Author: Susan Panzica

On Friday at the Jersey shore, pods of dolphins frolicked in the ocean so near to shore you could almost touch them. Down the beach, over 50 fishing boats of all sizes clustered off the coast. The stripers were running, and under the bright cloudless sky, everything looked beautiful in the world.

Overnight, the winds kicked in, and the glass patio doors rattled as the rain pounded without mercy. The ocean waves grew white in ferocity. That morning, the sun hid behind the nor’easter’s bleak greyness.

What a difference a day makes.

Life situations can change overnight as well. A phone call from a family member with bad news, a visit to the doctor with a grim diagnosis, a commute into work to be told it’s your last day, so many more circumstances that can alter the course of a life, much less lead to a bad day.

Can there be any good news when the most terrible announcements overwhelm and overtake daily life?

Fortunately, yes.

God is bigger than your circumstances. His plans aren’t derailed when it seems the worst has happened. Sometimes, great disappointments can even be blessings in disguise.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

After every winter comes the new life of spring. Seasons change, but God never does.

The nor’easter lasted a day, and the sun came out after the storm blew through. But more importantly, the sun was there all the time – I just didn’t see it. When I heard the wind and saw the clouds, I focused on them and ignored the fact that the sun was there all along. I couldn’t see it, so I didn’t think about it.

We are engaged in spiritual warfare, and an effective enemy tactic is to distract our focus. He uses busyness, family or friend problems, work concerns, over-sensitivity, self-consciousness, financial worries, even national and local elections, to attract our attention. But when we concentrate on eternal matters, the things of this world dim in comparison. Like looking through the lens of a camera, if our focus is on things nearby, those details in the background are fuzzy. When we adjust the lens, we can bring the background into crisp detail, and the close things are less harrowing.

If we choose, as Paul did, what we focus on and “fix our eyes … on the eternal,” by comparison, we will be able to view our troubles as “light and momentary” AND “achieving eternal glory,” blessings in disguise.

 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 

Seasons come and go, but we will reap in due time IF we do not lose heart:

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

Father, I pray for those in difficult circumstances – that You would impart your peace to their troubled hearts, soothe their spirit, and help them to focus on the eternal. Let these trying times be useful in molding us to Your image.

As I write this post, I am barely recognizable. Poison ivy is covering most of my face which is swollen, itchy, stinging, dark red, with weeping sores all over it. I spent much of the past two days researching treatment for poison ivy and kept coming across that word – weeping. Each time I saw it, I remembered God’s promise:

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

I kept hoping that in the morning, the rash, with its weeping and swelling, would be gone. But alas, it wasn’t. And that begs the question: did my joy come in the morning or not? Is my joy dependent upon the presence of or the lack of an annoying rash? In the larger picture, is our joy dependent upon our circumstances? Can we be joyful in the middle of the struggle?

I believe we can. I believe that’s God’s promise to us.

He says that we weep at night, when it’s dark, when our thoughts can be our own worst enemy. But the morning brings light, and those first rays puncturing the darkness help us to see our circumstances in a whole new way.

The Word says “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Eccl. 3:4 

When Nehemiah, with Ezra and the Levites, saw the people mourning over the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem, he said, “’This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, ‘… Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ The Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.’ Then all the people went away …to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”

Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes with the light of dawn, with new understanding of the Word. When the light of God’s presence pierces the dark, joy comes. And His joy is not dependent on the time of day or a change in circumstances. He Himself is our light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

It is indeed possible to experience joy despite our circumstances when:

• we know the One who causes EVERYthing to work together for good (Rom 8:28).
• we know that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:17-18)
• we know the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. … but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like an eagle; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

Will you join me in seeking the Light in the midst of darkness? I can say that though my circumstances haven’t changed for the better, God’s presence lifted my spirit and brought joy.

I’ve heard quotes like these for years:

There is no problem so big that God is not bigger still. There is no issue so small that God does not care about it.

God is so big that the universe cannot contain Him, yet He is so small He can fit inside your heart.

But they’re just words until you see them in action.

This past Saturday, Justice Network (my organization that raises awareness about human trafficking) hosted a food truck festival. It was our first effort to put on an event like this. We partnered with my home church and enlisted co-sponsorship from our state Coalition. But the work of planning, preparing, publicity, and so much more was handled by a small group of six. We called ourselves the “ninja team.” My husband called us the “High Mountain Core of Engineers”.

Throughout the process of creating the event, we did our research and solicited advice (some of which was conflicting and confusing), but throughout it all, we prayed. We prayed for the big things and the small things and everything in between.

One of my “silly” prayers (or so I thought) was a specific prayer for the length of the lines at the food trucks. We needed a delicate balance – lines too short meant that the food trucks would not make enough money for it to be worthwhile for them – lines too long meant that people would leave hungry and dissatisfied. And so I prayed for the number of people on line. Specifically that it would be between 3-6 people at a time.

I felt a little foolish praying for such an inane topic. After all, we were raising awareness about the critical issue of human trafficking – modern day slavery! We were raising money for scholarships for survivors of human trafficking! We were witnessing the church of Christ working like a healthy body should – everyone doing their part like eyes and hands and feet! We were connecting with our community on a level that had not been done before!  So many concerns of such great consequence.

As I looked around that day, there was so much to be thankful for – so many prayers that God was answering.

Including the number of people on each line!

Throughout the event, I continually walked and talked with attendees, craft table vendors, food truck vendors, the band members, and information table representatives. And I kept a watchful eye on the food truck lines. And at no time was any line too long, and more importantly, we had a steady stream of attendees – an estimated 600 people!

Lesson learned!

It’s not the size of the prayer that counts – it’s WHO I’m praying to that counts! Any other way of looking at it is a deception from the devil who would have us think that God assesses our requests with some kind of eternal measuring tool, ranking prayers with levels of importance.

Does Scripture say, “Thou shalt not bother the Lord with requests of small importance!”?

Our Aunt Anna used to pray for a parking space, help going up her steps, finding missing items. Nothing that was of concern to her was kept from her Savior. Corrie ten Boom said, “Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”

And God commands us to bring EVERYthing to Him. This instruction is not a suggestion:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYthing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”Phil 4:6

We may offer prayers to which God says no. Our requests may be inappropriate, immature, self-centered. Our prayers may be off target to God’s will. But, in the eyes of God, there is no prayer too small or insignificant.

Is there anything that you haven’t brought to God because you think (even if subconsciously) that the problem is too small to bother God with? Well, right now, kick the enemy out of your head, and place yourself before the Lord.

BTW – We even made the news! For more info about the event, visit our post at Justice Network.

On Independence Day, there’s a lot of talk about freedom and liberty. Thankfully, we do not live under the bondage that is found in some other countries. But all too often, we live in bondage to fear, pride, depression, anger. We may not have control over these areas of our lives. The answer is surrender.

In Bible times, slavery was common. Slaves had no freedom, but when offered freedom, some chose to live surrendered to their Master, for life with a kind Master was superior to freedom outside that home. These surrendered slaves were called “bond-slaves.” The Apostle Paul often referred to himself as a bond-slave of Jesus Christ.

While unjustly imprisoned, Paul wrote the letter to the Philippian church. In it, he says that due to his being in chains, the gospel was shared with entire palace guard. He sees that his lack of freedom had a greater purpose. He was surrendered.

From Paul’s letter to the Philippians we can discern his answers to the bondages I mentioned above:

You will not have to worry
Phil. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

You will not feel the need to be in charge
Phil 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

You will experience true joy
Phil: 4:4-5 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

You will be free from anger
Phil 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

The Christian life is a paradox in many ways-
-When we are weak, we are strong
-The first shall be last
-You must lose your life to find it
-To live forever, you must die to yourself

And…
-True freedom means surrender to the One who owns you

Happy Independence Day to you.

May you experience true freedom in surrender to the King of Kings!

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

For years, Psalm 91 was a favorite of mine. I even used it as my first email address. This week, my neighbor posted this photo of our lake’s resident swan family, and I instantly recalled those beautiful verses:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Years ago, as class mom, I went on many a field trip. On one trip that took us to the Bronx Zoo, I felt like a mama hen trying to keep all her chicks from scattering. The children were only interested in the animals or attractions that lay ahead, but I knew the dangers if one of them escaped my watchful eye.

Just like these chicky little students of mine, we often run ahead toward whatever catches our eye, straying from safety or sanctuary.

Spurgeon said, “We are foolish and weak as poor little birds, and are very apt to be lured to our destruction by cunning foes, but if we dwell near to God, he will see to it that the most skilful deceiver shall not entrap us.”

We would be wise to know the “fowler’s snare.” The enemy of our soul employs tricks like the fowler:

• The fowler works in secret
• The fowler changes his trap and methods
• The fowler often entices with pleasure or profit
• The fowler often uses a bad example, a decoy

But thankfully, when we dwell in the shelter of the Most High, we are protected from the fowler’s snare. The mama’s wings covering her babe serves a beautiful picture of both power and gentleness. Likewise, He is our powerful, yet gentle, protector.

When the psalmist says “you,” he means you – singular – a personal promise:

• He will save you
• He will cover you
• You will find refuge
• His faithfulness will be your shield

These truths are for you personally if you dwell (stay, reside, have your home, inhabit, settle) in the shelter of the Most High.

If you’re like me, or like those chicks in my charge, it doesn’t take much to be distracted. It could be some bright, shiny thing that I lust after or a harsh word too easily spoken reflecting a hard attitude within. There’s only one thing to save me from myself. Or from the fowler. Sticking close to my Protector.

Will you choose with me to:

• Dwell in the shelter of the Most High
• Rest in the shadow of the Almighty
• Say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

For more of God’s promises, click here to read another post with a different take on this special Psalm.