Just to clarify last nights comments: I am in no way saying that God does not take our requests seriously. What I am saying is that our hope should not be found in the brilliance and confidence of what we think is best, our hope should be found in the character of God. When you pray for anything you should realize that prayer is real communication. You are talking to God as a child talks to his parent. You are asking God for something in the same way as a child asks his father for something. Your Father will often deny you something that you really think you need not because your desire is bad, but becuase your Father has something much much better in store. Cry out to God. Tell Him your desires and wants--He takes your desires and wants very seriously. But at the end of the day, because He has your best interests in mind (and knows what your best interests are better than you do, and because he knows how to achieve your best interests better than you do) He may deny you your desire because He has something much greater in store. Something that is far more wonderful than you could ever imagine to ask for. This news is wonderful because the Character of God is infinitely Good and without flaw. If this news makes you a bit uncomfortable then I suggest meditating on the Character of God and especially as it has been revealed must fully in the cross of Christ.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
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9 comments:
A good clarification. Amen, brother.
Jimmy & Kristal, It was so good to be with you yesterday and see the powerful grace of God at work in your lives. God's care for you, through your wonderful parents who we were privileged to meet, and the 'home' He's placed you in, is amazing. I'm sure He is caring for James just as well. May He be pleased to heal him completely, and soon!
With much love in Christ,
Peggy & Paul
Jimmy & Kristal,
Wanting to say how much your words of faith are blessing us all, especially due to your trying circumstances and resulting fatigue. I think you were very accurate in your words and we thank you for teaching us, even during this time. Jimmy, you truly ARE a man with a Pastor's heart. We are praying for all of you.
Love,
Kathy Bacon for each of the Bacons & Countryside Church too!
Jimmy and Krital,
We continue to pray fervently for you and baby James, and for our Lord to be glorified and exalted in everything. We love you guys so much!
Greetings from the west coast! We wish we had the words to say that would set both of your hearts at ease, however, we don't. We contine to pray for baby James and both of you daily; eagerly awaiting the next email update and pictures. Your never ceasing steadfast faith continues to strenghten our faith here. With joyful hearts we join you in worshiping our Heavenly Father who withholds no good thing from those who a faithful and steadfast. We hope your family will be able to visit our family soon.
God bless,
Josh, Deborah and Emily Costello
Jimmy,
Thank you for posting your thoughts here. It is encouraging to see your faith persevere, and even deepen, during this time. As usual, the power of the grace of God shows most glorious when we are weak! Amy and Emma (and Adam...kinda) and I are continuing in prayer for you guys and for little Jimmy. I am continually remdinded of the persistent widow in Luke 18 when praying for the sick. Between Matthew 8:17 where Jesus tells us that he not only purchased salvation from sin, but even salvation from sickness on the cross! Then to be able to look at Luke 18 and see that God is pleased with persistent prayer and sees our lack of persistence in prayer as a loosing of heart, not a failure on His part. Be encouraged; the God we serve is not an unjust judge but the sovereign lover of His people. My prayer is that you and Kristal do not loose heart, but become more tenacious in your prayers.
Your bro.
Luke
I love the way that the Lord uses these trials to reveal to us more and more of Himself and His character. As I read your entry, I couldn't help but think back a year and a half ago when we went trhough our miscarriage. You know how much I had always wanted to be a mom and so when I got pregnant, I was so scared that something would happen. In my wretchedness, I actually told Spencer that if God took the baby from me, I don't think that I would be able to say, as Job did, "The Lord giveth and taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Well, that's just what He deemed best and even through the immense grief and longing, He revealed to me the fact of His goodness. At a time when the world pitied me and doubted how a loving God could "allow" such a thing to happen, I was enamoured with His goodness. Now that is amazing and could not have ever come from me!
Looking back, I would go through all of it again just to learn that lesson. It was that precious.
I know you both feel the same way, even amidst the sorrow and anxiety.
"Whom have I in heaven but You. And on earth, I desire nothing besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73
We love and pray for you. You have hundreds praying for you...that is a great thought.
Hi Jimmy and Kristal,
I am so excited that I get to communicate with you apart from prayer..prayer..prayer. The latest news is such a blessing from the Lord.
The following is something I get from the Purpose Driven Life website I get on, and I thought it spoke beautifully to where you are in your life. I love you both and will write again--I just have to get to bed so I can get up at 4:15 for work! Love, Aunt Linda
A Hopeful Future
by Jon Walker
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV)
Discipleship — When you hear about the sickening shootings at Virginia Tech, it’s only human to wonder if God is fully engaged in the events of this world.
Why, God, do you allow these things to happen?
Over the years, as I’ve shouted this question to God, grappling to understand the explosion of evil into the lives of good people, I’ve encountered what seemed to be an unsettling silence from God.
I know that his Word tells us evil exists in this world because of sin, and that the fists of the Evil One are indiscriminate, hammering on the innocent along with the guilty. God’s Word also teaches that the Evil One will take direct aim at us as we walk more closely with God.
But, still, why, God, do you allow these things to happen?
I say it seemed like unsettling silence from God until one day, in the Divine’s still, small voice, I sensed God asking me a question in return – you know, the way Jesus often said to the Pharisees, “I’ll answer your question after you answer mine.”
God’s question: “Jon, do you serve the One True God (Deut. 6:4), or do you serve the ‘god of understanding it all.’”
More questions followed: “Are you trying to be the god of understanding, believing that if you can just understand what is going on, then – and only then – you’ll be able to accept it, live with it, or live through it? Is your faith in me based on what you understand, or is it based on your faith in my hand?”
When we’re facing trouble, we often quote Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV): “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Listen carefully: God is telling us that we may misunderstand his plans for us, that we may wrongly perceive his plans as evil, but those plans are the very thing — the only thing — that will give us, literally, “a hopeful future.”
To echo Eugene Peterson, in the midst of our distress, we think that we’re being pushed to the very edge of our existence; but once there, we realize we’ve been pressed into the very center of God. The peace that God speaks of in Jeremiah is not an absence of conflict; it’s about wholeness (shalom). It’s about becoming a people who are whole again because we are face to face with God, learning to think, not like mere men, but like God.
So what?
· Nasty now and now – The things we truly believe emerge in what Peter Lord calls the “nasty now and now.” Your faith is hammered out in the everyday, mundane experiences of your life, and when you face the fists of the Evil One. Faith is not resolved in heady discussions about the nature of evil.
· God is at work – Like a dormant tree in winter that appears to be dead until the buds of spring, God is always at work in our lives and throughout the world – even today on the campus of Virginia Tech. Don’t assume the tree is dead in winter; look expectantly toward the buds of spring.
· Seek God’s face – Seek God’s face, instead of seeking to understand. Trust that God will give you insight and understanding when the time is right. Until then, he’s developing your faith in him.
© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Hi Jimmy and Kristal: Praise the Lord for wonderful news today. I am so proud of you two and how you are holding up under very stressful days but know our heavenly Father will sustain and uphold you through it all and you will come forth as gold. What a great work God is doing in all of us as we trust God for complete healing of our special little boy.To God be the glory, great things He has done. I love you Aunt Dot
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