April 9

April 9, 2011~

Here is a verse I have been memorizing, “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”

~John 16:20 NKJV

I see people each day I work who are going through horrendous tragedies. They live with horrible pain, or have life threatening conditions. Some loose a loved one, and more. Everywhere I turn, in the lives of others as well as my own, I see people hurting, pain, and disappointments.

Life brings its share of weeping, disappointments and tragedies. Yet, in all these, God uses them to show His mighty power! In my life, I’ve seen it, in the Bible, I’ve read it.  One of those times was when God led His people right up to the Sea. (Exodus 14:15-16; 17:9)There was no way across, yet God told Moses to use his staff. It was an ordinary piece of wood turned into “the staff of God.” God chose to use that common, ordinary piece of wood as His instrument, and when He did, the staff, which was just made out of wood, took on new meaning.

Then, what about the cross? Another ordinary piece of wood. It was a symbol of pain and torture, but since Christ came and gave His life on the cross, it is a symbol of hope and salvation! Here God again exchanged, the negative tragedy for the positive.

If God recorded it in the Bible, He can still do it for me. He uses His glory in the disappointments and tragedies of my ordinary life and exchanges them for something, distinctive, and unique, that will have special meaning. Yes, He can bring purpose out of each heartbreaking disappointment and exchange it with something positive, which will bring us hope! God did it on the Cross, and He can do it for Me! He can do it for everyone! Yes, He will turn weeping and grief into joy!

Happy For A Reason reason’s:

1.    The kindness I see in others.

2.    The concern of a mother for her sick child.

3.    An elderly father helping his adult son get the much needed psychological help he wouldn’t be able to get by himself.

4.    A policeman who has a genuine care and concern for hurting people.

5.    Paramedics who are committed to making a difference in the lives of those who they help each day they are working.