Don’t give up

            There’s one subject that the Lord keeps bringing me back to. I think I have a handle on it, but somehow, I seem to forget how important it is. It is the subject of gratefulness, giving thanks. I am an incredibly blessed individual – I have a husband who loves me, two wonderful daughters, a great son-in-law, five healthy grandchildren, my own home, a job I love, a church that is exciting, … I could go on forever. You get the picture though; I have a lot to be grateful for. And yet sometimes I forget all that, and instead focus on something that is not going so well for me right now.

            I am enjoying reading the Passion Bible recently. I read Galatians this last week. So many times have I have read about the fruits of the Spirit before but reading about them in a fresh translation brings everything alive in a new way. Firstly, the translator chose to supply action to the virtues, because they are not meant to be abstract virtues but rather made visible with actions. Instead of simply joy, it reads, joy that overflows. I stopped right there. “Father I want joy that overflows. How do I walk in that?” And the answer – give thanks, focus on the good things that I have been given, recognize the positive things happening in and around my life.

            Such an important truth, but the Lord had more to say to me. I have been trying to have a positive attitude for so long. But there are some things that I long for, some things that I have been crying out to God for over and over and over. I want to share him more with people around me, I want to pray for people and see their lives changing, I want to pray for healing for people and see them healed. It is all there in Scripture. When Jesus died and rose from the dead, he gave me the power to bring life to those around me. Not just me, but all of us who have given ourselves to him, all of us who have made him our boss. We have the authority to cast out demons, to heal the sick, to raise the dead. I long to move in all that was won for me by the Lord Jesus.

            When opportunities arise to pray for others I try and faithfully embrace them. When I went rowing the other day, I was just at the dock getting ready to take my boat out when someone I did not know brought her boat alongside the dock a bit further down. She quickly asked me what a person should do if they tip their boat over. Apparently, her husband had tipped his boat over and was not able to get back into it. Although I have been rowing for over seven years now, I have never tipped my boat, and could only advise her from theory. It was not very helpful. She was a little anxious and was asking me what she should do. I asked her if she knew how to pray. She laughed nervously, so I quickly said I would pray for her husband then, which I quickly did. I then left on my boat, and not two minutes later passed her husband who had just managed to get back into his boat and row out of the reeds. I believe a planted a seed in this woman, and hopefully she was left with a demonstration that God does answer prayer.

            Galatians chapter 6 was where the Lord spoke to me further. Verses 9 and 10 say “…don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming! Take advantage of every opportunity to be a blessing to others …”. I am not going to give up planting seeds of gratitude. I am not going to give up believing that the Lord is going to do more in me and through me. And I believe that as I sow seeds of faith, declaring what Scripture promises us, the harvest that I will reap will be a wonderful harvest. Hang in there – the harvest is coming.