Hanging On By A Rope

Ecclesiastes 4

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Last night I dreamed I was climbing a super steep hill that was paved down the center like a road.  I had a rope tied around my waist which was attached to the waist of a fellow sister in Christ who was climbing ahead of me. This hill was nearly a 90 degree wall, it was terribly difficult to climb.  In the natural I would do better then my sister in Christ at something like climbing this hill wall, but I believe this was not a "natural" dream.  Less than half way up I wanted to give in and rest but I knew I could not because if I stopped to sit I would surely fall down the hill and take her with me.  As I looked at her taking this hill with the strength and endurance of an ox, I began to notice that I was beginning to fall off of the side.  In fear I yelled out ahead to my friend, "I am falling off keep pulling" my weight did not even seem to sway her, she kept her head forward and her body positioned to pull, she looked like one of the "strong men" in the competition where they take a tow strap and pull semis.  I began to breath a sigh of relief as we neared what seemed like the top and I began to get my feet on solid ground again...but then there was another smaller hill after just a few feet of flat ground and my partner...well at this point she had been more like my caretaker, she just kept on keeping on. At the top she looked out at the view and just...was...  I took the rope off and looked out and I wept.  I was thankful to be alive, thankful to be at the top but I was also crying because of a broken relationship in my life.  I wonder if that is why my sister in Christ had to basically pull me to the top...I guess for now only God knows the meaning and clarity on it's meaning will come in time.

For now I will keep on planting myself in His word and working through that broken relationship, which I know God wants and I need. 

Questions for pondering, 

Do you have someone in your life that can lift you up if you fall?  

Are you someone who lifts someone up when they fall?

 and also

Are you someone that needs lifting and are you stuck in a spot where you can cause more harm then good to a brother or sister in Christ?

http://youtu.be/yvgvYFxW_QM

God bless you and may you receive His peace and strength in this journey!

Being made strong...sure makes me weak

2 Cor 12:7... in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.


I sooo get this.  I am not persecuted, but I do understand weakness, insults, hardships and difficulties, and I understand how He strengthens me.


A few people in my life have seen a glimpse of what happens to me in a days time...this is not even the things I bring on myself, I am talking about the things that happen beyond my control.  Like walking down a hallway with my dog and having him out of nowhere without so much as a gag, puking all over the bottom of my jeans and my foot.  That is just a tiny example.  Many times I have thought about listing ALL the many things like the above which happen to me in a day, but I realize hardly anyone else would REALLY understand me. 

No one can help me, nothing in the natural can stop the overflow of pooey things which happen daily...so I began to become depressed, and often thought "What's the point?  Why try?  What am I doing SOOO wrong?  I just want to be a nice happy person not a person who goes from mini crisis to mini crisis, angry and frustrated by those around her who are skating by unscathed."   But then I look at this world and the people in it and I see there are so few left who have compassion. 

I hear almost daily how through one way or another,  how people feel about each other and I watch as many beg for forgiveness but refuse to grant it in return.( Great example in Matthew 18 starting in verse 21) I also see how they expect grace and refuse to give it too.  I am guilty in having a hard time with grace when I have been hurt by someone and God reminds me that I know what I need to do to live a happy life.  Everything I have EVER NEEDED God has given me.  



By asking to be more compassionate and to have a clean heart, a heart that breaks for what breaks His and facing many trials which build this character in me, have me second guessing my prayers.  I now begin to pray and I say " Lord help me to love...." then I pause and think, "do I want to ask for that...am I ready for what I may go through to get that?"  This does not mean God is mean in ANY way, He is the most loving father and He is an awesome teacher and I wouldn't have it any other way.  What a huge impact it has when A has come through a trial just like the one B is facing and A can share with B God's mercy and grace...through empathy and compassion.


So when Paul says he "delights", I get it.  I am so thankful to know God hears and answers my prayers and that Philippians 1:6 is very evident.


Phil 1:6 ....that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.





God bless it's good to be alive!