Moving forward...praying...

 

Moving forward...praying...

Read about Hezekiah again...Nehemiah again...facing adversity...

Both prayed....both thanked....both moved forward...doing the tasks that were given to them....both were answered....

Hezekiah faced death, health issues...kingdom issues...

Nehemiah faced a monstrous job of uniting people and building a destroyed wall against enemies...naysayers...

I don’t think of us like to face adversity...fears....although there is a lot to be learned in the midst of it.....but, what we make of it and how we face it is telling...where does our faith go with it...

Reading recently about the Spafford family...the father wrote the song, “it is well with my soul”....they faced the death of 4 daughters drowned at sea, a son who died as a child...ending up in Israel/ East Jerusalem to start a ministry to children/families which still exists to this day more than 90 years later....making it through a world war, changes in the Middle East during that time...

 

https://spaffordcenter.org

https://spaffordcenter.org/about-us/history/

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-family.html

There are so many stories of people who have turned adversity into a positive, creating beauty from ashes...serving others, ministering to others...moving forward in the kingdom...thank YOU....

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. 

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. 

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. 

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Psalm 46:1-11

It is well with my Soul...Horatio Spafford, 1873

1 When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

2 When sorrows like sea billows roll;

3 Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

4 It is well, it is well with my soul.

◦ Refrain:

◦ It is well with my soul,

◦ It is well, it is well with my soul.

5 Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

6 Let this blest assurance control,

7 That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

8 And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

9 My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—

10 My sin, not in part but the whole,

11 Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

12 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

13 For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

14 If Jordan above me shall roll,

15 No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

16 Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

17 But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

18 The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

19 Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

20 Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

21 And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

22 The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

23 The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

24 Even so, it is well with my soul.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; 

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; 

to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; 

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 

They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

Isaiah 61:1-4