Filthy Robes

^“Now Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes as he stood before the Angel. So He spoke to those standing before Him, "Take off his filthy clothes!" Then He said to him, "See, I have removed your guilt from you, and I will clothe you with splendid robes." (Zechariah 3:3-4, HCSB).



I don’t have an overly spectacular Salvation story (or at least, that’s what I once thought). I’ve always been what you might call a “good girl.” I grew up in the church. My parents displayed a very real faith to me, so it was easy to accept it as my own. I’ve loved Jesus for as long as I can remember. There have been significant times through the years where I’ve had to chose to deepen my relationship with the Lord, chose to spend time in prayer and Bible study, and chose to turn my back on certain temptations. Life is full of such choices, isn’t it?

At one time I was ashamed at my lack of a testimony, ashamed that I didn’t have a better story to tell. But you know what? It’s mine. And I’ve surely been blessed. I’ve been blessed that, for one still so relatively young, I’ve had a personal relationship with Jesus for so many years. What a sweet road it has been! Yes, there have been horrible times of trial, but Jesus has always been right there beside me, comforting me with His presence time and again.

I’m now thankful that my “guilty garments” were removed at such a young age. And I pray that the same is true for my daughter as well. I’d hate for her to have to accept Jesus as her Savior the hard way. Until that day comes for her, I’ll be praying ever so fervently on her behalf. Because I can’t imagine life everlasting without those I love the most.

Pain with a Purpose

My little girl turns one tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that a year ago today the labor pains were just beginning to start. The natural process that brings babies into this world was beginning in me.

That pain had a wonderful purpose, but oh was it painful! After having my baby I never wanted to experience that again, but you know what? It’s made me stronger. Now, when I look at other obstacles, such as running a 5k, I think “if I can give birth, I can do this!. The pain only made me better. Isn’t life like that? We experience some horribly painful times, but God uses the experience to make us stronger. He is constantly molding and making us into something even more beautiful than before. Yes, it’s often impossible to see this in the midst of things, but when we look back, we see how awfully far we’ve come.

I’m praying that this deployment is like that for my family. I’m praying daily that the lonely months ahead only draw us closer to God, and that some beautiful things come out of this in the end.

What trials have you experienced? Have they drawn you closer to God?

Some verses to ponder:

“Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.  (Isaiah 64:8, NIV).

For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. (Psalm 66:10, NIV)

“This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’” (Zechariah 13:9, NIV).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1: 3-7, NIV).

Not By Might

^“So he answered me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit, ' says the LORD of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:5, HCSB).

I read these words and a beautiful praise and worship song starts to run through my brain. I love it when worship songs are written directly from scripture. They're one more way to sink the words of God into our hearts. And what important words they are! In a world of independence, these words remind me to trust my Savior with everything, my worries, my cares, my pain. There is no possible way I can carry the weight of this world on my own. But He can. His strength surpases anything you or I can imagine. He is up to the task.

And so I give it all back to Him once again, and let Him rightly take control.



What can you trust God with today?