Clouds But No Rain

Hey there blogger and fb friends. I am finally back in the land of the living. Thanks for all the prayers. I was really sick there for about 4 days, but am much better now. I will be having some tests run hopefully next month sometime. I'll let you all know what is going on as soon as I do. Now, it is time to get back on the devotional track. :)

Last week I shared about how God had blessed us with an upgrade to a hotel room and an awesome new urologist for Nathaniel. These truly were blessings from God! However, I don't want anyone to be confused by that statement. I am in no way saying that if something bad is going on in your life that God is not still blessing you. I think we cripple ourselves and those around us when we believe that God has promised no pain or suffering in this life. Don't be confused, we are not in Heaven yet.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that "there is a time for everything"; "a time to cry and a time to laugh".
In the book of John chapter 16 verse 33, Jesus is speaking. He says, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Notice that Jesus himself tells us that we will have tribulation. Tribulation means; pressure, oppression, affliction, and distress. However, we can have peace knowing that God will see us through each difficulty because He has already overcome it. That is what we are promised; peace! We aren't promised that we will avoid difficulty but that we can have peace through it. That is how people come to know the love of God. It isn't that they see how perfect our lives as Christians are, but that they see us going through the same difficult circumstances with the peace of God.

So, don't be discouraged if you are walking through a dessert. Don't give up if you have prayed and prayed and are still walking through difficulty. If it seems your prayers haven't been answered, this isn't an indication that you are not in God's will.

Robert and I have been walking through a very difficult time. It began 3 years ago. we are just now beginning to see the other side of this dessert we have been walking through. It began in 2007. That year we endured two miscarriages and the death of my mom. We also learned that our third pregnancy that year would result in our child being born with severe birth defects. In 2008 our precious Nathaniel was born. Praise the Lord that He had already begun healing Nathaniel. He wasn't born with the amount of problems the doctors had predicted. He wasn't healed instantly like his brother Zachary had been in 2003. Nathaniel's healing is ongoing. The Lord in His wisdom has chosen to use doctors to help Nathaniel. Zachary,He chose to heal instantly and miraculously. Of course everyone is up to date with what has happened since 2009 with Robert's job loss and our move. My point being that we have gotten to know the Lord in such a greater and more personal way than before. This is a result of the struggle.

If no one were ever sick or hurting, then there would be no need for the Healer. If we didn't walk through times of lack then we couldn't see the power of the Provider. Paul states in Philippians 4:12 that even he has experienced times of lack and times of plenty. Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 8:20 that there were times even He didn't have a place to lay his head. So, we keep pressing on through the struggle. We rejoice in the times that God can reveal himself more clearly to us. We keep praying and keep expecting to make it through. We keep believing in the rain even on the cloudy days that don't produce anything but an overcast sky. We trust in God, except His peace no matter what situation we are in, and we keep pressing on.