If It Wasn't For God...Where Would You Be?
"He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area." Job 1:3 NLT
"So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys." Job 42:12 NLT
Good evening everybody!! I'm sure many of you may have just watched that UCONN-Butler game...not me! LOL, I woke up from my pollen-induced nap about two hours ago and did some reading. Anyway, I wrote this title on February 15th. And its funny to me how sometimes God has me to wait before I write things, but this seems no more perfect for today than the day I wrote the title down. I was talking with one of my best friends yesterday and her brother, and we all were reflecting on where our lives have gone in the last three years.
Life sure has not been too kind with some of the cards I have been dealt, but God!! I looked back over my life so far and looked at the things I have endured. It has not been pretty but by God's grace and favor, I have survived. Lets do a brief recap: May 2008 I was fortune to graduate from college and graduate school at the same time in spite of having been stricken by kidney disease in February of 2006. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude, might I add--but God!! On my 23rd birthday, I was afflicted with some issues stemming from my medicines, and pretty much for the rest of 2008 it was downhill health-wise, resulting in my kidney function falling enough that I was officially diagnosed with end-stage renal disease--at 23!! But God, because I still went to work everyday in spite of having no energy at all. January 2009 I had my kidney transplant--avoiding dialysis and death because my kidney function had fallen so low that had anything happened to me, I could have possibly died without dialysis. I was favored by God to have a miraculous surgery and recovery, healing quickly with little or no issues. Now, that's not to say that the devil was not busy...I had to have my thyroid checked and I am still dealing with things related to that now. But God!!! September 2009 I lost one of my closest friends when my cousin died unexpectedly. I had a difficult relationship and December 31, 2009 left my family with the pain that my dad was told that he had 2 months left to live. 2010 was the year from hell in every area of my life and I thought I would never come back from the pain of losing my dad. My cousin that passed in 2009--well, her fiance' ended up dying tragically in August--2 weeks before the anniversary of her death. But God!! God saw fit to allow all of these things in my life...and I am sure He allowed trying circumstances in your life as well.
When I look at the two scriptures above, I am reminded that God restored Job. God gave him more than he had before. He restored Job's health, his family, and his wealth. God promises many times throughout the Word to restore us and give us back what we lost. We cannot get the people we lose to death back, per se, but He can heal our hearts that we remember the best about them. We may lose our wealth temporarily, but God is a great God, because He promises to give us back what we lose. He promises to heal us as well. I think about where I would be without God, without His hand on my life, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I would not be here. I would have given up and died--unfulfilled. I can only cry out in bliss because God saw fit to save me and still keeps His hand on my life. He blessed Isaac continually in a land where he was not wanted...in the midst of opposition. He blessed the latter half of Job's life more than the beginning...don't you see the pattern??? But God!!
"When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him." Genesis 26:12 NLT
Good evening everybody!! I'm sure many of you may have just watched that UCONN-Butler game...not me! LOL, I woke up from my pollen-induced nap about two hours ago and did some reading. Anyway, I wrote this title on February 15th. And its funny to me how sometimes God has me to wait before I write things, but this seems no more perfect for today than the day I wrote the title down. I was talking with one of my best friends yesterday and her brother, and we all were reflecting on where our lives have gone in the last three years.
Life sure has not been too kind with some of the cards I have been dealt, but God!! I looked back over my life so far and looked at the things I have endured. It has not been pretty but by God's grace and favor, I have survived. Lets do a brief recap: May 2008 I was fortune to graduate from college and graduate school at the same time in spite of having been stricken by kidney disease in February of 2006. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude, might I add--but God!! On my 23rd birthday, I was afflicted with some issues stemming from my medicines, and pretty much for the rest of 2008 it was downhill health-wise, resulting in my kidney function falling enough that I was officially diagnosed with end-stage renal disease--at 23!! But God, because I still went to work everyday in spite of having no energy at all. January 2009 I had my kidney transplant--avoiding dialysis and death because my kidney function had fallen so low that had anything happened to me, I could have possibly died without dialysis. I was favored by God to have a miraculous surgery and recovery, healing quickly with little or no issues. Now, that's not to say that the devil was not busy...I had to have my thyroid checked and I am still dealing with things related to that now. But God!!! September 2009 I lost one of my closest friends when my cousin died unexpectedly. I had a difficult relationship and December 31, 2009 left my family with the pain that my dad was told that he had 2 months left to live. 2010 was the year from hell in every area of my life and I thought I would never come back from the pain of losing my dad. My cousin that passed in 2009--well, her fiance' ended up dying tragically in August--2 weeks before the anniversary of her death. But God!! God saw fit to allow all of these things in my life...and I am sure He allowed trying circumstances in your life as well.
When I look at the two scriptures above, I am reminded that God restored Job. God gave him more than he had before. He restored Job's health, his family, and his wealth. God promises many times throughout the Word to restore us and give us back what we lost. We cannot get the people we lose to death back, per se, but He can heal our hearts that we remember the best about them. We may lose our wealth temporarily, but God is a great God, because He promises to give us back what we lose. He promises to heal us as well. I think about where I would be without God, without His hand on my life, and the first thing that comes to mind is that I would not be here. I would have given up and died--unfulfilled. I can only cry out in bliss because God saw fit to save me and still keeps His hand on my life. He blessed Isaac continually in a land where he was not wanted...in the midst of opposition. He blessed the latter half of Job's life more than the beginning...don't you see the pattern??? But God!!
"When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him." Genesis 26:12 NLT
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