Enjoy God's Journey! / Mrs Eileen Abberger

 

Mrs Eileen Abberger

Pastor's Wife

Lakeview Baptist Church

Lakeview, MI

 

I love to sing.  I enjoy singing with God's people.  I love to laugh.  I enjoy laughing with God's people.  During a Sunday evening church service we were singing the chorus, "It's Been A Long Journey."  As we began, I sang, "It's been a long journey and I am so  'STRESSED'".    I didn't realize how loudly I was singing until I heard several people around me chuckling.  I chuckled along with them and then I was a good girl and sang the rest of the song correctly.

The Lord has a journey for us all.  It is a walk with God meant to be lived by faith.  Jesus came to bring us life -- but not just life; He came to give us an abundant life.  He came to give us an abundant life.  It is a joy-filled life the Lord wants us to live.

John 10:10  The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Satan wants to leave us without strength for the journey.  He knows that if we lose our joy, we will lose our strength.  That gives him an advantage over us.  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  True joy cannot be manufactured in the flesh.  But the good news is that we have the sweet Holy Spirit that comforts and helps us.

I'm not going to lie.  We have been through a long season of manifold trials. Psalm 40 describes exactly how I felt.  I was in a miry pit of clay.  Have you ever tried to climb a miry pit of clay?  I have!  You climb up, you slide back down!  You climb up, you slide back down!!    I have discovered that when I am in a 'pit', the best thing I can do is to dig a well and draw water from the wells of my salvation.  The Lord offers us grace and strength and joy in the midst of our difficulties.

Isaiah 12:2-3  Behold God is my salvation:  I will trust and not be afraid:  for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

                        Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Psalm 84:5-6  Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee:  in whose heart are the ways of them. 

                        Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well:  the rain also filleth the pools.

Strength and joy are closely connected.  If you want to make it our of the pit you must have strength.  If you want to have strength you need the joy of the Lord. 

Nehemiah 8:10b ...for the joy of the Lord is your strength

The following are suggestions I would recommend to find strength (JOY) for the journey.

1.  Abiding In Christ

The word abide means to remain attached.  We remain attached to Christ through His Word.  John 15 tells us how to abide in Christ.  The result is joy.  Verse 11 says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."  Jeremiah 15:16 describes it best:  Thy words were found, and I did eat them:   and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart:  for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.

*read the Bible daily

*memorize the Bible

*meditate on the Bible

*obey the Bible

2.  Magnify God - Not Your Problems

I am not going to lie, the only way we can praise and magnify God when your heart is broken is to do it intentionally.  It is important to remember God's purpose for our trials.  It is what helps us to find peace.  Trials help us grow in our faith.  They purify us.  As we allow God to work in our hearts during difficulty, the more we reflect our Lord and the better we see Him. 

Psalm 34 and Psalm 103 are my "go to" magnify God Psalms.  I have memorized Psalm 103 and much of Psalm 34.  I quote them to God.  I pour out my praise and gratitude to Him.  It brings great comfort to my soul. 

3.  Praise God

Keep a praise journal.  Each day record the blessings the Lord has given you.  When I am discouraged I go back and read them.  It gives me hope that God wants to continue to bless me.  Isaiah 61:3 tells us to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

Our home recently caught fire.  My husband's dad had just gone to heaven.  His mom went to heaven six weeks later to the day and hour.  He was helping his brother take care of business.  I was getting ready to go to bed.  At midnight I received a phone call from someone needing some encouragement.  As we were talking I looked up and my woodstove pipe was totally on fire.  The fire reached two stories high.  It looked like the 4th of July in a scary way!!  After a few desperately frightening hours, I had to praise the Lord for that phone call.  Had I gone to sleep I, no doubt, would have perished in the fire.  The woodstove pipe ran right outside our bedroom wall.  I can live with melted siding, broken windows and the smell of smoke in my home.

4.   Prayer

Psalm 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life:  in thy presence is fullness of joy.

I love to turn Scripture into prayer.  I am sure it pleases the Lord when we love His Word enough to pour it out to Him in our hearts.  Psalm 63:1-8 is a wonderful prayer to cry out to God.  It is a privilege that the God of Heaven, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings wants to spend time with us. 

5.  Patience

As I was standing on a ladder the day after my house was on fire taking down the smoke filled curtains to wash them, I became frustrated.  I had just made the curtains the day before.  A confession.......when the fire started, mu first thought was, "Oh man!!!  I've only had my curtains hanging up for three hours and my house is going to burn down."  Crazy, right????  But, I did work on them for ten hours! (hahaha)  As I was taking down the curtains,  Romans 12:12  kept running through my mind; "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer."  I took down the curtains and went outside in the rain/snow!!!  I leaned up against the house and confessed my loss of hope and lack of patience.  You see, this trial was only one trial of many more serious trials that had recently come our way, and God had VERY GRACIOUSLY proven His lovingkindness.  The Lord had just just spared our daughter in law and our grandson's lives  a month earlier. 

Psalm 62:1-8 is a precious Psalm we can pray to God when we are in a need for patience.

6.  Be A Light 

When we focus on the Lord and we receive joy, we become a beautiful reflection of Christ.  We become a light for others who are in trouble.  We will all pass through valleys.  We will all face difficulty.  It is important to remember that we are loved, we are not alone, and we have been given the opportunity to be more like our Savior.

 I Peter 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed. ye may be glad with exceeding joy.

7.  Rest

I have OCD, ADD, ABCDEFG!!!!!!  In the past I tended toward being a "go til you crash and burn" kind of person.  In my desire to do a good job at whatever I attempted.  I overcomplicated everything.  I ended up becoming very sick.  I now have an auto-immune illness because I seldom let myself rest.  Resting is more than stopping to smell the roses.  Jesus rested to spiritually refuel in the garden.  He was alone with His Father.  Rest is refueling; physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.  We have all heard the expression, "we need to come apart before we come apart."   Everyone is different; and each of us find different ways to refuel.  The important thing is to allow our body, our mind and our spirit to rest.

Ecclesiastes 3:1  To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Rest is a gift from God!

Ecclesiastes 3:13  And also that every man should eat and drink, AND ENJOY THE GOOD OF ALL HIS LABOUR, IT IS A GIFT OF GOD.

The devil would try to make us feel guilty for resting.  God rested on the seventh day of creation.  God meant for us to enjoy our lives.  We cannot enjoy our lives if we are continually exhausted and emotionally spent. 

Matthew 11:28-30  Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:  and ye shall find rest unto your souls.   For my yoke 

                                is easy, and my burden is light.

I love the story of Ruth in the Bible.  It is a beautiful picture of the Sovereignty of God.  His hand was on Ruth's life.  He knew her heart, He guided her steps; He led her and blessed her and allowed her to be a blessing to each person with whom she came in contact.  What a testimony of grace.  What a loving God we have to serve.  May I challenge you to read the book of Ruth when you have lost your way on your journey..  Our God is an awesome God!