God Is In The Details

Matthew 10:30 (The Message)

"He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail ~ even numbering the hairs on your head."

This past week we have seen God working in the all the details as we prepare for my uterine cancer surgery on March 23rd. Due to living with Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, the surgery is a bit more of a risk.

Isaiah 30:21 says, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'"

Last week when this verse in Isaiah popped up, we grabbed on to it and claimed this promise, continually asking God to show us the way ~ where to have surgery, when, how to deal with my extensive allergies and sensitivities, etc. He has done that, and more. My Lyme specialist and her staff bent over backwards to help us make these decisions, and my GYN surgeon is open to my special needs. Even the anesthesiologist and hospital have been involved. God has shown up in all the details.

What I want to share today is another small way God revealed how He is in the details of my life. My sister Jan sent me a birthday gift from Dayspring. Along with that she had ordered me some cards to send out to others. She knows how much I love cards and stationary~! I called to thank her for the gifts and shared how helpful the cards were. Several were absolutely what I needed to hear for myself, at a time when fear decided to camp out in my living room. I told her I thought I would just sign her name on them and keep them for encouragement! (smile). She then said, "Well, I know you like the Wooley brand cards, so I wanted to send some." I said to her, "Jan I did not get any Wooley cards, I got a number of encouragement cards from Max Lucado!" As we both realized that a "divine mix-up" had occurred for me, I told her, "I don't think I will sign your name to the cards, I think I will sign God's!

He knew exactly what I needed to hear." God was in the details of even this. I am amazed and yet I should not be, at how He has walked us through this past week...one test, one procedure, one appointment, one birthday gift at a time. He will walk with us through the coming days too. If He knows the number of the hairs on my head, He knows just what I need at this time in my life.

Are you feeling lonely or forgotten today? Don't believe it! God loves us so much He is weaving His grace through the smallest details of our lives. We are deeply loved by a powerful God.

Renee

Hold Fast: Help Is On The Way!

Hello, I'd like to introduce myself briefly since this is my first post as a contributing writer on Through Him All Things Are Possible. My name is Trudy and I am a newly, and happily married lady (May, 08) and a step-mother to six beautiful children! I am lucky #3 for my husband, who is a pastoral intern at our church and will enter seminary next year, God willing. I love to write, sing, read, laugh, love and most of all, praise and worship our Lord and King. I am thrilled to be on board here and look forward to contributing! Oh, and selfishly, my husband and I are also trying to conceive our first child so prayers are welcomed and appreciated!

Enough about me though. Let's talk about the superstar of this blog...God! I love the title of the blog, it is a favorite passage of mine. Don't you love how scripture just weaves in and out of our lives at the perfect time, whether we find ourselves in a valley, on a mountaintop, or somewhere in between? God is just so good about giving us the perfect words at the perfect time! I don't always know exactly where to find them in the Bible (though I'm working on memorization), but He paints the words on my heart and then I go off in search of them later. God has been giving me a lot of His words lately, as I find myself in a valley.

Briefly, my husband sustained a work-related injury in October of 2007 and was on disability through June of this year. Since the disability ran out, we have been living on only my (meager) income as we await a decision on unemployment benefits, while continuing to seek gainful employment for my husband. He does work part-time as a chaplain at a nursing home, but that is just one day per month and doesn't provide much at all. While savings has become literally non-existent for us and we run the checking account down to almost nothing each month, we lack for nothing and are so grateful for the gift of one another and the saving grace we have in Christ. We are so fortunate with all that we do have and still delight in serving others every chance we get. God is blessing me with His Word, placing it on my heart, on my mind and on my lips. Here is what He has been giving me lately:

Trust - Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Grace - 2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Light - Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Hold Fast - Psalm 139:10
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

As for my husband and I, we know that God is faithful and will carry us through this valley. We also know that if we had nothing more in this world but Him, we would have enough. My friends, God is enough. His grace is sufficient. His grace is plentiful. His mercies are new each and every day. In the midst of this valley, we are chooosing to hold fast.




My prayer for all of you today, regardless of what life is throwing at you, is to hold fast and trust in Him with all your might!

Go forward and let your light shine!

Trudy