“Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then,… (emphasis added), (Ephesians 6:13-14/NIV).

But God, I need cement boots to do that!!

Do you ever have those weeks? Days? Minutes?!

I have been sharing, okay, sometimes preaching, on this blog and to a few of my friends how important it is to stand firm, meditate on what God has done in the past, and trust Him for the results. God has been faithful in the past. He will be faithful again… even though His time frame and our time frame are exceedingly different. It’s easy! Until Satan slams you and you get hit by a rogue wave that almost knocks you over! If you wonder what a rogue wave is, it’s large, unexpected, and dangerous. Sometimes you get hit by one once. Other times, it is an accumulation of hits over a week. Mine was the latter.

Why is it still dangerous if there are no injuries? Because your faith suffers during those times, unless you are standing firm in God’s word, His truth, and His promises.

It was not my desire to let so much time lapse before writing another post… most of our lives are not in our control. I am always grateful that God is still in control… always… without waver… faithful.

After a series of hits in a two-week period, one can become exasperated. I have a tendency at that point to avoid everything else. It is easy to curl up on the sofa and read a book, or become stagnate and resort to watching movies or old sitcoms.

Although, right before I get ready to,

Give up…

withdraw…

evacuate…

If I am paying attention, God steps in.

I both love and hate Facebook. My love for it because I can keep in touch with my family and friends overseas, my family in other states, and my friends where I used to live. My hate for Facebook because it has become exactly that – a platform of debate, hate, and criticism, and a residence for people, frustrated, devastated, or confused with their own life, to dissect every sentence or belief and viciously attack the person who made the comment. I am grieved by the division. Despite the ugliness, Facebook also brings up memories of former postings, a year ago and even further back.

Those memories of God’s faithfulness, looking for God’s hand every day, and starting to sing worship to God during the trials helped me through the past two weeks. Amazingly, it helped me to have peace. The circumstances have not changed, but I have courage and strength to keep on fighting and keep taking steps forward.

This past week, it was a blessing to take a trip with a friend to see the Bible Museum in Washington. This was my first trip with a friend in over two years! The girl-time was incredible, but we were both extremely disenchanted over the commercialism of the museum. I had prayed and hoped that there would be moments of time to meditate on a Bible story or a verse that we came across. It wasn’t to be until… God stepped in. Deep in my heart, I was crying out to God for a word, or a moment, or anything! We were about to give up, but while talking, wandered into the display of the history of the Bible. It was inspiring to see how far the Bible had progressed over the centuries, and even to see the Bible written in different languages.

Finished with our path, we observed a woman and young girl talking with a Jewish man who was sitting behind a table. He was writing something and we could see him writing on a card in another language. Extremely inquisitive, we stopped the lady that had walked away. She informed us the man had written their names in Hebrew and shared the meaning. My friend and I looked at each other, our eyes lit up, and we impatiently waited our turn. It was a priceless moment in the day. The conversation between the three of us brought tears to our eyes. God had not let me down. The moment that I had yearned for was not what I expected. God never gives us a little. It is always better than we can imagine.

Tomorrow is Monday. The battle is still there to be fought. My armor is on to stand firm. God showed me something daily and even blessed me with a moment that I had not expected.

This week,

Stand firm.

Worship God during the trial.

Listen to biblical sermons.

Pray and read God’s word daily. (I am still preaching to myself too)!

Remember why… “Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts” (Isaiah 26:8/NIV).