I don’t know what you are facing…a relationship challenge, a failure of some kind, a financial mistake, a natural disaster, a dashed hope, a serious diagnosis, a betrayal, a home improvement gone wrong, an age-related issue, a missed opportunity…there is an unending list of things that stress us out and cause discouragement, even anxiety in this world.
Each one seems more than enough to handle on its own. But those times when one seems to follow another, when there doesn’t seem enough time to recover from one when another takes hold, it can be crushing.
When I begin to feel like that, I remember 2 things from the Bible.
1 – Proverbs has something to say about being crushed:
17:22 says A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
18:14 says The human spirit can endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?
2- And what Paul said in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians :
4:7-8 says But we have this treasure in jars of clay (we are the jars of clay) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (but the power in us is from God!) We are hard-pressed on every side, but not CRUSHED!
I had begun to feel crushed when a serious health issue I had been dealing with became grave. Complications were mounting and it was feeling overwhelming, crushing.
Have you ever felt you could handle the actual circumstances, but then something changes in how you feel about it, in your spirit – – And that makes all the difference in the world?
I was feeling Proverbially crushed. But remembering that word Paul wrote CRUSHED, I looked up that reference and was encouraged.
I AM only a jar of clay, but I have a POWER in me that surpasses any challenge, every trial.
In verse 16 Paul says (my emphasis) Therefore WE DO NOT LOSE HEART! Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
HOW? Verse 17 By fixing our eyes NOT on what is seen, but on what is unseen
As I was entering the building to pre-op for a surgery to create a dialysis fistula since my kidneys are failing, God gave me this poem – same building He gave me poems of encouragement when I went for my Breast Cancer biopsy, mammogram, and surgery consultation. (see the other blogs titled Sunshine and Power)
It was only later that I saw the connection to these scriptures.
Sharing this poem with you to encourage you to look for ways God is speaking to you about your situation.
Ask Him to speak to you.
Let Him speak through these scriptures.
Or the Sunlight.
Or the Storms.
And listen.
Your Power
I know that You are with me
I have felt this way before
and time and time again You’ve fought
and helped me win the war
But I’m getting older now
And every battle that I face
takes a greater toll on me
It’s only by Your grace
That as my body weakens
You are strengthening me within
This is how I fight my fears
And this is how I win
Your power is made perfect
Through the weakness that’s in me
And though I’m feeling helpless
it is not what others see
They see how You have lifted
And enabled me to stand
And delivered me from hardship
By Your mighty, sovereign hand
And so I put Your armor on
And face each day anew
In gratitude and faith
I thank You for being You
When I realized that I had received 5 notices to schedule my mammogram this year, it occurred to me that I might have been feeling a little anxious about it. There were 3 other good friends who went through the breast cancer surgery and decisions about treatment in 2018. Of those, one was re-diagnosed and had a double mastectomy this year with chemo and radiation. One had a stroke this past year after having been on cancer medication. And the third found a new tumor on her chest wall with her mammogram a few weeks ago.
Once again. I looked to the sky and began a prayer of thanks and praise that brought me encouragement:
Even if into a battle, He will be with you. And give you armor. And fight with you to give you victory!
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