Thankful For Death? | Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for God taking my loved ones, even though I prayed He wouldn't.

That statement sure does sound funny, doesn't it? Why would I be happy my loved ones died? I am not happy, but I can rejoice in knowing where they went and have hope I can one day join them. I did not want my dad to die. I was very clear in my prayers I wanted God to give my dad a miraculous healing. I did not want my dad to have cancer anymore or the paralyzing effects of the stroke. I wanted a divine miracle where my dad was restored to health. It was a tall order and God is very capable of answering my prayer in a supernatural, extraordinary way. But I also prayed for God to have His way. And so I was at peace when the initial shock and extreme grief left.

Do you remember in the Bible when David saw Bathsheba naked? He desired to have her, it consumed him, but there was one problem; she was another man's wife. David had more than one wife. He could have chosen any number of women to add to his collection, but he was fixated on someone else's woman. He had someone bring her to his bedchamber. Scripture does not tell us if she was willing to commit adultery with King David or if she felt like she had to because of David's power and position. Regardless the two were intimate and she conceived.

Now David has a real problem. He not only slept with another man's wife; he got her pregnant. Now David tried to be clever and have her husband come home from war and sleep with his wife, but Uriah was too noble to do that. He knew his comrades were missing their families too and if they were out in battle, he wanted to be, too. So Uriah did not take advantage of some alone time with his wife. David's plan to cover things up backfired. He knew in time it would be obvious that his wife was pregnant and the math was just not going to add up, so he has Uriah sent to the front lines and killed. Now that Uriah is out of the way, David can marry her and raise his own child. But there is another issue that David did not consider in the heat of his passion.

God saw the whole thing! God was upset. David was a man after God's own heart, but this is not something God would ever go for. So God sends a messenger, Nathan the prophet. Nathan pays David a visit in 2 Samuel chapter 12. Nathan knows that David is mostly an upstanding guy, an ethical man. So he tells David a story. He tells David that there are two men in a city, one is rich and the other is poor. The poor man had nothing except one little lamb. The poor man had raised the little lamb and it was like a member of his own family. The rich man had all kinds of lambs to choose from, but when he needed to kill a lamb to have a dinner party, he chose the poor man's lamb. The rich man stole that poor man's lamb and fed it to his dinner guest. 

David was so upset about what Nathan had told him. David demanded that whoever did such a thing would pay dearly for that lamb. He was outraged that anyone would be so cruel to do so. In fact, David went so far as to say that the rich man would die for doing this because he had no pity. Nathan looked at David and said, "You are the man."

Whoa! What a blow that must have been. He could have reacted a lot of different ways but David immediately confessed that he had sinned. He did not try to deny it, cover it up, excuse it away; he simply admitted that he was wrong. God did not make David pay for this transgression with his life, but God did say He would take David's son away from him. What a terrible feeling that must have been. David knew the baby was innocent but God had made His decision.

2 SAMUEL 12:16-23 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house, and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and I wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

I think about when Dad was so sick and the cancer was everywhere. The doctors gave us zero hope. They assumed Dad would die any day. They told us to cherish every MOMENT because they did not expect many MOMENTS to come. Mom, my brother, my sister and her husband and their children, my husband, our children, and I all joined together. We started meeting for church services in my dad's music studio. We met each week and we rallied around Dad. We prayed and fasted and we believed. We had faith and we had hope and we were expecting great things.

God gave us many miracles with Dad. But one day God told me that Dad would not see the New Year. I was so upset. I cried. I begged God to not let Dad go on Kadesia's birthday, so He honored that request. He took Daddy home the evening of Kadesia's birthday party, December 29, 2013. 

I am glad my Dad is no longer in pain, not suffering, not miserable and disabled. My dad served God his whole life. He made mistakes, and chose to run after other things and away from his calling for a while, but in the end he came back to God with everything in him. It seems that facing eternity will make a person take stock of their life. Dad was given the gift of time and he had a lot of it to reflect on his life and the way he raised us and the things he taught us intentionally and unintentionally. He had the opportunity to repent of some stuff, to ask forgiveness from some people, and to make things right between him and God. 

When Dad went to be with God, I did not pray or fast for him anymore. There was no bringing him back. There was no trying to bargain with God for a Lazarus-type resurrection. Dad got what he wanted, to be with God. So I did something similar to David. I worshiped God for being good and faithful. I thanked God for the Comforter who will comfort like none other. I thanked God for the good times and the laughter and the new memories of a wonderful earthly father. I knew that I could not bring Dad back, but I have confidence that one day I will go to him.

We do not always understand God's ways or His timing. Why did God punish David by killing his baby? Why did God not let things happen differently for Dad? We can worry ourselves sick over the questions, or we can embrace the truth that God's timing is not our own and His ways are higher than ours and we cannot figure them out. (Isaiah 55:8-9 and Romans 11:33)

Death is not easy. We have lost a lot of wonderful people recently. Last year cancer took many of my relatives' lives and spilled over into the first few days of this year. We do not know everything God is doing. We do not always understand, but He promised to never leave us or forsake us, but will go with us all the way to the end of the world if we allow Him to. (Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5)

If you are suffering loss or enduring sickness, hardship, or despair please remember that Jesus loves you. He is walking through this with you and He is near to you. Do not allow the grief to consume you. Stay close to Jesus. His Word says He is near to the brokenhearted. (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 5:4) He promises we will be comforted and I can attest that is the truth.

I pray healing, comfort, peace, and love be yours today in the name of Jesus. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

Change | Fuel For The Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel For The Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend.

I like to think that I embrace change. I honestly don't mind change for the most part. Sometimes change can be good. I enjoy a change of scenery, a change of mind, a change of subject... but when it comes to interrupting the routines of my day, I don't embrace change so much. 

Humans have been called "Creatures of Habit." Often we take the same route to the store, church, work, a friend's house, or whatever. When my son was very small he would get upset if I did not turn down the same streets to get home. He loved consistency and he did not do well with change. We all have a little bit of that tendency; some adapt easier than others. If my husband suddenly goes a different way, we quickly ask, "Where are we going? What are you doing?" It's out of our norm.

I think back to the life of Jesus. He shook people free from their comfort zones, didn't He? He challenged traditions and rituals. He emphasized relationship. He was always pointing back to the Father and glorifying and honoring Him with the things He did and said. He was always Kingdom minded. He desires for us to do the same.

It would be easy for us to ignore the still small voice of God as He leads us back to Indiana. Leaving Alabama is not simple. Our home is here. We have friends here. We have a community here. We have our church here. We serve here. We work here. We live here. It is not easy to uproot and leave everything again, to the unknown albeit somewhat familiar, again. God did not ask us to do EASY things, but He does expect us to trust Him and obey Him. We can do the HARD things as He gives us the strength.

JOHN 5:30 I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Sometimes we get stuck in tradition and ritual whether at church, work, home, or wherever. We sit in the same pew each week. We go through our day with the same routine. We purchase the same items repeatedly. We cook the same meals until we get burned out on them. While there is something to be said for routine, and it certainly has its place, we have to be careful that we are not going through the motions and not being intentional in our walk with the LORD.

Can you imagine being disabled for 38 years? That is a long time. Imagine for a moment you are that person and you want to get better but something always prevents you from getting healed. It would be so frustrating and after nearly four decades it might be easy to think it will never happen. The Bible tells us this actually happened to someone. This was his "new normal." The routine of his life was to try to get into the pool of water and get healed and then someone always got in front of him and received the blessing before he could. It was always the same, but Jesus is about to change his routine... and his life!

If you read John chapter 5, we find that Jesus went up to Jerusalem during a time of feasting. Bethesda had a pool and at certain times an angel troubled the water and whoever stepped in first after the angel came was made whole of whatever disease they had. So the crippled people hung out there, lived there, waited there. 

Jesus looks at the man and knows he had been in a disabled state for a long time and asks him, "Do you want to be healed?" Sometimes we get so comfortable with the way things are that we don't want to change things. I knew someone who did not want to get better because they said they would lose their disability check. They were comfortable with the way things were. I couldn't imagine choosing disability and subpar living if I could be well and have no limits to what I could do or earn. Jesus asks the man if he wants to get better.

The man doesn't answer the question, instead he explains to Jesus why he is still crippled. He says he has no resources to get him to the water when the angel troubles it. He watches as someone else gets in the water in front of him and they are healed but he is not. Let's read what happens next.

JOHN 5:8-9 (8)Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. (9) And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

There is the crippled man who cannot stand up, let alone walk, and he just explained to Jesus that he had no help to get in the water to be healed. The routine was to wait for the angel to trouble the water, look for help, no one would be there, someone else would step into the water and get the healing this man thought should have been his. Jesus told him to get up and take his mat that he was laying on and walk! Jesus always shakes people out of their comfort zone.

The miracle is that immediately the man was made whole. He did not need physical therapy to gain range of motion, learn to walk, get stuck with a limp... no, immediately the man stood up, picked up his mat, and walked. He was able to stand up without falling. He was able to lean down, reach the mat, pick it up, and stand back up with the mat and not fall or stumble. He was able to bear weight and move muscles and tendons and ligaments that were dormant for 38 years with only the command of Jesus. That is incredible! The man's life is changed! The routine is over. He will have to find another one!

The Jews always find Jesus doing the miraculous and instead of allowing their calloused hearts to melt and be changed by the power of God, they choose to find fault with Him! They tell the man Jesus healed that it was not right for him to walk around healed because it was the sabbath. Taking up his bed and walking around was work! We must rest on the sabbath. Look at how they embrace the traditions. They are so stiff-necked they refuse to celebrate the miracle of what just occurred.

He answered the Jews by saying, "The man that made me whole told me to take up my bed and walk." They demanded to know who dare tell him such a thing on this holy day. A multitude of people were there for the feast and Jesus was able to blend into the crowd, so the man doesn't even know His name. He cannot tell the Jews who healed him. Later Jesus finds the man in the temple and tells him, "Look, you are made whole: don't sin anymore unless something worse happens to you." The man leaves and tells the Jews it was Jesus that healed him and they were so angry they wanted to kill Him because He healed a man on the sabbath day. 

Jesus wrecked their rituals and routines. He steps into their religious arena and offers them an opportunity to have relationship. They don't want that. They want harsh laws that no one could keep and they want self-righteousness instead of His righteousness. Jesus did not come to make things better for us to continue as is....He came to give us life more abundantly! Let's read what Jesus tells the Jews.

JOHN 5:37-47 (37)And the Father Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape. (38)And ye have not His word abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not. (39)Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. (40)And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life. (41)I receive not honour from men. (42)But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. (43)I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (44)How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (45)Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. (46)For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. (47)But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?

Wow! Jesus shakes people out of their comfort zones. Most people would think it was a great thing that this man could walk. It's miraculous! Instead they were mad that He did it on the "wrong" day! They like vain repetition. There is nothing wrong with order and protocol, but if you choose routine over relationship you miss the whole point! Jesus did not puff up Himself. He constantly glorified the Father. He always put the spotlight on God.

We may be asked to do hard things, uncomfortable things, and things we might not want to do. If it glorifies the Father, and helps others come to know Him, then it's worth it. If God puts something in your heart, it's okay to feel uneasy or unsure. Do not doubt God. Do not be afraid. Just tell Him that you want to be obedient. Ask Him to help you every step of the way and He will do it. When Jesus told the crippled man to take up his bed and walk, the man did it and immediately he was made whole. Obedience always unlocks the blessings. I am taking this to heart today and this weekend as we continue to pack the boxes and donate the excess and trust God to lead us all the way back to Indiana. Not our will but Thine Lord.

I hope something I shared today has helped you see that change can be good, especially if the change is coming from God! I hope that you enjoyed today's post and that something I shared today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens