"The Nails" - 04/25/01 12:46 AM
I am sorry that I have not been very attentive to the forum over the past several months. I was anxious for the day when I could move on and yet I know in so doing it appears that I have forgotten all that was given to me from the many from this forum. I haven't forgotten, and I never will. I am grateful that there are those who continue on and are able to be a continual source of encouragement to the many who come to this forum. Truly God is in this place.<P>I wanted to share an insight that I received this wknd. I went to a seminar given by Anne Graham Lotz ( Billy Graham's daughter). She had some things to say to me that I needed to hear. Specifically in regards to the "Nails" in our lives. She sees the nails as the disappointments, trials, illnesses, crisis, things that just seem to "dog us" and don't go away. I realized that the nails I carried were there for a purpose, to cause me to lean harder on God. No matter whether they ever go away or not, I can still glorify God through them. God has a plan for me, and it includes "Nails". After all, He had a plan for His Son and it included Calvary.<P>I needed to hear this, for even though life is back to normal for me, it still isn't what I would of expected. Sure, the infidelity is a thing of the past, but there is still the process of "living with what could of been". I wish I could say that all is perfect but it isn't. So, I live with the truth that even though God allowed it in my life, He had complete control. I want to glorify God and so this wknd I again surrendered the "what might of been" to Him and realized that He also loved me enough to allow me the "nail of infidelity".<BR> " I know who I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed onto Him against <BR>that day".<P>I hope this makes sense, I have struggled so long to get beyond the infidelity. I must renew my faith that God is at work and will "make me to will and to do of His good pleasure".<P>We are God's poetry, our lives are planned out and He pens the specific lines. We need to be willing to go through whatever it takes for Him to write lines for His glory. His word says, "we are His workmanship created in CHrist Jesus for good works which He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them". <P>Nails, Poetry, Good Works, however you look at the circumstances of your lives, keep trusting in Jesus and He truly will bring you through the "iron of your circumstances".<P>Blessings, Taj<P>------------------<BR>"Perfect love casts out fear" I John 4:18