You never know what will happen that is completely out of your control. By late afternoon we were under a tornado warning. We ended up having a torential downpour, the sky darkened and the wind picked up. The rain was coming down so hard and fast that it was difficult to see anything past a few feet out the window. Thank the Lord we did not have any damage. Correction, one casaulty, I have a silk dogwood tree on the back porch that fell over and the pot broke. Actually with a little TLC and a hot glue gun it can be put back together again. It is nothing like Humpty Dumpty who sat on a wall and fell and no way could he be put back together again. My pot is fixable. We did not lose power either nor did we lose any branches or trees. My friends working at the clinic were evacuated to the basement but were able to return to work without any incidents. I heard that a funnel cloud was spotted at Thiel College just a mile or so from the clinic but have not heard of any damage. We need to be thankful that we have a merciful Father who cares for us and never leaves us. He also is never surprised by these things that are completely out of our control.
I read this in my morning devotions. Matthew 4:1 Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. This is what the author of the devotion wrote...What surprised me was that it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. While Jesus may have purposed to pray and prepare for fulfilling the plan of God through his ministy, the Holy Spirit led him there to be tempted. He faced it in his full humanity, using only the same weapons that we have at our disposal: the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and absolute trust in his heavenly Father. Satan's temptation was to induce Christ to finish the work without the suffering, without the personal humiliation of obedience and self-denial, without the rejection and misunderstanding of people--in a word, without the Cross. Satan tempts us in the same way, trying to convince us that we can experience the glory of God without the suffering of Christ, that we can accomplish a great work for God without the cost of carrying our cross. I have been praying that I can do a great work for God and I know that it will cost me something, it will probably cost me a lot. Not in money, but in sacrifice, service, denying myself (which isn't fun to do nor do I want to) but I will if it means that someday I can stand before Him and hear Him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." So what is it that I can do today to serve Him and reject the temptation to take the easy way out? This I must ask myself and be willing to go and do what ever it is He wants me to do.
I hope I haven't gotten too preachy for your taste but if I have and you choose not to follow my blog and read what I have to say then I know I have done what I have been told to do and I am not responsible for what you choose to do with it. God loves you, He sent His Son to die on that cross so that you can be redeemed and have a personal relationship with Him. Don't let His gift sit on your table unwrapped forever. Open it and receive the gift He has freely given you.
I hope you have a wonderful day and that you do not have to experience life out of control without a sure anchor to keep you safe and secure.
Credit for the devotion. It came from The One Year Book of HOPE by Nancy Guthrie. It is a fantastic devotional book and she has lived through that life out of control and has come out the other side with HOPE.
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