A Faithful God In Trouble!!! A Word from THE WORD!!! #443

“Let your conversation

be without covetousness;

and be content

with such things as ye have:

for he hath said,

I will never leave thee,

nor forsake thee.

6 So that we may boldly say,

The Lord is my helper,

and I will not fear

what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5-6

What a promise; and that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning.  I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’ve been absent for these few months, and I’d like to share a few things with you that I pray will bless you and give you hope, courage and a heart to seek this amazing God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  Jesus is real—He is truly my dearest friend, and because of that truth I am able to come to you this morning sharing my heart and, if you would, more of my story.

Almost 2 months ago my husband had a fall that caused a brain bleed; long story, short, it led to his death.  It was a crushing loss after 38 years of sharing our lives with each other and serving God as He opened and closed doors in our pursuit of our Lord Jesus’ will!  We had good times and difficult times; we have had joy and we had sorrow; we had trials and times of jubilation; we were so blessed, and I won’t take space or time to share with you the wonderful, godly man that he was, as he touched more lives than I can imagine. (And yes, I still find myself talking about ‘us’ and ‘we’—guess I will for a while, since I’ve been saying that for over 38 years!  Thank you, Jesus!)

He had health issues for the last four years, but God granted us those four years, that we were grateful for!  But that in and of itself isn’t the reason that I’ve not been writing here on Bible Ballistics; the loss was great, but my issues didn’t stop there; I had not been feeling well (after spending weeks at the hospital) and seemed to be getting worse so my sister took me to the doctor four days after my husband died and I wound up being transported to the hospital in an ambulance when I collapsed in my doctor’s office.

I was diagnosed with severe pneumonia and also wound up with several other infections and was put on a 30+ days  of a powerful antibiotic infusion.  I was allowed to leave the hospital for my husband’s funeral, and then was readmitted to the hospital, and after four days transferred to a skilled nursing and rehab facility for some three weeks.  I was extremely weak and couldn’t do much but rest and do the physical therapy each day.  It’s been a long journey, but God has been with me every step of the way.  He blessed me with a sister who got to stay several weeks and help me make all the transitions before she had to return to her home.  I was blessed with friends who came to visit, helped with my personal needs, and brought me food to try to get me to eat—a problem I have seldom had in my life, and most importantly those who prayed for me.

I am so thankful to God and the precious friends that He has placed in my life, and may I always be that friend to others as I’ve tried to do all of my life with Jesus!!!  I was able to attend the funeral and grave side service, but I was so weak I had to have help walking, and God sent my precious nephew who came all the way from MS to be God’s help for me.  I was overwhelmed at the attendance of so many who knew and loved my husband, he was a precious man of God, a faithful friend to many, a precious father, brother (he was the last of seven boys to die), uncle—I could go on and on, but for time and space I won’t linger here, except to say that he was kind, generous and loving beyond measure..  Needless to say it was a precious service that honored the man with whom I have shared almost 40 years.  Yes, I miss him terribly, but my Savior and God has lifted me up and is restoring my health, and I’m getting stronger every day.  I have to rest a lot, but I’m so grateful to be home, even though it’s alone.  I told someone the other day that it’s been some 60 years since I was alone!  It’s a new experience, but by God’s grace I am going forward.  I know God still has a work for me to do!

I hope this will be a word of encouragement to those of you who need that word; I pray that it will help others who have suffered loss; for those who just wondered where I had gone!  I finally felt like I could do this today!  I pray that you will look up in all your trials, for God is faithful to every need.  I pray His blessings, grace and truth to minister to you.  I can’t leave you without the most important truth, that all this comfort, hope and peace that I am walking in comes from Jesus alone—because I know that my husband was born again, and is with my Lord Jesus right now; even as King David said so long ago upon the loss of a baby son, “…But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?

can I bring him back again?

I shall go to him,

but he shall not return to me.”  From 2 Samuel 12:23

Peter also proclaimed the truth of the gospel—that salvation is in Jesus alone!  May you look to Him for all you need!  He never fails!  Don’t let the enemy steal your hope!  Come to Jesus if you don’t know Him, simply repent of your sin and believe in Jesus’ substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for you and me when we trust to His blood that saves eternally! If you know Him already—Look up to your redeemer! (See Hebrews 4:14-16)

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words;

Jesus of Nazareth,

a man approved of God among you

by miracles and wonders and signs,

which God did by him

in the midst of you,

as ye yourselves also know:

23 Him, being delivered

by the determinate counsel

and foreknowledge of God,

ye have taken,

and by wicked hands

have crucified and slain:

24 Whom God hath raised up,

having loosed the pains of death:”   Acts 2:22-24

Jesus is not only the crucified and risen One, but He is also my Savior—my best friend—my comfort and hope; for I know as David said, I will join my husband and the other loved ones who have trusted Jesus for salvation, we’ll be in His presence for eternity.  I hope I’ll see you there too!

“This is the stone which

was set at nought of you builders,

which is become the head of the corner.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other:

 for there is none other name under heaven

given among men,

whereby we must be saved.”   Acts 4:11-12

Amen and Amen!!!

It’s so nice to be back with you all….  I’ll be writing as I can!