writing of this book, I learned yet another precious lesson about God’s Higher Calling. God’s Higher Calling is not just for the strong, the well, the financially set, and the emotionally stable. God’s Higher Calling is for the weak, the sick and the poor and the emotionally unstable. On August 3, 2007, I woke with a headache that I had for five days straight. I was so full of the wonderful concept that “The upright shall dwell in Thy presence.” I had no idea what would unfold on that day, but oh my Abba did. My prayer that morning I wrote in my Journal “Lord, I long to dwell in Thy presence continuously today! I ask for strength to continue in the things Thou has taught me. I pray that I will cast out all imaginations. And that I will continue to look to you throughout this day. Help me not to pass by opportunities to witness and to comfort. Help me to show kindness to those around me today. In Jesus Name, Amen.” I did not know that by night fall I would have Bell’s Palsy which paralyzed the right side of my face. My smile would be gone. “But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.” ~ Deuteronomy 4:4. My first understand of all this was that God’s a purpose. I do not know what that full purpose is, but I’m willing to trust God with this. I also, understand that I must Cleave to the LORD! He’s got me! I know I’m in His hand. “Nothing ever takes God by surprise.” I once heard this saying: “Has it ever dawned on you that nothing ever dawns on God.” So how does one face adversity? How is one supposed to live when all strength seems to fail? A friend gave me this verse Joshua 1:9 ~ “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” This verse/song sweetly filled my mind and I didn’t even realize I was humming it in my head. I’m so thankful that God gives us the right kind of Friends that encourage us with scripture. The Word of The LORD has been so precious to me over the last few days. It has been no small matter that every day my devotions have held a verse about being “quickened” in them. The word “Quickened” means to be made alive; revived; vivified; reinvigorated. God gives us the strengthen we need to face each day. He gives us the direction in which to go and guides our steps along the way. Is it any wonder that Job was able to say? “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” ~ Job 13:15. God’s Higher Calling seemed so clear to me on Friday morning, but by Saturday I found myself wallowing in self pity. Should I not rest and not do those things I know are required of me? This and such other questions flooded my mind. Saturday night, I dreamed of the “Pattern on the Mount.” I dreamed that Moses decided to build the tabernacle his way instead of God’s. And what might have seemed like a silly dream really wasn’t to me, for this idea planted a thought in my heart. My way right now would be that the Bell’s palsy would be gone and that I would be instantly healed. But God’s way for me is that the Bell’s palsy remains. Sunday morning in my devotions the LORD gave me this verse: “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;” ~ Deuteronomy 4:9. God wants me to continue to go up higher even when I don’t feel like it. “You don’t want any adversity such as “Bell’s Palsy” to stop you from serving, don’t do what you just feel like… reach for God’s Higher Calling in the midst of adversity.” ~ Journal entry, August 5, 2007. Little do we know what adversity waits around the corner. We do not know what tomorrow holds. What we do know is that whether the trail is cancer, blindness, bankruptcy, the death of a loved one, or Lyme’s disease… etc, we need not quit on God. I have this quote written in my Bible from a guest speaker that preached a few years back. “I don’t want my last years, my last months, and my last weeks to dishonor God in any way for whom I’ve lived for all these years.” ~ Bro. Henderson. We are to live for God even in the mist of trials and troubles. If we quit serving, we will stop going forward for the LORD. Sadly, we will find ourselves moving backwards away from His plan and purpose. God understand our adversity and our trials. I keep having this verse echo in my heart: “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” ~ Luke 12:27. We don’t have to worry about all that will unfold with the adversity that stands before us. The LORD has us in His hand, all we must do is cleave to Him. I don’t have to worry about when the LORD’s going to heal me, I know that in His timing He will and that’s enough for me. God’s shown me so much about His standard of living and just because I don’t feel so well, does not give me the right to become lazy. “As you exercise God’s Higher Calling you’ll find your faith increasing. Cleave to God! On this path continue to trod! Seek God’s face! Despite adversity run God’s race! Purpose to do God’s Will! Seek His purpose daily still. Keep fast in prayer! Casting to God all your care! Don’t quit on God! Persevere! Continue to faithfully trod!” ~ Journal Entry, August 5, 2007. Remember this: “God is in Control!” Nothing can happen without God’s being in control! On August 8, 2007, I received a phone call from the Doctor’s office that confirmed that I had tested positive for Lyme disease. It’s not something I wanted, but God knew that I would get Bell’s Palsy and have Lyme’s. He has a divine purpose in it all. “God will you use this situation to fulfill your purpose that Souls may be reached?” ~ From Sunday Night’s Message, August 5, 2007. I’ve already seen just a little bit of what God’s doing through all this, and I know He’s not done working. I’m comforted in that thought. I read the following Article the morning that I found out I had Lyme Disease: .................................................................................. August 8 Confidence Not Misplaced "The LORD God will help me" (Isaiah 50:7). These are in prophecy the words of Messiah in the day of His obedience unto death, when He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. He was confident in divine support and trusted in Jehovah. O my soul, thy sorrows are as the small dust of the balance compared with thy LORD's! Canst thou not believe that the LORD God will help thee? Thy LORD was in a peculiar position; for as the representative of sinful men -- their substitute and sacrifice -- it was needful that the Father should leave Him and cause Him to come under desertion of soul. No such necessity is laid upon thee: thou art not bound to cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Did thy Savior even in such a case still rely upon God, and canst not thou? He died for thee and thus made it impossible that thou shouldst be left alone; wherefore, be of good cheer. In this day's labors or trials say, "The LORD God will help me." Go forth boldly. Set your face like a flint and resolve that no faintness or shamefacedness shall come near you. If God helps, who can hinder? If you are sure of omnipotent aid, what can be too heavy for you? Begin the day joyously, and let no shade of doubt come between thee and the eternal sunshine. ~ From C. H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotional. .................................................................................. I know there are going to be days when I’m not looking to God as I should. There might be times when I ask “Why LORD?” I wrote the following Article back when my sister passed away. Sometimes in life we face difficulties and trials. Truth is we all have stories of heartache and pain. Many times we ask God: “Why, Why me Lord?” Sometimes the only answer we receive from the Lord is simply this: “Just Trust me.” In our human heart we cannot understand why God would allow these things to happen to us or to others around us. The pain that enshrouds our heart seems to choke out any understanding or peace that we so long to have. The statement “Trust the Lord,” seems to be something that is easy to say but harder to do. People that say this to us sometimes can make us feel like they have no idea what we are facing. They could not possible understand our situation. God’s grace seems so far and distant. We can feel alone and rejected. We just don’t see what the Lord is doing. If our eyes could be open to the spiritual realm, we would see that God has turned up the furnace of trials in our life to work out the dross that has been building up. We would see that every time we cry, God gently works on us and cries with us. God says: “Trust me, dear heart, I have everything under control.” He hears our distant reply: “No, Lord! I don’t know what you are doing and the pain is too much for me to bear.” God has not truly left us; he is ever present with us. However, we still yell out: “Why me, Lord? ... Why?” The Lord is in control. He is the Great Potter molding us into vessels of honor. He is the Great Gardener pulling out the weeds that don’t belong in our lives. “What a privilege it is to know that … I am a field under heavenly cultivation ~ not a wilderness but a garden of the Lord, walled by grace, planted according to a divine plan, worked by love, weeded by heavenly discipline, and constantly protected by divine power.” ~ Charles Spurgeon. We might think something like this: “Sure this sounds all good and easy, but this thing that I am going through no one understands.” It’s true that I might not have gone through the trial that you are going through and you might not have gone through the trial that I am going through, but God knows our pain. He suffers with us. He bears our burdens. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:17. This means that he takes our pain upon Himself. He removes it from our heart, and places it on His; and in return He replaces our fears with peace. Just as a loving father protects his child, so the Lord protects us. “Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” ~ Psalms 42:8. In times of adversity and heartache, we need to continue to remind ourselves that God is in control and that He loves us and cares for His children. Remember God always gives us the strength we need when we tap into it. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9. Practical Application: ~ Get alone with the Lord, even when you don’t feel like it. ~ In times of trouble keep key verses with you. ~ Remind yourself of this truth every time you begin to question… “Why Me?” Why me Lord? Why did you allow me to hear the Gospel? Why out of Billions did you reach down your hand to me? Lord, when I think about how narrow the road is to heaven and how broad that road to Hell is, I have to question… Why. Why did you allow me passage on the narrow road? Is it not but for the Grace of God? ~ Ask God to use this trial to reach the lost around you. ~ Remember: Keep on Keeping on and Don’t quit on God! ****************************************** I know I am to continue to serve in the areas that the LORD has me serving right now. I can’t quit those things. I must hold fast in the service of the LORD. Where He takes me from here I do not know. One thing is sure; God’s design for our lives is to live in His Higher Calling. There is no other way to live. “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn of Thy statutes.” ~ Psalms 119:65.