Who Says it Doesn’t Rain?

By Michelle Lim –

Today I was grousing about a big disappointment that came my way. After all, shouldn’t I have a corner on the blessings market?

Not hardly. We are all on planet earth. Well, at least most of us.

Life comes with disappointment. There are wonderful blessings we can all be thankful for, but when things don’t go our way we act surprised and offended. At least I do sometimes.

What about those moments when we see others who have done wrong escape struggle, while we do not? It is especially irritating when it is someone who has treated us poorly. We do what Jonah did after preaching to the city of Nineveh. He walked to a hill overlooking the city waiting for God to destroy it. After all, they were enemies of Israel. This would be a great show.

But God didn’t see it that way. The people of Nineveh repented and God forgave them. For Jonah, on the other hand, God sent a worm to destroy the shade from the sun where he rested.

What did Jonah do? He complained. Sounds a bit too familiar to me.

This fall we have seen so many lose all of their earthly possessions, even their homes. Still, when was the last time you complained? I did just this morning about something considerably less significant.

Life isn’t always a stroll through the blessings market. In fact, sometimes it is downright devastating. We may never know on this earth why some of the struggles we face come our way, but none of us are exempt from hardship.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43 – 45 NIV).

Are You Growing Up To Be A Scoundrel Someday?

By Michelle Lim –

A few weeks ago my family cruised through town in our mini van on the way to church. Okay, so you can’t really cruise in a mini van, but we can always remember our imaginary jaguar.

All of us were packed in and relieved that the Sunday morning dress-up drama hadn’t eaten us whole. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I mean. If not, well, blissful ignorance can be a good thing.

The typical morning chatter filled the van until my seven-year-old told my four year old, “I think you just might grow up to be a scoundrel someday.”

My seven-year-old beamed while trying out last week’s school vocabulary lesson that included the word scoundrel. He had noticed my younger son’s grumpy disposition that sent him headlong into mischief that morning.

I concentrated on the horizon and covered my smile with my hand. Kids say the funniest things. But then I thought about a great truth wrapped up in seven-year-old terms.

Our day to day choices build the framework for who we become. Each choice matters. Each behavior has a consequence, whether good or bad. Each action makes up a brush stroke on the tapestry of our lives.

My seven-year-old understood that his younger brother’s behavior could form a pattern that, should he choose to continue to follow it, would make him grow up to be a scoundrel someday.

Thankfully as parents we have many years to help our children grow up to be God-serving adults. But we can’t take these small moments for granted. Consistency and loving discipline are a must.

What about our Christian walk? Bad habits and behaviors are not unique to children. We must choose to live a Godly life. If not, may we hear the truth in the words of a seven-year-old.

Are you growing up to be a scoundrel someday?

QUOTE: A child who does not think about what happens around him and is content with living without wondering whether he lives honestly is like a man who lives from a scoundrel’s work and is on the road to being a scoundrel. ~Jose Marti

“Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy” (Romans 13:13 NLT)

Bucket of Rocks

By Michelle Lim –

Have you ever tried serving your children a bucket of rocks for supper? Me neither. If we did, there would be a major coup.

Why? Because they come to the table expecting a delicious dinner. The kind of dinner only you can make.

We often go to prayer with the same kind of expectations. We want something amazing from God. We even know just what that is, or so we think.

Let’s take a look at what Jesus said in Matthew 7.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:9-11 NIV)

A year ago I was praying for something that I thought was the best thing for me. God didn’t think so. I read this verse in my devotions and felt rejected. I asked God why when I prayed I only got a bucket full of rocks.

In that prayer time, God showed me something that has changed my view on prayer. You see, I thought I was hungry for a certain thing. . . bread. But if God gave me what I thought that bread was, it wouldn’t feed my hunger.

My real hunger was for more of God in my life. He would feed my real hunger.

It’s like my kids asking for candy for dinner. They might get full, but it wouldn’t feed their need for nourishment. The vitamins and nutrients needed for healthy living.

When I go to God in prayer, He will always feed my real hunger if I ask. There are times when what I ask for really is bread, but often it isn’t what I really hunger for.

Have you thought about what you are really hungry for? Do you blame God when you don’t get what you pray for? Maybe it’s time to stop asking for a bucket full of rocks and believe that God will feed your real hunger.

QUOTE: “God answers first the prayers we should have prayed. ~Robert Brault

From Grumble to Thankfulness in 10 Minutes Or Less

By Michelle Lim –

Did you ever wake up on the wrong side of the chaos scale? You know, those days when everything explodes and your world is a debris field of catastrophe?

As a mom of four I find myself waking up on the wrong side of the chaos scale way too often. We miss the bus, forget lunches, have a pet on the loose, a volcanic eruption of laundry, a landslide of dishes in the sink and a cranky disposition or two. All before nine in the morning.

On one such brilliant morning a verse in my devotions challenged me to give thanks even though my day made chaos look tame.

In First Thessalonians 5:18 Paul says, “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV)

My first response to that verse was “Do I have to?” Then I realized how much that sounded like one of my kids when they are asked to do a chore. I needed to be more grown up than that.

Naturally my next thought led me to the whole argument that God would understand my grumbling. After all, I’d started the day with a science experiment in my breakfast cereal.

I read the verse again. All circumstances? Gulp.

Paul wrote this to the new believers in Thessalonica who needed direction for living a godly life. Reality check. This book addressed the church who suffered persecution, imprisonment, and even death for their faith.

If it was God’s will for them to give thanks when they were beaten for their faith, I should be able to handle a beetle in my Cheerios.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for all You have given me, the freedom to worship You with abandon, the blessing of my family, the strength to face each day’s challenges. Help me to be thankful in all circumstances, even when things aren’t going the way I’d planned. You are still amazing and worthy of my praise.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you, in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV).

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