Perfect or Storm

Daily Reading: JOB 1:1-22 & MATTHEW 4:1-11
     You know those days where everything seems absolutely perfect.  The kids left for school on time and got their chores done.  Every task I set out to do was accomplished quickly and smoothly.  I feel like I am walking on air and it feels great! And then it hits.....
     My husband walks in the door hollering mad because someone did something.  My Fson calls to tell me its going to take him an hour to get home because he wrecked his bike.  He admits that instead of being where he ought he went somewhere else and is hanging with an unsavory character. My son was annoyed by another student at school and may be expelled.  My best friend's car broke down.  It seems that the fire of God is raining down all around. 
      There are two choices that I see.  First I can join in and start screaming and bellering.  "Woe is me! Life is ruined.  I'm so picked on! What a terrible day." The second choice is to sit quietly allowing everyone else to complain and belly ache. 
     Like Job we can choose to accept that we have been blessed by God.  The things we have in life are not our own.  Even when we work hard, GOD has provided us the ability and the opportunities to grow an abundant life.  We must take our blessings and return them to GOD because they are not ours, only loaned to us. 
     When the storm is over we can thank GOD for giving us the good day and accept that life is never going to be perfect.  Only Christ is perfect.  Christ was tested in the wilderness by the Devil.  He stood up against the Devil and never sinned.  As Christians we must try to follow Christ's example.  We are not perfect and we will slip up.  We just need to be aware and try harder next time to behave as Christ would.

Prayer:  God, thank you for this wonderful day with its ups and downs.  Thank you for all the blessings you have given us.  Thank you for the storms we are given, and the opportunity to choose to weather the storm as Jesus Christ would.  May your name be praised and may I never curse against you.  Amen.

Looking to Man instead of GOD

Daily Reading: Deuteronomy 5:8-10

Today I was reminded of how truly fallible I am. Most of my life I jumped from relationship to relationship. I had envisioned a perfect partner for me and thought that if I found a man who had most of the qualities I could change the rest of him to be my idea of perfect for me. Every time I tried to do this I failed.

I had finally realized after many years that I could be happy to live my life without a man. I was content raising my children, going to work, and planning a life for after my children were raised. I had GOD in my life but I wasn't serving him.

Then an amazing man walked into my life. He was exactly what I was looking for; handsome, hard working, affectionate, stable, and he loved me as much as I loved him. We married and I thought everything was perfect. The problem was he didn't have Christ in his heart. Whenever a storm would come he would falter. In fact it wasn't just that he didn't have Christ in his heart, he hated GOD "If there was a GOD, I'd punch him in his face for taking my parents away."

This hatred slowly began to poison our relationship. I began to feel hatred toward the things he hated. I let his hatred seep into me.

GOD gives us wake up calls. I became sick and my mother came to aid me. She saw the emotional sickness and began visiting a church nearby my home. Her love spread to me and I realized that I was looking to my husband for support when I should have been looking to GOD.

Being married to a partner who does not share the same faith as you is very hard.  GOD wants your spouse to come to HIM in HIS time, not ours.  We can not just stand by and wait for our loved one to change.  We need to continue worshiping and praising GOD.  GOD is jealous and wants to know we put HIM above all others.  Our unsaved loved ones may be a test of GOD on us.  Will we pass the test, or will we falter and show our human fallibility, rather than allowing GOD to take control over our actions and emotions?  We must keep our eyes on GOD and allow GOD to take the reigns concerning others in our lives.