~ * LIGHT through Trials !! ~

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him
(ROMANS 8:28).

"THERE is an African Proverb that says, "That which blinds the blind man also feeds him." Its literal meaning is that those who are blind are expected to beg to gain their daily food. FOR me, that proverb has a very precious spiritual application. Difficult things may come to us during our lifetime, and the world may see those things as being very destructive and cruel. IF however, those things are accepted as part of His sovereign will, then, because of the growth and depth we gain in the Lord Jesus, they WILL have an opposite effect!

The husband of a young Christian woman was shot as he fled from their mud house during border disputes in our area of West Africa. He had just completed one month's study in literacy training so that he would be able to read the New Testament in Red Bobo. JUST two days earlier, he had been baptized and had given public testimony that he was a new creature in Christ and was obeying His command to be baptized. WHAT a difficult thing for his family and those village church people to accept the death of this zealous new believer in Christ.

THREE months after his death, his wife attended one of our women's conferences. SHE told of God's sufficiency in her life and of the assurance she had that God loved her, would provide for her and never leave her comfortless!

What a testimony to all of us! Those "blinding" blows that may touch us will, in the hands of our loving Father, nurture and "feed" us and bring new life to those around us.

May God help us to always be fed and not just blinded by our trials and afflictions."
Barbara Sorenson

~ * CHANGES and Choices !! ~

"RECENTLY my life has been filled with changes and choices. I guess that can be said of all of our lives. Would it not be good if we could choose a period of our lives that was enjoyable and let time stand still? But we cannot. Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 14 tell us, "He has made everything beautiful in is time," and "Everything God does will endure forever."

If our childhood was a happy time, we did not want it to end. Everything was new, fresh and meaningful. We wanted our teen years to be over soon so we could be adults. In young adulthood, there were many changes and choices: college, marriage, the birth of children or the choice of a job. In middle age and even in our "golden years," there are still changes and choices.

My parents are in their golden years. Both of them have had severe physical problems. Because of this, I have had to make many choices and to endure a lot of changes But Christ was and is precious, and His Word has been very real. When it became necessary to consider retirement housing for my mother and father, it was a difficult adjustment for all of us. But each day, as I went to God's Word, He had something just for me. For example, "Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you" (Exodus 32:34).

Yes, life is filled with changes and choices, but the right choice is Jesus Christ. He will take you through all the changes." Janet C. Jones

But you remain the same, and your years never end (Hebrews 1:12b).

N.B. That story came at the right time to encourage also me.k.

* We are all works in progress

(or, the process - however we look at it) !!

LIFE IS A CONTINUAL JOURNEY.