THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

July 24, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

I daresay that most (or all) of us don't like to be told no. That instinct begins as a toddler and continues throughout our entire life.

Once a baby becomes mobile and starts crawling and pulling up, they begin grabbing onto things and getting into things they shouldn't. The words they hear over and over again, as parents try to teach them what they can and cannot do, are "no-no."

I babysat my niece's little girl from birth to age three. The special song I sang to her over and over again was part of the old song, 'Down in the Valley.' I'd sing the last verse and chorus: "Roses love sunshine... violets love dew... angels in heaven, know I love you. Know I love you, dear. Know I love you. Angels in heaven, know I love you." When she began talking, she would sing along with me. I have a video of the two of us singing together. But every time we'd sing the word "know", she would sing "no-no." It was probably because she was at the age of being told no-no a lot!

There are times when teens will do things, simply because their parents tell them not to. They don't trust their parents' wisdom in knowing what is best for them, and think that they are smarter and know better.

Even as adults, we don't like being told no. We think we should be able to do whatever we want and buy what we want and have what we want. We don't like hearing, "No, you didn't get the job." "No, you're not getting a pay raise." "No, you're not approved for a loan." "No, we don't have the money for vacation this year." "No, you can no longer live alone." "No, you can no longer drive a vehicle." "No, we can't afford to do the home remodels we wanted to do." There's often a resistance or disappointment that arises within us when we hear the word no.

What's our response when God tells us no? Those can be really, really hard to hear!!

There is a lady in our church who has struggled with health issues for the past few years. She had surgery on her neck, but still has a lot of issues with the muscles tightening up which causes her neck to twitch at times and some ongoing issues with pain. She hurt her knee and needs surgery, but that has been postponed for months and months and months. She was scheduled for surgery, but then ended up in ER with a blood clot in her lung that needed to be dissolved and gotten rid of before she could undergo surgery. Then she thought she was having heart problems that needed to be checked out. Throughout everything, she has been faithful to God and steadfast in trusting Him. She has had strong faith that Jesus is her Healer and been praying for healing for these past few years.

Recently, there were a few of us at church for prayer and Bible study. We were praying and listening to what God was saying and I strongly felt God give me a word for this lady. It wasn't an easy one to give, but I knew that I had to be obedient.

I can't remember what I said word for word, but it was basically this: Sometimes we pray, we have faith, we believe God for what we need... but He says no. That doesn't mean that we lack faith; it doesn't mean that we've done something wrong or have sinned; it doesn't mean that we are praying wrong. We don't usually understand why God's answer is no. But we have to choose what our response will be when He says no. Will we become angry and bitter towards God and lose faith in Him; or will we choose to trust Him in the no's and steadfastly love Him and hold onto faith? Paul was given a thorn in his flesh (which many believe to be some type of physical ailment) and he begged God to take it away, but He didn't. So, it's okay to continue to pray for healing -- and Jesus is our Healer! But if God says, "No," then what will your response be?

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul was given a thorn in his flesh. Here was the purpose of that happening: "To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness."

Jesus was told no before the crucifixion. He was in the garden and was agonizing in prayer over what was about to take place. He said, "Father, if it be your will let this cup pass from me." But God knew that His Son had to die in our place and be our Savior. How His heart must have been broken to hear Jesus ask that of Him, and knowing that He had to say no to His Son! Yet, here was Jesus response to the no: "Father, not My will by Yours be done." He had to endure the pain and suffering.

I believe that sometimes our biggest prayer of faith is being able to say, "Okay! Father, not my will but yours be done!" Then to accept His will and continue to trust and love Him.

There have been times throughout my life when God has said no, and it's been heartbreaking and tough. When Mama had colon cancer for 7 years, she prayed for healing and was strong in her faith. All of our family prayed for her and people in the community and various churches were praying for her. We took her to a big healing service to be prayed for, where God had used the evangelist in the gift of healing. But God said no. I don't understand why, but He didn't heal her and she died. Now, we know that the very second she passed from this life to eternal life she was instantly healed and will never be sick again! We are grateful for that! But she was only 48 years old and we wanted to keep her here on earth with us for many more years and see her receive healing. I didn't want my mama to die!

When my brother-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he was a pastor and well known throughout the world as a leader in deaf ministry. There were hundreds of people praying for him and believing God to heal him; but God said no. A year after his diagnosis, he died.

My nephew and his wife's 6-year old daughter has various health issues. She has SHINE syndrome, which extremely rare. It causes many learning delays, vision issues, lack of muscle tone, seizures, on the spectrum for autism, etc. They have prayed for her healing, yet God has said no.

Sometimes people go through financial difficulties and struggles. They beg God to change their situation, yet the answer is no. Perhaps God knows that if He miraculously changes their situation, they won't have learned anything and continue to make bad financial decisions... be back in the same position that they find themselves currently in... and expect God to always bail them out. I think God's no's are sometimes teaching moments between Him and us. He wants us to learn wisdom and be good caretakers of what He blesses us with. Sometimes those lessons are difficult and takes a long time for people to understand and grab onto.

There may be times when God saying no is for our benefit. He knows that there is something better that lies ahead for us. We want what we can see, because it seems as if it will be good and beneficial. We can become disappointed and disheartened when things don't work out and the answer is no. We may even try to figure out how to get it anyway. But often, if we will just let go and trust God, He will give us something that is so much better than anything we ever dreamed of or imagined. We may have to wait for it and it may not happen when we want it to happen; but God will bring it to pass in His timing.

We should never have the attitude, "Well, if God is going to say no anyway, so why should I even pray?!" Even though we may never understand when God's answer is no, we still pray! We still trust God and still hold fast to our faith in Him! We still love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength!

There are times when God's answer is yes. He does miraculous works and changes situations and does the impossible. There are other times when it seems as if He is saying no, but then the situation changes and He says yes. We don't always understand His timing and how and why He does things that way He does.

A scripture I have reminded myself of repeatedly throughout my life is Isaiah 55:8-9, which says, "'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord. 'And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"

Many things throughout our life we will never understand. There is an old hymn that says, "We will understand it better by and by." Perhaps we will understand many things better when we get to heaven. Perhaps God will reveal to us what He was doing and why, and we will be able to see the entire picture clearly. On the other hand, when we get to heaven, it may not matter and we won't care why things happened as they did. Regardless, our goal should always be to maintain our relationship with the Father and hold fast to that blessed hope of spending eternity with Him.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I also suffer from chronic back pain. Some days it isn't so bad. Some months, it is. So I really do sympathize with years of neck pain.

If God had told me that by suffering several years of back pain, I would be a better witness to others, and someone would be saved as a result, I'm sure I would accept it. I might want to know who it would be, so I could know who was the pain in my back. But then, I might hold it against them, too, and I wouldn't want that.

If my back pain is just to make me more understanding with someone who isn't quick to do something I'm in a hurry for (like car repairs), I could understand, but I'd rather just show understanding without having to learn it. But I honestly know it doesn't work that way.

Maybe I have back pain for no good reason. But I don't like to think that.

I just have to trust God that it will work out for good somewhere, somehow. But it does remind me of the 4 words my parents used that always made me cringe, "Because I said so." As I child, I always wanted to know why I had to or couldn't do certain things. I had no patience for "Because I said so." And I haven't matured out of that, yet. I don't like it, but I still have to accept it. I just hope someday I'll understand it.

ON THE MENEWE:

Stuffed Green Peppers

Cut thin slice from the stem end of each pepper. Remove seeds and membrane; rinse.

Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover for 5 minutes; drain.

Cook hamburger and onion in skillet until browned; drain. Stir in salt, garlic salt, rice and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; heat through.

Stuff each pepper with hamburger mixture; stand upright in ungreased 8x8 baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

Cover with foil. Cook in 350 oven for 45 minutes. Uncover; cook for 15 minutes longer. Sprinkle tops with cheese.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

My nephew's 3-year old son is so smart and funny; but is often so serious about things. He keeps his parents and grandma on their toes. One morning, my sister got up early to let her dog outside. She found Izzy standing on a chair, pulled up to the counter, eating apple pie. He was the only one awake and was hungry. He had eaten about half a pie! His dad recently had a birthday and Izzy's was just sure that they were going to the zoo to celebrate his dad's birthday. Probably because that sounded like a fun day to him! The next day he was telling me about the zoo. He told me that he had seen two monkeys, but they were just laying down. One of them was eating a banana, but it wouldn't look at him..... probably because it needed to poop! A while back my sister had been to the store and had bought muffins for their breakfast the next morning. Izzy kept wanting a muffin that evening and was told no -- he had to wait. The next morning, at 6:30, he was knocking on my sisters bedroom door wanting to know if she was awake yet. He was wanting a muffin!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Wherever you find yourself in the story of you, let it develop!

Don't skip a chapter. Learn from it all.

You won't want some pages to end. Some chapters will hurt like hell and you will try to rush through.

You won't always get to choose your adventure. But you will always script your reaction. - Luke Lang

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org