Seemingly Impossible Situations

(2 Kings 6:8-19)

How often do we wish life would be easier, that the challenges would be fewer, that our lives would be less complicated?

          Some days I wake up excited about the day ahead,

          while other days I lay in bed wondering if I have the strength to be the
          person God is calling me to be.

          And then other times I simply try to live out a "normal" day as a wife
          and mother when, out of the blue, unexpected difficulties slam me to the
          ground.  On days like that it is hard to breathe, hard to find a positive
          perspective, hard to focus my disoriented mind.

Reminds me of a day when I was 16 years old.  That was the first week that I had noticed at school the blond haired, blue eyed, handsome guy who had just moved to town.  When I saw him, my heart did a little flip flop, and I immediately began to dream up ways to meet him.  Surprisingly, I didn't have to take the first step toward him, for he came up to me to introduce himself.  I vividly remember him leaning against my orange locker, smiling sweetly at me, telling me his name was Jeff (6 years later he would become my husband).  It was a dream-come-true moment which I did not want to pass.

Then it happened.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a guy running toward us.  He was a large football player who was being chased by one of his friends.  No big deal, really, except that he was looking back at his friend as he was running, rather than looking forward...and he was heading my way.  Within a matters of maybe 2 seconds, this huge guy barreled me over, knocking my tiny 5' frame to the ground.  I was flat on my back, couldn't catch my breath, and prayed that somehow Jeff didn't notice my obvious predicament.  I had been side-swiped, and I felt like it was impossible for my teen years to ever recover from that embarrassment.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation from which you thought you could never escape?

• Maybe you have felt the intense grief of losing your spouse, and you feel like you will never be able to move forward with life again.

• Maybe you have prayed for years and years for a child who has rejected Christ, yet you do not see any indication that he may be coming back to the God who created him.

• Maybe you want to adopt one specific child, but circumstances are stacked against this happening, so you wonder if it is possible for this child to ever join your family.

• Maybe your marriage is on the rocks, and has been that way for so long, that you want restoration to occur, but doubt that it ever will.

• Maybe you live each day with chronic pain, suffering in ways that others cannot fathom, and you are worried that you may never know a day without pain again.

•  Maybe you have been looking for a job for months or years longer than you ever thought you would, and now you feel unwanted, unneeded, with nothing of value to offer people.

There is so much pain in this world, isn't there?  So much uncertainty.  So many seemingly impossible situations that surround us, which can grip us with fear, sadness, and maybe even bitterness, leaving us to wonder how we ever landed in this shaky spot.

People throughout the ages have struggled, too.  In 2 Kings 6:8-19, Elisha's servant found himself in a horribly difficult situation.  You see, the king of Syria had tried over and over to attack the king of Israel, but was unable to carry out his battle plans because the Israeli king kept finding out his strategies before they took place!  In searching out how this could happen, the Syrian king learned that God disclosed these battle plans to Elisha, a prophet, who then passed on this privy information to the king of Israel.  This greatly infuriated the king of Syria, so his next plan of attack was to send his great army of men, horses and chariots, to surround and attack Elisha, in order that the prophet's words could no longer be used against him.  So he mobilized his men during the night, waiting for morning to take him.

As the sun began to rise, Elisha's servant came out of the tent first, completely unaware of the impending doom all around him.  I can just see him, slowly meandering outside, stretching, yawning, when, all of a sudden, as he saw the army directed toward him, he froze in fear, unable to take another step forward.  In every direction the enemy was poised to attack their camp.  I bet in that instant, his heart rate quickened, his knees weakened, and his mind registered on the notion that they were stuck in this difficult, maybe deadly, situation, with no way out.

           Seemingly impossible situations.

Speaking (yelling frantically?) to Elisha, he said, "Alas, my master!  What shall we do?"
           An army against an individual.
                        Impossible odds.

But Elisha did not focus on the danger around them.  Yes, he saw the army pointed at him, but that was not all that he saw.  God gave him the ability to look beyond what his physical eyes told him, to the spiritual world, which was just as real.  Gently, without fear, he told his servant these words, which have just as much bearing on our lives today as they did to their's back then:

         "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

And the Lord opened the servant's eyes to see that "the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."  They were not alone.  The Lord's army was exceedingly powerful, and ready to protect them...ready to do battle against the enemy...ready to win.

Take those words from Scripture and make them your own.
           Do not be afraid.
                      Do not lose hope.
                                  Do not allow yourself to believe that your situation is
                                  too great for the Lord to handle.

Take your eyes off of what you see here on earth for a moment, and ask God to show you that there is a heavenly reality surrounding your situation.  God has a plan.  He knows exactly where you are, and is working in and through you at this very moment. 

He may completely deliver you from your challenges...He may give you unexpected, yet wonderful answers...He may keep you where you are so that you can gain the strength you need by growing closer to Him.  I don't know, but however He answers your plea for help, bask in His goodness, cling to His presence, and trust Him with your very life.  Look to the Word and to the Holy Spirit within you for confirmation of the spiritual forces working in and around you.  And sing praises to your Lord, for you are not alone, and that makes all the difference.
 



   

Speaking Life

(Hebrews 3:13, Psalm 119:103)

With 5 kids, some days I feel like all we are doing is going, going, going, and not enjoying being a family.  Because of that, I decided not too long ago that it is important for us to cut out time to purposefully slow down and simply enjoy being together.  There are two major ways we do this:  for one, Thursdays are now set aside as family game night, where we can team up in a round of Sorry, act silly with Charades, or fall all over each other laughing as we play Twister.  It's refreshing to let loose and have fun, and it reminds us just how much we all enjoy being in a family together.

The second thing I have done is to schedule one-on-one time with everyone, where each child gets my undivided attention one night per week at bedtime.  This turns out to be about an hour of us sitting on the bed together, talking about life, God, or whatever comes to mind.  In this small act, I have learned some incredible things about my children, and have been amazed more than once at how open and vulnerable they tend to be during this sweet time.

Last night was my night to spend with Carl, my adopted son.  He has been struggling with his value and worth since he joined our family 3 years ago.  I could tell that he was beginning to build his identity on some of the negative things that people have told him over the years, such as:

      "You are a mean person."
                                 "You are stupid."
                                                       "You are selfish."
                                                                            "No one wants you."

As I was about to enter his room, I threw up a quick prayer.  "Lord, I don't know exactly what to say to Carl tonight, but he needs life-giving words.  Would you please speak through me?"

When I opened his door, I found him in bed, his light out, and his covers over his head, pretending to be asleep.  It was obvious that he did not want to talk.  That caused me to pause for a moment.  I knew that he needed this time of interaction, though, so I turned the light on, and sat down beside him, praying that our time together would draw us closer as mother and son.

What happened in the next hour was absolutely beautiful.  God led us from small-talk, just getting our conversation started, to a stroll down memory lane.  I love how God knew exactly what Carl needed at that moment.  You see, even though Carl tends to have a tough exterior, God has shown me over and over that my son's heart is actually quite tender and loving, so I told Carl a few stories about his own life where I had noticed that he had been exceptionally kind to people.  As I talked, he began to sit up and really listen, and he asked me over and over to tell him more stories where I had witnessed him doing something good for others.  It was as if he was starved for someone to fill him up with truthful, encouraging words, and he drank in the words deeply.

At one point I took a break from the stories, and asked him if he could see that God had, indeed, created him to be a kind, sweet person who loved people?  And with bright eyes he said yes, he had always thought that way about himself.  He just didn't think anyone around him could see that.

Then the conversation brought in other wonderful aspects of who God made Carl to be.

        He is a talented artist who loves to build and fix things.
               He is a hard worker, and tries to do tasks to the best of his ability.
                      Little children are drawn to him.
                                             And the list went on.

As the hour drew to an end, I praised God for the renewed life that He had breathed into both Carl and myself that evening through the power of words.


Words.  Simple little things that can build up or destroy a person in a moment's notice.

Words.  We tend to hang onto the words that have been spoken into our lives...good and bad...We need to be careful what we say to others.

Words.  God gives us His ultimate Word of Truth through Scripture, and Satan tries so hard to tear down those Truths with lies. 

                                             Which will we believe? 
                                  Which will we allow to penetrate our hearts? 
                         Which are we speaking to our children and spouses?

Words.  Beautiful gifts of life.  Don't keep them to yourself.  Give them away generously.
       

Hebrews 3:13 - "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness."

Psalm 119:103 - "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"