God Provides You with the Strength needed for each day 

I was at the car dealership this Monday. My hubby’s business car lease expired, we bought the car and had to transfer the ownership to the business name. Victor the dealer, we know him for years, was showing me the new cars and conversation moved from one to other. We been joking about the seats and that the two seats in the last row are smaller. Anyways, as our conversation moved he mentioned that it would be nice for two girls after the tree boys. These are the moments when my heart beat rises and my stomach goes into pain. My baby daughter, she’s never forgotten. So quietly I told Victor that actually, God gave us a little girl, but choose to take her awayfartoo early.

For a short moment he opened up and shared his life’s struggle. His third son was born with a lung disease and the doctors announced his son death when he was born, YET he survived. His son spent his first year in the hospital, when they couldn’t take it anymore. They told God, Lord you either take him or heal him. That night they took him off from life support and he was able to breathe on his own. By the medical assumptions he supposed to be death, he is four and alive. Yes, he needs daily massage treatments, and he is on pills, but he is a normal little boy.

Then Victor looked at me and said: I guess God gives us only as much we can handle. I could off never handle to lose my kids; God knew that you (as me) will be able to handle it.

And in that moment God talked and I just shared it forward.

I don’t think that’s true, sometimes we go through circumstances what we can’t handle on our own, but when we are in those overwhelming situations, God will give you the strength needed to face each day, sometimes only enough strength to face one step at the time, one hour at the time, and one day at the time. It’s not about our capability, but His availability, not my strength, but His strength.

We are one day from Good Friday and three days from Easter. If you are a Christian then more likely your church has some kind of Easter cantata or presentation. This is the time when about a month before Easter your pastor start to pressure you to bring a friend to see the “show”. They might not word it like that, but that’s the point.

Don’t just shoot me now, just let me finish what I started. Don’t take me wrong, I been part of many Easter presentations and cantatas. Since I was a child I grew up in church. I know the customs. I invited my school classmates, friends, co-workers and the list goes on. Well I would say I had some kind of success with these invitations. Maybe 100:1 ratio. You had been there too. You know the feeling. One of my neighbors said: Piri keep inviting us, one day we might show up. At least she was honest.

This year too, I planned ahead. Ordered the lamb and called our friends. I would invite them for lunch or dinner after they would attend church with us. I planned this year after year. I always go the extra mile and try hard not only to invite them to the church and let them just leave, but make it more personal, more friendly, have some food together. Well – still doesn’t work. They are always having other plans Good Friday and Easter Sunday as well as at Christmas time.

I was praying about this and telling God what to do? I love my friends, and I really care about their spiritual life. I can’t even imagine that they would perish while I know God and going to heaven. I sincerely believe that God put us in their paths with the purpose of being the signpost to show them the way to God. But what do I do wrong? I pray for them, not only at Easter and Christmas time, but on a regular basis.  I pray that God would open their hearts, open opportunities and draw them close to him.

As I was praying and asking God what should I do to somehow be able to get a yes to the invitation to the church – God’s answer really got me unexpected. “Piri, you don’t have to bring people to church, you just have to bring God to them”. And I was like “WHAT?” God said: “Jesus never invited the tax collectors, the sick, the hungry, the blind, to the temple … Jesus went out brought God to them by reached them where they were”.

There are days when God comes really close to me. He talks to me. I often ask Him to speak to me. We have a tendency to talk with God, or better said to talk to God. But do we want to hear Him talk to us? I ask Him daily to speak to me. He does and is choosing to talk to me and reach me mostly through pictures, life pictures. These images are printed in my heart. They mean so much to me … as He changes me.

I’m following my cousin’s blog. I love the technology we held today. I’m on the other part of the world, yet through her blog I can be part of their lives. They came home from their summer vacation and on their trip they visited a castle. Been there as a child. She uploaded some picture.

One picture and the subtitle really got my attention and God spoke through it. It’s an old well with a label on its side: “You have water, but you don’t have hearts”. As I read it, it engraved in my mind and heart. This sentence reflects so well our society today and more then just the society around us, sadly it reflects our churches too. Do we have hearts?

When people get to know me, whom do they see, whose image do I reflect? Most of you are familiar with the saying “first impressions last forever”. 

God taught me this truth few years ago by an event in our home. God often talks to me and teaches me important life lessons through life pictures.  I have tree boys and we have an open home policy which means kids are welcome. We have endless sleepovers and playtimes. 

One of these times, we had a boy for sleepover, he would come quite often. Thirty or so minutes after his arrival, I walked in the kids’ room to just see if they need anything and see what they were doing. 

As I opened the door

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”. ~ Matthew 7:7-8 As I mentioned in an earlier article, I was a natural asker with everyone except my dad and God. Take the time to read the article and have your input on. 

Because of my relationship with my dad it took God a long time to build a trustful relationship with me. I needed time to be able to see that I could trust God. And I will get back to how to trust God sometimes later. 

In my journey with God I often wondered how is it that some people would say that God told me. The Bible is full of instances when God talked to his people. I would read the passages and wish how great would be if God would talk to me too. The truth is God still talks with his children. The problem is we often don’t recognize his words. 

I remember one December I walked into a Christian book store too pick up some books for my kids as a Christmas gift.  It was a time in my life when I was having a “deal” with God: God you either show yourself real and this whole Christianity will be a real thing or I don’t want to be a Christian at all. 

As I was walking in the store two titles got my attention: Knowing God Intimately and How to Hear from God?. I couldn’t afford to buy both books because I already spent on the kids books and wondered which book to pick. Knowing myself I thought I will only listen to someone I know well. So I picked the Knowing God Intimately but later in January went back and brought the How to Hear from God? book too. 

Those two books were the starting points in my personal walk with God. God used those books to reach out to me and to answer my prayers. If you haven't read these book I would recommend them to you. 

But I wanted more of God. I still want more daily. He is wonderful and amazing. I’m crazy in love with God and this is real now. After 30 years of Christianity as religion (Baptist) but no relationship, now I have a personal relationship with God and he talks to me in different ways. 

This is how God thought me to trust him and ask when I need something.