March 8, 1998
Spurgeon states, “It was never in
God’s design for His people to be untried.” The book of James tells me,
“Consider it pure joy when you experience trials of many kinds.” James
continues with “the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance
must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking
anything.”
Yes, God
does test His children; he does it for our own good. If we weren’t tested we
would not gain spiritual insight into our world and we would never know God for
who He is. We would never know we
could rely on Him in times of stress, especially from the world. I would have
completely caved in this past Thursday, if I had not known that God would
listen and take care of a situation and He has!
Thank You, Lord.
***********************
The situation I had two days prior involved an order I had
placed with a specialized company for a birthday present for my dad. He turned
75. (In the previous two years we had been through his emergency Heart Bypass
and Cancer surgeries and another ordeal.) The ordered item didn’t come. I
called the company. The lady returned my call; they didn’t receive the order. I
lost all composure and started screaming into the phone. She hung up on me.
Then, I felt terrible.
Later,
as we ate ice cream and cake, Hubby told Dad about the issue in conversation.
Dad said very nicely, “That company has a lot of problems in their order
department.” God was there for me.
More recently: I ordered
replacement checks for my personal account. I should have done it when I
started the last pad in the box. But I didn’t. I was told they would be here
this on the 30th. I realized on Wednesday that I needed to pay two
bills but that would take my last two checks. I then realized it was the 31st.
I called the 800 number again and finally got to talk to a representative, what
I call a ‘real’ person. She was very kind. She sent me out a second order, sending
them by another carrier. My original order came today, three days late. The
second order came yesterday, one day after I made my call. I didn’t feel the
need to get upset or raise my voice. I think I may have learned something here.
Linking up to :beneaththesurface-dawn.
Linking up to :beneaththesurface-dawn.
I wonder why telephone communication is the most difficult there is, especially when you're overwhelmed with emotion. I love that God uses the wisdom of dads to speak into our lives, even when we're grown women and they're in their seventies. Thank Him that you let the lesson sink into you.
ReplyDeleteJeskmom: Thank you for stopping by. I don't know why the communication over the phone is so difficult. Sometimes, I think written communication can be hard. But God uses both of them to allow us to talk. My dad would not have understood he was used of God to minister to me.
ReplyDeleteI love this...been there, done that...screaming in the phone at unwitting telephone order takers "customer service" people who don't always know the meaning of their job title. I've had some very kind people who helped me overcome my frustration, and then some others who only made it worse. Thankfully, God has helped me calm down. I do most of my ordering online now, and bypass the "real people" as much as possible, since it seems so many of them barely speak English anyway. I appreciated your post. Yes, our fathers spoke wisdom...I wish I'd learned to listen sooner.
ReplyDeletePamela: Thank you for stopping by. When my dad and stepmother were both living, they would call me to come talk to their mail-order pharmacy because they didn't like the phone tree. I HAD NO PROBLEM WITH THOSE PEOPLE. But that was about 15 years ago. I have been reduced to tears by the 'customer service' representatives. But God seems to have taught us a lesson here.
DeleteI so relate to your lesson. God speaks through many vehicles - human and otherwise -to teach us His ways...it is good to remain teachable. The option is to be like a mule. Right?
ReplyDeleteSpoken from a former mule...at least I think I am. THanks for linking, Cecelia. You always share a a wise morsel!
Dawn;
DeleteThank you for your visit. God uses everything at His disposal to teach us, even our own stubborn ways-especially what frustrates us.
Oops, those daily trials, yes! They are excellent lessons most of the time ;(
ReplyDeleteHi Marja: Thank you for coming to see me. Yes, those daily trials are just that TRIALS. I guess God made those hard lessons that way so we would remember what we learn from them.
Deletegood for you! I wish I could learn form my mistakes!!
ReplyDeleteAnnamarie, Thank you for stopping by. My learning from my mistakes has taken me a long time. A friend of mine and I decided that if we didn't learn lessons from our mistakes, God saw to it that we had a remedial lesson. (The same issue always came up again and again until we learned what He intended us to learn.)
DeleteThanks for being honest...I have had to repent from several outbursts lately both on the phone and in person...I think I need a spiritual/emotional heart check up...thankfully, Jesus is our Great Physician.
ReplyDeleteKel: Thank you for stopping by. Yes, because we are human, we need a spiritual checkup from time to time. I am thankful that Jesus is worthy to do it for us.
Deleteindeed trials come and that's just what my post today is about! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete