Beautiful song, and a lovely call to prayer this morning. It did not even come to me through my outer ears; the song was brought to my mind (by the Holy Spirit, I suspect) and this line was a direct communication from You, Lord!
So, on Word I wrote out an entry that I will copy and paste here:
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HBC’s Trials
PRAY!! These are
times of testing and difficulty at the church.
I have not been a fan of this church for some time, but that will not
stop me, Lord, from asking You to bless it.
I surrender my human desire (I almost said “need” but that would not be
true) to figure it out and to know all the deep details.
So, God, what is the focus of this prayer? Give me some Scripture for this?
1 Corinthians 1:10 - Now I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak
the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (KJV)
“It was morally impossible,
considering the diversities of their educations and capacities, that they
should all agree in opinion; nor could he intend that, because
he does not urge any argument to reduce them to such an agreement, nor so much
as declare what that one opinion was in which he would have them agree. The
words must therefore express that peaceful and unanimous temper, which
Christians of different opinions may and ought to maintain toward each other;
which will do a much greater honour to the gospel, and to human nature, than
the most perfect uniformity that can be imagined.” — Doddridge
In this case, since I do not know the exact nature or
arguments surrounding the disagreements, I wish to focus on what I do know and
on what I can do—love and serve. I will
continue to love the PEOPLE if not the “church” (or is that not possible?) and
I will continue to work for the purpose of blessing the children and their
families and most of all the Lord God.
However-----are You
smiling, Lord?-----I will also ask,
simply and humbly, that the Holy Spirit would bring us to the truth and would knit
our hearts together in a beautiful tapestry, a weaving, of our differences to
show the image of Jesus in these darks and lights, highs and lows. There CAN be coexisting truths! Is truth “situational?” My example: my hypertriglyceridemia, others’
diabetes—fruit is good (truth) but for me and those others, it can be
dangerous. Or allergies—is there
anything really “bad” about sesame (truth—no) but for one who has a
life-threatening allergy, it is very bad.
Please be glorified, dearest God, during these stormy times
at this church. In Jesus’s name~~Amen.
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Prayer #2, but not in importance: Julie's work at Strawberry Mansion. My first and maternal prayer is, of course, for her safety. I also ask You, Lord, for encouragement for her. This was a difficult first week. She is not getting great or frequent supervision, and my supervisor's heart wants to help by sharing some of (what I hope is) the wisdom I have gained from my years of experience. Refresh her this long weekend! Maybe I can send an email outlining some of my ideas, noting that she can choose to ignore the whole thing, pick and choose what to consider, and never risk offending me by refusing any of my thoughts. I will--I must, I suppose, with the tasks on our plate today--await the opportunity to put this missive together :) and I will trust that by asking You to negate the idea firmly and unmistakably if it is NOT according to Your will, You will communicate that clearly to me. Thank You in advance!
On to serving You with Promotion Sunday tomorrow! Thanks for "waiting for me." With much love and devotion~in Jesus's name and always trying to follow the Holy Spirit's guidance~~Amen.
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