DYSMAS CONDUIT

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(Isa 55:1)

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010

Question for the day:

Has God ever hurt your feelings?

What can we pray with YOU about today?

Good morning,

This is just a reminder that every day, while we are studying God’s Word to add to our website, someone from our ministry, Dysmas Conduit, is holding you up before the Lord in prayer. May He greatly bless you today as you pursue His will and He is glorified through you.

God’s blessings, our love,

George & Sidney Granger

CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please pray for Mike and Sandy Brommer as they spread the Lord’s Seed and witness to His glory while on the road today. Please pray also that the Lord will lead them to Kingdom-profitable loads to carry, and that He grants them safe passage today.

Mike Brommer is asking for the Lord’s guidance regarding their finances.

Amber Lonczak - Baylee is still having a hard time, day 6. She finally stopped vomiting, but she is so out of it, I am afraid she is getting too dehydrated again. We would love some more prayers sent our way!

Hello Prayer Warriors,
Please pray for my Dad's friend, a 16 year old boy who has cerebal palsy and contracted an infection. He's in the U of M hospital in Ann Arbor and his organs are failing. Praise God he's been confirmed and baptized. Please pray for strength and peace for this boy and his family. Thank you, --Karen Sieffert

Sallie Piering – Protection for my kids, wisdom in raising teens

Booth Family – Bobby Wilson to turn his life over to God, Betty Wilson, continued healing

Rathbun Family – work

Gorney Family – Spiritual growth in our family, employment, following God’s path

Breedlvoe Family – Carolyn Young, Cathy Jacobs, praises for a wonderful women’s event day!

Trombley Family – all of God’s children

Gay Family – Linda Alexander

Boone Family – my friend, to love herself and her family

Shorts Family – my mom and the baby

Wayne Tennant – moving to Arizona, thanks for everything!

Northam Family – daughter Tari Wyse, quick recovery from emergency surgery

Carol Haut – my family

Carol Greyerbiehl – Praise God for the birth of her grandson Trayce and that both mother and baby are well! Continued prayer for her son Kyle.

Sirrine Family – People trying to rebuild their lives from natural disasters

Randi March – prayer for reconciliation of a relationship

Brewster Family – Karen Ulmer and Paul Mann, leukemia; Alicia Hadley, job; Riegle’s, Brewster’s, personal problems

Please pray for Fred Kreuger. He was hospitalized following a severe stroke on Palm Sunday. He is paralyzed on his leftside and can not swallow or eat. Pray that his doctors are providing him with the care that is best for him.

Pray for recovery for Steve Zill who was admitted this past Thursday with a blood clot in his lung. He was at Covenant Cooper in Saginaw. He is being released Tuesday to go home. --Gale Pretzer

Please Heavenly Father put your healing hand over my Aunt Jenney who is in ICU battling for her life. If it is your will please bring her through this and give her full recovery. Give the family comfort knowing that she is in your hands and you are taking care of her.

Please lift Curtis Weber up in prayer today as he hasn’t been feeling well and Pastor Kurt is going to take him to Urgent Care this morning to find out what is causing this sickness.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR TODAY

April 22, 2010

When God Hurts Your Feelings

Lysa TerKeurst

"I know what it is to be in need,

and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content

in any and every situation,

whether well fed or hungry,

whether living in plenty or in want.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)

Devotion:

Has God ever hurt your feelings? I'll be honest, sometimes I'll read those verses from Philippians listed above and think to myself, "This is a tough pill to swallow."

Content in any and every situation?

Really?

A few years ago my daughter was a state champion gymnast. To see her do gymnastics was like looking at God smile. She was beautiful, graceful, and captivating to watch.

Then one night while practicing for one of the largest tournaments she'd ever competed in, she fell. It was a move she'd done hundreds of times with the greatest of ease. But this time something went terribly wrong and that one mistake ended her gymnastic dreams.

We spent a year going from doctor to doctor only to be told she'd never be able to support the weight of her body on her injured shoulder again.

I'll be honest, this was a tough pill to swallow. Watching a 14 year-old girl wrestle with the fact that her dreams were stripped from her doesn't exactly lend itself to feelings of contentment. Now, I know in the grand scheme of life, people face much worse situations. But in her world, this was huge.

It was so tempting to want to wallow in the "why" questions and tell God He'd hurt our feelings.

Why did this happen?

Why didn't You stop this God?

Why weren't my prayers answered?

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a big situation in your life where you just couldn't process why God would allow this to happen? Or maybe even a small annoyance like losing your keys or having a flat tire on a morning you really needed to be somewhere.

It's so tempting to wallow in the why.

Asking why is perfectly normal. Asking why isn't unspiritual. However, if asking this question pushes us farther from God rather than drawing us closer to Him, it is the wrong question.

If asking the why question doesn't offer hope, what will?

The what question.

In other words: "Now that this is my reality, what am I supposed to do with it?"

Philippians 4:8, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things" (NIV).

I like to call this verse "directions on where to park my mind."

And that's exactly what Ashley has had to do with her dashed gymnastics dreams. Instead of wallowing in why did this happen, I've had to help her say:

This is my reality, now what am I going to do with it?

What can I learn from this?

What part of this is for my protection?

What other opportunities could God be providing?

What maturity could God be building into me?

Switching from the why to the what questions paves the road to parking our minds in a much better place.

Is it always easy? Nope.

But is it a way to find a perspective beyond situations where we feel God has allowed something in our lives we don't understand and we absolutely don't like? Yes.

Dear Lord, I want to process everything I face in life through the filter of Your love. I know You love me. But sometimes it's just hard to understand the circumstances that come my way. I find myself consumed with trying to figure things out rather than looking for Your perspective and trusting You. Thank You for this new way to look at things, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Application Steps:

Mentally walk yourself through parking your mind in a better place by remembering an event that happened this week and looking for God's protection, provision, and process of maturing you.

Reflections:

Am I afraid to have honest conversations with God about how I really feel about some of my circumstances?

How might it be helpful to really talk to God about things that hurt me?

Why is it helpful to ask what now, instead of wallowing in the why questions?

Power Verses:

Isaiah 55:8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (NIV)