Thursday, June 12, 2008

Irene, over at Thankful Thursday, hosts this wonderful meme. It's such a great time to honor God with thankfulness for what He has given us.

Irene posted the verse "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules."~ Psalm 119:102-108 (emphasis Irene's) (ESV)





She asked us what we were thankful for. I, too, am thankful for God's Word. There is so much life in His Word. It's full of hope and encouragement, as well as instruction and wisdom.

This week I have been wrestling with a flare-up of an illness I have. It's painful, time-consuming, inconvenient, and worrisome. Like the apostle Paul, I have prayed for this "thorn in the flesh" to be removed, yet God has told me "No."

I'm thankful this week for God's message through Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10.

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when
I am weak, then I am strong."

I find it so hard to delight in my weakness. I am reminded that God's grace is sufficient, though, and I know that I pray more because of the "thorn". If it wasn't there, would I pray as much? Would my time in prayer that I use begging God for release and mercy go further into praying for others? Would I be as close to God as I am without that weakness? I am strong in Christ because I am weak.

It doesn't matter to me if God never delivers me from the clutches of IBS. His wonderful grace is sufficient for me. I will keep clinging to Him, spending time in the Word, spending time in prayer, and most of all, glorifying God.

The weaknesses that come with this mortal body are one day going to be stripped away. That's the result of grace, my friend. Illness will not last forever. Praise God for His Word that I can cling to for hope!

15 comments:

Chris said...

Praying in the difficult times is such a blessing-Amen to His all-sufficient grace!
Blessings on your TT!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

I am praying for you today!!

Anonymous said...

That is such a sweet and humble thankful...Thank you for sharing that and thank you for your kind words and encouragement...I know I have felt like such a stumbling block and faced such a trial to deal with it better than I felt I have and your post just humbled me.

LAURIE said...

Laurie Ann,
thank you for sharing with us on TT (and for your sweet comment on my TT). I pray you will feel better soon and I wanted to say what a wonderful thankful heart you have to give praise and thanks even in the midst of sickness and pain. That attitude of praise is a sweet aroma to God. - Bless you, Laurie

Dana said...

Sometimes I sit in awe of how wonderful the Lord is..only a real and living God moving in us can bring us joy even in trial. I'm praying for you to feel better.

Addicted to Beadz said...

Laurie Ann,

I will remember you uncle in prayer as he fights his cancer also.

Thanks for your kind words.

Blessings!
Cheryl

LAURIE said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Amico Dio said...

I will definitely keep your uncle in prayer.

Great TT post!

Unknown said...

What a beautiful heartfelt post! Continue to trust in the strength of the Lord - He is good!

Have a blessed day! Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Anonymous said...

You remind me of the 3 boys in the furnace of fire...The Lord is your strength and your refuge. Blessings

eph2810 said...

You are right, Laurie Ann. His grace is sufficient for us. Although it is hard sometimes to just trust - we know that all is for the greater good - either to grow us or to share our testimony with others.

Thank you so much for sharing your grateful heart with us this week.

Be blessed today and always...

Anonymous said...

Great Thankful Thursday!

Now, consider yourself tagged for Eights! Which you already know about, but take a look here:

http://www.magnoliaheartbeats.blogspot.com

and post yours to your blog, then tag someone else!

Love, Melly

Anonymous said...

I left the wrong link - that's what I get for copying and pasting. Look HERE:

http://minipauses.blogspot.com/2008/06/eight.html

*hiding under a rock now*

Laurie Ann said...

Come out from under that rock! We've all done it a time or three, I'm sure! :)

Peculiar said...

Laurie Ann, this post is very encouraging. My daughter, who is 9, was diagnosed with IBS (spastic colon) this year (she had been suffering with the symptoms a while before we knew what it was), and she is trying to figure out why she hurts so much and why we've had to eliminate certain things from her diet, while her friends can pretty much eat what they want. We've talked to her about God's grace and sufficiency, and how cool it is that she can find these neat alternatives that are usually pretty tasty and healthy, and everybody else eats the same old boring stuff! She's coming around and trying to get adjusted. We need her to know that God will allow her to use what she goes through to help or minister to someone else in a similar situation and build patience and character in her at the same time. Thank you for this post. I'm really enjoying navigating your blog. You do a wonderful job.