{And When HE Speaks}

Thank you, my dear, dear friends, for allowing me to share my raw little heart with you. It felt good. My last post would be sadly incomplete, however, if I did not follow up with an account of how the Lord has used this time to bless me.

I wrote then about how I might speak. Today I want to share with you how the Lord has spoken. Because His words bring life.

He spoke, first and foremost, through His Word. I knew that He would. It just took me some time to be still and know. He spoke when I just "happened" to be in 1 Samuel 7, quietly reading on Sunday morning.

I read and my eyes grew wide and I nodded assent, "Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the Lord helped me.'"

Yes. I knew He would help. He already has.

He spoke through the daily devotional that I just "happened" to read in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. Spurgeon draws the reader's attention to 2 Corinthians 12:9. "My grace is sufficient for thee." He writes,

If none of God's saints were poor and tried, we should not know half so well the
consolations of divine grace . . . . God's grace is illustrated and magnified in the poverty
and trials of believers . . . . If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you
will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God.

Yes. It's all about grace. May I faithfully show forth His grace through any trials which come my way.

He spoke through my husband who gently gathered the family around the table and encouraged us to speak life to one another. What are we thankful for? What do we appreciate about each other? This is life. Gratitude. Grace.

He spoke through His creation as I walked quietly through the park, the crisp evening air nipping at my cheeks and ears and nose. The reminders of a winter passing.

As I walked, engulfed in self, the sights and sounds began to penetrate. The birds. Chirping again. The buds on the trees. Swelling with life. With hope. My pace quickened as I awakened from my winter slumber and allowed myself to warm to the pulse of life.

And He spoke through you, my dear readers. He spoke through your comments and messages, both private and public. Your hugs, your offers to help and your promises to pray. He spoke through the camaraderie that I felt among those of you who said, "Yes. I know this feeling oh, so well."

He spoke through those who said with honesty what I needed to hear. And He spoke through the wise who have trodden this path ahead of me and who continue to speak truth into my life.

I have prayed for you and thanked my God for each you -- yes, even those of you whom I've never met. You are a true blessing.

So again, I thank you. Now let us continue in grace, my dear friends. For He speaks. And it is good.

J.W. Waterhouse, Miranda