Tag Archives: content

400 ways to smile

September 18, 2012

Over the past few weeks, there has been a few words that have been repeated to me. When I was in Guyana with my team, we met a little boy, who had lost both of his parents. One of the things that stood out at both of us was that this boy had the most genuine smile ever! Only recently, Giavana Jones and I were talking about this little handsome; he was just too adorable. I have never seen someone so content despite his circumstances. No matter what the grief was that he was sharing, he was smiling…

Then in church on Sunday, I heard the minister talk about smiling. It was in a different sense, but he basically said that when he shares hard truths with his congregation, he usually smiles after, in order to soften the blow. I would like to change that up a bit.- When there are hardships coming your way, just smile.

You know… God gave us 400 muscles in our faces. While I was studying Medicine, I always found that amazing. But do you know almost all 400 of those muscles aid in the function of smiling?

Why would God give us 400 muscles…for that purpose? Perhaps it’s because He knew that the enemy would send all sorts of things…and people… to make you frown. So in every attempt to frown, God gave you an extra muscle to fight the frown.

Lol. It’s funny, because I am thinking of the same scripture that I gave yesterday:

James 1: 2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.

The KJV says “Count it all joy…”

God really wants us to smile. Smiling is a weapon against the enemy. What sense would it make if you were given a weapon to defend yourself and you just let the enemy beat you up?

So although I know that things may be difficult right now. Stressful even…. Smile. You’re not smiling at your pain. But smile at the fact that, no matter what, God’s got things in control.

Count it all joy!

Posted by schadah in Tidbits for the weary, Uncategorized Tags: content, depression, discouraged, encouragement, God, hope

The purpose of gratitude.

July 27, 2012

Lol. I almost started to write “day 22:…” in the title bar. 21 days truly curb the habit.

I’ve been a bit under the weather over the last few days, so I only get to write whenever I am actually awake (lots of sleeps, which is totally unlike me). But today, I just want to summarize what gratitude does. And I apologize for any typos in advance. lol

As I’ve been saying all the while, one of the easiest ways that the enemy will distract us is by trying to take our praise. Ingratitude breeds a lot of negative things… bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, hatred… you have no idea. So you will find that each day, there’s a reason to complain. I guarantee you that something will happen that will irritate you. Complaining about the things that happen to us has become such a common thing, that we actually believe it’s normal. We call it ‘freedom of speech’, ‘ saying how you feel’.

While we have those rights, isn’t it amazing that God’s word teaches us the total opposite? Paul said

“In everything give thanks… for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus”

Why in everything? Why not some things, and then you cue out in others? It’s God’s will. And why is it His will? I dunno. When you see Him ask Him.:P

But I believe that a part of why God wants us to have a grateful heart is so that we we don’t seep into sin. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and perhaps I am not correct, but why do most marriages end in divorce these days? Why is it that people hate Obama so much? What if they had Hitler for President? Why do we see so many people angry and frustrated at every little thing these days? Perhaps it’s because we keep complaining about what we don’t have, rather than be grateful for what we do have.

Take it into the spiritual. How easy it is to complain to God and blame Him when things aren’t going our way. I realized that for a little while, half of my prayers were about what God wasn’t doing for me. How He hadn’t answered my prayers. It’s so much easier to ‘vent’ at God for what He’s not doing, rather than give thanks for what He is doing. But which parent doesn’t feel hurt when his child cusses him out for the things he missed? Which parent would want to bless a child when that child is never grateful for the good gifts that have been given?

This is why I think it’s the will of God to give thanks. It’s for our own good. It will keep our relationships on fire, it will keep us happy on the job, and it will keep our storehouses full. I am not saying that we shouldn’t be upset when bad things happen, or when things seem to not go our way. But I’ve learned in this fast, that God always always looks out for his children. He doesn’t give bad gifts, and if He seems to not be pouring out His hand… one of the reasons could be that we’ve been very ungrateful children. It could be that we’ve become angry, callous, bitter at things…and even at God.

So we’re done the 21 days of gratitude devotion. I hope you’ve learned something…anything…. But most importantly I hope that you’ve learned that God loves a grateful spirit. So how’s about we continue to walk in an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis.

Thank God for at least one thing every day. Thank him for:

Your five senses, food, your friends and family, you are where you are and not where you used to be, your house/apt, travelling mercies, financial blessings, yourself, seasons, small victories, deliverance from evil traps, that you’re making it, for love, restoration, that he’ll come through for you again, that everything will be alright, just because He’s God, that He’s with you, for angels unawares, for the cross, and for life.

So, no, the devil still continues to bring challenges and stuff for me to complain about (that’s his day job), but I am keeping my eyes on God and His goodness. I am beginning to see God’s grace, favour and love from a whole new perspective. And my testimonies will begin to roll in very soon. And yours will too. So keep me posted if your life has been changed by the 21 days of gratitude challenge.

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Uncategorized Tags: content, giving thanks, happiness, love, relationships

Day 19: Angels unawares

July 24, 2012

The true nature of God is his love for relationships. He does not exist in a vacuum, and He didn’t create us to live that way either. Unfortunately, many of us miss the true blessing of relationships and the people that God has sent to us to make our lives better.

This morning as I was reading my emails, I came across one from a friend that said “we’re in this together”. I don’t suppose she knew what she was saying, but I thought of how God always positions us in good relationships because he wants to bless us. So today, I want to thank Him for Angels unawares.

What do I mean by “Angels unawares”.

In Hebrews 13:1-2, the author writes:

Let brotherly love continue.Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Everyday, if we allow God to do His bit, we entertain angels in ordinary form. I am not talking about those close people in our lives. But have you thought about

The postman who delivers your mail.
The person who walks by and offers a sincere smile to you
The friend who sends you an email to comfort you.
The attendant at Mcdonald’s who unwittingly declares “have a good day” over your life.
The pastor/youth leader at your church who always knows exactly what to say about your situation.
The random sister, who gives you a big hug even though she doesn’t know you
The colleague who brings you an ice capp to help your work a little easier.
Even the little cat or dog, that you have that’s always licking you when you need it.

There are so many examples around us where God is blessing us in little teensy bitty ways. But the enemy will trick us into believing that these people are bothering us, nuisances, distractions, just so we can foster the cycle of discontentment. The truth is God has positioned people all around to show His light and love.

We should be grateful for each person that’s in our lives. They may not be as close as family or friends, but God has placed these strangers as ‘angels’ to be a blessing to us in some small way. Not only should we give thanks to God for them, but from time to time, we should also convey our gratitude to those people. Take time out of the busy schedule to encourage them, talk to them for a few minutes, or return a coffee favour.

In everything we must give thanks. God has orchestrated all of the happenings of our day and has positioned angels to bless us.

Posted by schadah in How Great is our God, Thanksgiving, Tidbits for Relationships, Uncategorized Tags: content, grateful, gratitude, relationships

Day 16: Everything’s gonna be alright.

July 19, 2012

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11

This is one of my favourite scriptures, and yet I often don’t remember it when I need to. But isn’t it amazing that God has plans for us? And what kind of plans are they? He said that they are plans to give us hope and a future.

Today I want to thank God that everything is going to be alright.

You may be thinking “why would you want to do that?”. And 3 years ago, a year ago, six months ago, I would have thought the same. I remember waking up a long time ago and wondering what kind of future I would have. In fact, when I closed my eyes to imagine my future, I couldn’t see anything except darkness. I couldn’t imagine my future being anywhere close to alright.

You may know what I mean. It’s the thought that you have when you lose your job, your husband/wife walks out on you, you’ve lost a child, you just figured out that you’ve been pursuing the wrong thing for 20 years.

But even though the place where we stand may seem as if we’ve reached the end of the world, God always has a plan for our future. We may not see it, but He has the blueprint, and He’s smiling because the outcome is good.

That’s the thing with blueprints. Nobody really gets them except the Architect who design them. But if you trust your architect, then you know that His finished product is going to be great.

Sometimes, I imagine God singing Bob Marley’s “Everything’s gonna be alright” (And no. Let’s not debate about the song. It’s a positive confession). Why would he sing that, because He already knows how the end is going to be: Great! So we need to asked ourselves, “If God has the blueprint for my life, and He’s smiling… why should I frown?” We already know that

1. No good thing shall He withhold from those who love Him

2. All things work together for good to them that love Him

3. He gives us the desires of our heart when we delight in Him.

4. He is a good God.

(PS: Those are all scriptural texts).

So even though things may not be the way we want them to be right now, we need to thank Him anyway because His plans for our future is amazing.

So these days, i find myself daydreaming when the present circumstances around me seem hopeless. I think of my future home, and my children, I think of the husband that I will have, and all the great family trips that we’ll take. I think of my career, and all the great things that I will be doing for God. Do I have any of those things right now? Nope. But I am going to thank God for them anyway. Because His plan for me is great and it will include every good thing that I need.

Don’t look at where you are, look at where you’re going…And thank God that everything is going to be alright.

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Tidbits for the weary Tags: Christianity, content, depression, encouragement, faith, giving thanks, God, gratitude, hope, peace

Day 15: He’ll do it again

July 18, 2012

Word of Encouragement: It is much harder to hold on, than to give up. But if you give up on God, you give in to a live of despair. You may choose to give up on everything and everyone else around you, but don’t lose hope in God.

Last night was a pretty sleepless night for me. After realizing that I was probably going to be up all night because of how I was feeling I began to do some reading… Basically anything that was beside me on the bed (Lisa Bevere’s Lioness Awakening, Kathy Ciaramitaro’s The Cross, My Bible, The Youversion App). I needed to respond to the enemy’s attack with the Word of God.

Now I know the worst thing you can ask someone when they are experiencing pain, is to pray or read anything scriptural. When you’re ill, you just really want the pain to go away. And yet in my spirit, I know that the only thing I could do at that point was to ‘latch’ on to a Promise from God. As I tried to meditate in my discomfort, i recalled that there was a page in my bible where I had kept a record of things that God did. When I looked at the page and the list of things I had written, I found the promise: If God has done it before, He will do it again.

Today, in light of the fact that I am thanking God for future things, I want to thank God that He will do it again.

As I previously said, when you’re going through a difficult time, you really don’t want to hear anybody telling you to “smile Jesus loves you”. Let’s be honest. You don’t. Your soul does not want to hear anything about God. Of course, that’s the devil trying to creep into your life and suppress your spirit man. But when the going get’s tough, I dare to say, you need to take a quick glimpse at all the things that God has done for you before, and then look at your future with an assurance that He will do it again.

My list was a lot longer than the 15 days that I have been writing. But on it was almost every breakthrough God had given me: success through school, scholarships and grants, finances, friendships, deliverance from depression, anger, healing from past relationships, strength to overcome issues, provision of jobs, cars, houses, protecting me from the snare of the fowler, healing me from illnesses and diseases… there is so much that He has done. And the one conclusion that I came to was that if He could do all of that, He can do it again.

God is a good God. He’s a good God… And sometimes the things that happen to us may seem as if they come from hell, but the TRUTH of the matter is that in the beginning, the middle and the end, God is a good God. He’s never finished any of your past experiences with bad endings, and if there was a bad ending, it’s because the story isn’t finished. He cannot lie about His goodness, so despite your present, remember that He’s good.

Try to make a list of all the things that God has done for you.. Maybe in the last year, the last two. I dunno. You’ll see how good He is. And once you do, you can rest assured that the same good God that did all of those things before, will do it again.

So right there, is something to give God thanks for. Why would a God who has been blessing you, keeping you, protecting you, providing for you, healing you, delivering you, holding you, just all of a sudden…stop? No. the same God that did those things in the past, He will do it again. You may not know the end of the matter, but rest assured that it’s good. And if it doesn’t look good now, give thanks, because God’s going to show His goodness to you again.

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?- Numbers 23:19

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Tidbits for Love, Hope and Joy, Tidbits for the weary, Tidbits for Trusting God, Uncategorized Tags: believe, Christianity, content, discouraged, encouragement, giving thanks, hope, jesus, relationships

Day 14: Restoration

July 17, 2012

During my devotions this morning, I read something that I thought I’d share with you:

When the foundations are shaking and you wish you could hide, remember that God is still in control. His power is not diminished by any turn of events. Nothing happens without his knowledge and permission. When you feel like running…run to God. He will restore justice and goodness on the earth in his time. – Life Applications.

It’s day 14. I am technically two thirds of the way with this fast. I won’t lie, there are days that my body and my soul don’t really want to be thankful…but that’s when I have to learn to put on the whole armor of God and thank Him anyway.

In spite of how I feel, I know praise is the gateway to victory. I don’t know how the principle works, but that’s ok. I don’t know how a brown cow can eat green grass, produce white milk, red meat and yellow cheese. But as I am going through this fast of not complaining, I see God doing some things in my life. So far, God has send 3 angels to pour into my life just when I needed it, He’s opened doors that I thought were closed, and He’s really giving me the unction to keep pressing on despite what the enemy throws my way. Some areas that I am praying for are still being worked on, but God is just doing awesome and unexpected things in other areas.

Over the next few days though, I’ve been instructed to thank God for those things that ‘be not’. That’s not so easy. Because for many of us, from where we sit, things don’t look too good. It looks like that relationship/marriage will never work out, that you’ll never be able to pay off your mortgage, that you’ll never find a job, that you’ll never finish that degree. But that’s the thing when you’re on these long fasts: they are supposed to get harder by the day.

The enemy can’t do much about you thanking God for your past. Because as long as it happened, you have the choice to recall it. But he will try his damnedest to stop you from thanking God for your present and for your future.See when you can thank God for what you cannot see, I think it shows that the devil has no control over you. Because no matter what he brings, you’re gonna praise God ANYWAY.

So to start on this chapter, I want us to thank God for restoration.

I have to be broad about this, because I know that each of us may want something different restored. It may be a house for someone, a marriage for another, hope for another, joy for another, trust for another. But this is where we get into crazy faith, and shame the devil. I know exactly what I need God to restore for me. But whatever it is that you want to see restored, position yourself in ‘it’ in the future. I can guarantee that it won’t be easy. Envisioning a bright future in your head is always clouded by the grey ‘present’ in your heart. So you’ve got to push through that, and see with spiritual eyes what it is that you want God to restore. Once you get it, thank God for it. So if you can see yourself laughing and being joyful, Say “Lord I thank you that my joy is restored”. “…that my trust is restored”. “that my marriage is restored”.

You don’t have to understand it. I’ll guarantee you that it won’t make sense. But the more you give thanks for what you want God to restore, the less likely you’ll be to complain that it will never happen. And the lesser you speak death about the situation, the more you’ll give God ‘fertile’ soil to restore it. So today I am giving God thanks for restoring my peace, my joy, my strength, and everything that died contrary to His Word for my life.

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. ⁶I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that Iam the Lord.”’” Ezekiel 37:4-6

Posted by schadah in How He Loves Me, Thanksgiving Tags: hope, discouraged, gratitude, encouragement, relationships, Christianity, content

2 comments

Day 13: Love

July 16, 2012

Good Monday morning people! I wanted to encourage you today to arise with a joyfulness in your heart. Don’t complain about how you wish you didn’t have to go to work or school today. But rather, be excited that God is going to do something great for you today. This is the day that the Lord has made. WILL yourself to rejoice and be glad in it. Rejoicing as you may know by now, is not a feeling, it’s a choice. Enough said on that.

Over the last few days, I’ve been meditating on Jonah and how he rebelled against God. Jonah’s reason for rebelling against God (if you read the whole book), was quite rational. He knew that even though God had sent him to give Ninevah a word, that He (God) would not destroy His people. But of course Jonah was really angry when God didn’t destroy Ninevah as He had told Jonah He would. But God is so loving and just, and He said something that really stuck out at me…perhaps because of where I am personally. He said:

|”Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”- Jonah 4:10b.

I know I’ve written about this book before, but I just want to draw on something from here that makes me so grateful. And that’s God’s love.

We as humans can be really selfish…really. Eighty per cent of the time, we are concerned about “me”. The “me” factor is so selfish that it really prevents us from truly loving people 100% of the time. That’s okay, because we are on a journey called ‘life’. Think about it, if your spouse leaves his socks in the middle of the floor, you’re likely to get irritated, especially if you’re a neat freak. And if your friend doesn’t do things the way you like ‘em to be done, or does something to offend you, you are less than likely to ‘turn the other cheek’. Because of our selfish nature, we hold on to things from yester year: hurt, bitterness, notions on relationships… and we form logical conclusions as to why we can’t forgive, why we can’t love 100%.

But aren’t you glad that God’s love is not like that. Can you think about what it would have been like if God did not forgive you for all of your sins? What if God said don’t leave your smelly socks on the floor, and you did. What would it be like if He just got really irritated about that? Can you think about how you would feel if God kept a journal of every offense that you did to him? Can you think about what it would be like if God was so selfish that He decided that right now, He needed a break from you because you’re ‘interrupting’ his program?

He tells Jonah that “Look, these people don’t know left from right. I see they are making an effort. It might not be a big one, but I love them and I simply won’t wipe em out”. That’s basically what God probably says about us each morning. He looks at how messed up we still are, how imperfect we are, and He says, “I love you…still”.

So this morning, I want to thank God for loving me, the way He does. He loves me unconditionally. He loves me in spite of. He loves me when everyone else seems to have stopped loving me. He loves me when things are great, and when things are not so great, He adds a little extra love. He loves me when I do right, and when I make mistakes.

We sometimes take God’s love for granted. And people’s as well. But the fact is… and I am getting to realize this daily, Love is a choice. God does not HAVE to love us. He could wipe us out at a snap of his finger. But He loves us anyway. Because Love is part of who He is. So let’s be grateful to God for His love.

In the same token, I want to thank God for the few people that really love me, despite my flaws. They don’t have to love me, but they do… lol. I think my Mommy is a good example. But realize that there are some people that are with you that love you to pieces. Realize that they don’t have to. They choose to. There are others who don’t love you. They chose not to. You can’t harp on the ones that choose not to love you. But for those that honestly do care about you… be grateful for them and acknowledge their efforts to love you.

Love… it is truly a great thing. And we should be grateful that we have at least One Person to love us.

Posted by schadah in How He Loves Me, Thanksgiving Tags: God, gratitude, encouragement, giving thanks, relationships, depression, Christianity, content

1 comment

Day 12: I’m Making It

July 13, 2012

As I was doing some long overdue chores this morning, and worshipping at the same time, I began to think about…things…(I think a lot. lol).

I thought of the days when I thought I would never get out of bed. But somehow I did. And the times I thought I would never live again…But somehow I did.

Today, I want to thank God that I am making it.

Someone used to tell me that “I’m so much stronger than most people.” As a matter of fact, many people when they hear some of the things that I have gone through, or that I deal with regularly, they say that. The truth is I don’t always feel strong. And many a day, I get up wondering “God how am I going to make it through this day?”.

Do you know what I mean? Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “God how am I going to get through this?” And it’s not that you didn’t believe that He was able to bring you out. It’s just that you didn’t believe you had the strength to even lift yourself out of “it”, whatever “it” is. It may have been the loss of a loved one, the breaking away of a friendship, a lay off, a car accident… .We all have times in our lives when we feel as if we are not going to make it.

Whenever I ask God questions like that, I don’t always wait for the answer. But I believe that God always answers back “you’re going to make it…with Me”.

I want to talk to the young woman feeling as if what just took place in her life was basically the end; The woman who just lost a baby; The man who is wondering if life will ever be normal…and all the others reading this:

Look at your life… You are making it. The enemy told you that you wouldn’t be able to survive, but God has shamed him yet again, showing in His great mercy, that He is a sustaining God. Ten minutes ago, 3 days ago, 2 years ago, a decade ago, something happened and you thought that you would never be able to stand. But by the grace of God, you got up, day after day, putting one foot in front of the other, and you fought defeat. You’re making it.

Thank God for that!

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know. ”⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving, Tidbits for Relationships, Tidbits for the weary Tags: Christianity, content, depression, discouraged, encouragement, faith, giving thanks, God, gratitude

3 comments

Day 8: Me

July 9, 2012

Well I hope you had a beautiful and ‘grateful’ weekend. I took two days off from my research to attend a women’s conference at my church with Lisa Bevere and Hannah Ouellette. It was awesome! From time to time we really need those times when we can be ourselves, and not bother with all the make up and dress up and all that jazz.

Today, I want to thank God for me. Yes…Me. And you should thank God for you too.

No we’re not being conceited by thanking God for ourselves. In fact, we are giving Him glory; when we thank God for ourselves, we are in fact admiring His handiwork.

So…while waiting in line in the ladies’ room during the conference, I had the wonderful pleasure of listening to a woman complain about her hair. She had such beautiful blonde hair, it was thick and long and just rich. Of course, I admire her hair, cuz if I wanted that kind of hair, it would most likely have to be a weave…and I’d have to pay a decent penny for some human form of it.

So on and on she went about how she hated her hair. Before I knew it, there were other people in the line who started to complain about their hair, and thighs, and stomachs…. sigh. If you didn’t know, complaining is contagious.

It was going to be a long wait, and really I just wanted to tell them all to shut up and ‘like’ themselves. But that’s when the Holy Spirit showed me that we really need to be thankful for ourselves.
When we are ungrateful for who we are, we are in fact slapping God in the face, telling Him that He didn’t make us right. How would you feel if you were an Artist, and you gave someone your finest work, only to hear them say that it was crap?

For about two years after a broken relationship, I basically felt that God created me as crap. I didn’t like anything about myself. And so I would complain about how my natural hair was not long enough, so I needed to change it. I would complain about how skinny I was, how tall I was. I also had help. Because others would tell me about how ‘unshapely’ my butt was for a Black woman, or how small certain features of my body were (sorry men. I swear, there is something for you too in this blog). But I came to the realization one day that I am really beautiful. According to someone I used to know “A piece of work”. I am not just talking about my curves, or my thighs, my weight, or my size. I am talking about real beauty.

This morning when I got out of bed, I saw it again. And I just had to declare “wow, I am a rare gem”. I am God’s handiwork, the express image of my God. I saw in the mirror, a glow…, more like radiance that I could not explain. But I knew that what I saw was a glimpse of what my heavenly Father looks like.

We all have flaws. And we could go on and on about them. But have you ever stopped to think that you are fearfully and wonderfully made? I mean, each of us has a unique beauty about us that represents some aspect of God. Our eyes, our lips, our hair, our legs. You may not have the six pack that you want, or you may have some pudge on your thighs. But do you understand how God crafted you in His perfection? He doesn’t craft junk. If He did, He would never have said “It was good”. He made you “gooooood!”

Take a moment and gloat in yourself, in the fact that you are God’s handiwork. Thank Him for your lips, your hands, your biceps, your hair, your personality. You are you. And in some way, whether you see it or not, you are the image of Him. So rather than complain about it, thank Him for making you so uniquely beautiful. Trust me, it will make you feel a whole lot better about yourself!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully Psalm 139:14.

Posted by schadah in Thanksgiving Tags: Christianity, confidence, content, encouragement, grateful, gratitude, hope, relationships

2 comments

Day 6: Travelling Mercies

July 5, 2012

Today, I’m giving God thanks for ‘travelling mercies‘

So yesterday, I was in the house all day, pretty much working on my research. It was pretty cool inside of the house, naturally. It wasn’t until I stepped outside to get into my car for church, that I realized how brutally hot it was. I sensed it was going to rain. But I didn’t think it was going to be a thunderstorm.

Well, I was pretty wrong. Yesterday afternoon was one of those days that no one should have been driving. I literally had to pull over to the side of the expressway like so many other cars, and wait. There was hale, lightning, thunder, and crazy rain. It was definitely ‘accident prone’ weather.

Thankfully, I made it to church and back home, alive. But I tell you, travelling mercies is something that we really take for granted.

We place a lot of faith in cars and planes and other modes of transportation. But have you ever thought of how many things could go wrong with vehicles. Forget the malfunctions of the vehicle itself. How many people do you know, are driving and talking on cellphones, eating and trying to control the wheel? Do you realize how easy it could be in any given sojourn, for us to be killed? Not to mention all of the Hurrybees that are out there. You know, the ones that drive at 80mph on a 50mph road, even when the weather is bad? And those who are generally too tired when driving, to be completely focused on the road.

When I thought of this, two events came to mind.

The first thing I remembered was my last trip to Guyana, when for some reason, I accidentally bought a ticket with a flight date 3 days after when I wanted to come back to Canada. I was so mad, because I really just wanted to get home and get back to work, and the travel agent said that there was nothing that could be done. Pouting, I came home…three days late. But what I didn’t know was that the day that I initially wanted to come home, the plane that I was supposed to be on, malfunctioned. And while it tried to take off, it somehow managed to come crashing into the airport. Of course it never made CNN. Guyana is too small for that.

I also remember my first (and prophetically, my last), car accident, in which, despite the fact that my car was totalled, and despite the fact that it was my own fault for being disobedient to God, by His grace and mercy, I managed to walk away from the accident totally uninjured.

As I flashed back, I thought of how each time, I was travelling somewhere, God’s outstretched hand was holding me and the vehicle I was in. God holds our cars and us in it whenever we are driving. He holds the airplane and us in it, whenever we are flying.

Yep! We really should give God thanks for travelling mercies. Not just for holding our cars and us in His hand as we journey from point A to B on a daily basis. But for every time, He told us to turn left instead of right; to check the engine oil, to drive at a slower speed. We should thank God for every flight that was delayed, every subway and train that rerouted despite the inconvenience. We should thank God for the accidents that we managed to come out from with minor damage. We should thank Him every time we get off the 401 or the expressways successfully, and we should thank Him whenever we get into the garage or driveway and pull the keys out of the ignition. These are all travelling mercies. And we should not take them for granted, because they show that He knows all of the tiny details surrounding our lives. And He will preserve us day after day.

Do you have any travelling mercies testimonies? Feel free to share in the comment box!

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (Lam 3:22)

Posted by schadah in How He Loves Me, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized Tags: hope, God, gratitude, encouragement, happiness, Christianity, content

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