Sunday, March 27, 2011

Palette of a Woman’s Life: Perseverance

In this session, Melody Warmerdam shared her personal experience of what it means to persevere and the keys that she found to persevere.

James 1:2-4  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

How do we persevere?

1. Relate

Through the heartbreak of years of trying to have a baby and dealing with infertility and finally a devastating miscarriage, she found hope and healing through a support group in her church, a group that was created to bring women together who were dealing with the same struggles. We need healthy relationships to help us persevere.  You need someone to speak the truth to you, to remind you when you are believing a lie. You need someone who will be honest to tell you when you are off track, someone who will pray for you, someone who will be there for you, walk with you through the hard times; someone who will lift you up, encourage you, build you up, energize you, give you Godly counsel. Relationships are hard, but they are meant to be life-giving. Relationships are important, but they are not meant to replace the Holy Spirit. While each of us need to have strong relationships, we must make sure that

2. Relent

Relent means to become less severe, harsh, or strict,  more forgiving.

Forgive God. It is so easy blame God for our problems.

It is not wrong to ask questions. Jesus said that we are to be like little children. One characteristic of children is that they ask a lot of questions. Children ask questions not to get answers but to engage in conversations. It is ok to ask questions, but understand that God does not have to explain Himself, He wants to exalt Himself.

Forgive yourself. Let yourself off the hook.  Satan accuses us all the time, and we are too often quick to accept the responsibility, even when we are not to blame. Melody shared that she struggled with blame and shame after she miscarried. The miscarriage was not her fault. She did nothing to cause it and could have done nothing to prevent it, but Satan caused her to take on shame and blame. She had to let go and understand that she was not at fault. 

Forgive others. Resentment is poison to our soul. We have to forgive to get rid of it. Forgiving allows us to love in a fallen world. Forgiveness may be a process, a decision that we have to make over and over. We must choose to forgive, and ask God for the strength to do it.

3. Rejoice 

Phil 4:4-7   Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We are tempted to compare. Comparing opens the door to discontent, and is rooted in envy.

James 3:14-17 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Comparison causes you to shake your fist at God and tell Him I’m not happy with what you gave me.

The way to fight comparing is to be thankful. Keep a Thanksgiving journal.

Another key is to sing praises to God, or listen to praise music.

Our journey brings us to know God.

You have to be sick to know God as healer. 

You have to be in a storm to know God as your refuge.

You have to be alone to know God as your friend.

You have to be wounded to know God as your comforter.

You have to be broken to know God as Savior.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Ladies Retreat Reviewed

God really blessed our time at the retreat last weekend. I want to blog a little for just an overview of each speaker.

Emily did not think she would be able to go at all, because she had to take her art students to the one and only UIL art contest, which was scheduled for Saturday after we had already scheduled the retreat.  So, on Friday night, she ran in and spoke about 15 minutes, then ran back to Stephenville, to get up early Saturday to take students to an art contest. But, the short  time she was there, she was brilliant.

As an art teacher, she used painting as an illustration of the Christian life. Painters do not use paint straight out of the tube. The colors are too bright, too defined. She showed a canvas with stripes painted with paint straight out of the tube. The edges were too severe, and the colors were not interesting. Painters always blend the colors. The experiences that we have, the hard times, the difficult relationships, the problems we deal with are the things that God uses to blend us. We need the blending. As young Christians, we often have very strict ideas about what God would do, and about what people who are following God should do.  We often see things in terms of what is right or wrong without regard to a persons experience, feelings. As God uses our experiences to blend us, we come to know God better, and are more understanding of others.  We become less severe, more compassionate, more interesting, easier to “look at”, less judgmental, more grounded.

Even with the colors blended, still there is no definition or depth in the picture until the painter adds white. Even just a tiny bit of white on the paintbrush added to a color changes the color and the whole picture. Jesus is the white that brings the depth to our life. With the light of Jesus, we are changed.