In
order to reduce our reliance on earthly riches, support and assets, God will
often send proverbial locusts as an army to minimize our resources, and to cause
us to turn to Him as our rovider and supplier (Joel 2:25).
I
started my adult life with a handsome, talented husband. We soon entertained an
adorable family of three precocious children. As they grew, God also gave me a
meaningful career. To top it all off, He provided an attentive Pomeranian pet
that was the delight of my life.
I
counted all of these gifts as abundant blessings for which I thanked God daily.
However, over a period of five short years, my children went off to college or
moved away from home, and I lost my vocation as a teacher and mentor for my loving
"at risk" teenagers.
Then,
as if things could not get any more dismal, my husband of twenty-two years told
me that he saw no option for us, but divorce. I soon stood alone in half of a
duplex with a portable dishwasher, a single recliner and a couch that did not
even match, a few bookcases, some furniture my dad made for me over the years,
and an empty king-sized bed.
My
Pomeranian was my only true remaining treasure. Incidentally, since I ended up
working three jobs to pay my bills and to build up a savings for a rainy day, I
eventually even lost my cherished dog. I had to give her to a lovely family
across town, who had small children whom she adored, since I was never home any
more.
God
stripped me of everything, which I once held precious. One by one, they slipped
through my fingers like chaff in the wind. When loss occurs, we either sink
deeper by the day into a pit of gloom and despair, or we pull our self up by
our bootstraps and valiantly press on through life.
We
often believe that we cannot live without certain aspects that we think we need
for our fulfillment. Then, as one day drags into the next, we stop struggling
to regain the life we once knew. We gain the courage to look up into the light
of God's face that is shining on us (Psalm 67:1; Numbers 6:25).
We
finally throw our soul upon God’s mercy and grace, and we trust Him to do what
is best for us. We find our strength, our joy and our hope centered in Him
alone. I am living proof that God is the only source we need for fulfillment,
contentment and blessings.
God
gradually blessed me with an adorable and loving husband, multiple
grandchildren, a fulfilling ministry, a quaint cottage home full of beautiful
furniture, and another gorgeous Pomeranian that distinctly resembled my little
lost treasure.
When
the time came to relinquish even some of these blessings, I weathered the
changes much more smoothly, because I was no longer attached to any earthly
treasures. I learned to daily enjoy my true and only treasure: the very
presence of God's Trinity abiding in me, through me and with me.
Prayer:
Father
God, once You strip us of everything except our relationship with You, it is
easier to understand how Job successfully traversed such horrendous trials in
His life. We too find the inner strength, which You give to us, to realize that
Christ in us can overcome any trial that life throws our way.
You
teach us to trust You with every detail of our life, and we look to You for
Your guidance and wisdom for each moment that remains, until we will finally
see You face-to-face. Thank You that, even when all is lost, we can look up,
because Your redemption for us draws near (Luke 21:28). We learn to never take
for granted one of Your precious gifts.
Thought
for the Day:
Once
we are stripped of every ounce of our “self”, and the treasures on which we
base our happiness and contentment, we cast all of our cares upon God's
mercies, which are new every single morning; then God starts to restore everything
that He allowed Satan to remove from our life.
-
1 Peter 5:7; Lamentations 3:22-25; Job 1:8
