I just want to take some time this morning to publicly thank the Lord for saving my soul and for saving my marriage. I've been doing some reflecting this morning and when we take the time to really think about it, we'd all realize just how good God has been to each of us! Luke 1:49 sums it up perfectly for me,
"For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name."
Ladies, when I think back on how unlikely a candidate I was to be a pastor's wife, it's a miracle! When I think back on how unlikely a candidate my husband was to be a preacher of the gospel, it's a miracle! In my mind's eye, I can still picture us as a newly married couple struggling to stay together, fighting every weekend over my husband's whereabouts and activities, his drinking and wild living. I think back on my ugly temper and sharp tongue and all the damage I caused with that tiny little piece of flesh in my mouth. Not only did I cut my husband's heart to pieces with it, I cut my own up too! We were a mess, and I was in sorry shape as a Christian. Oh, I was saved, but that's all I was! There was no godliness in my actions, my words, my thoughts. I hit rock bottom as a person and had nowhere to turn but to the Lord. I think of verse 48 in the same chapter of Luke which says,
"For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden..."
No matter how low we get, we are never so low that the Lord cannot lift us up! The Lord regarded my low estate and His strong arm is what made the difference in my life and in our lives together. True, my husband was a bodybuilder, but none of his muscles could compare to God's! They couldn't fix our hearts or our home.... 2 Chron. 32:8 says,
"With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles...."
Ladies, no man has an arm like God's, I don't care how big it is! Jeremiah 17:5 says, "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." God's might is what we needed in our lives, not man's, and verse 51 of Luke 1 says, "He hath shewed strength with his arm...." God's arm is a divine arm, it's a reliable arm, for you can always lean on it and find that your burdens are never to heavy for Him! We are never so low that God is not near and ready to lift us up to higher, holier ground with His mighty strength. You can always trust the Lord's strength...
Isaiah 51:5 says, "My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust."
Ladies, I'm here to tell you today that my husband and I trusted in the arm of the Lord and we are mightier for it! If you have not learned to do so, might I encourage you to try His arm today? Lean upon it and you'll find the same everlasting strength we did - over and over again - for the Lord never tires of supporting His children! Deut. 33:27 says,
"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."
He'll help you fight all your battles just as He did for us, and will make you the victors! We had so many enemies in our lives - the devil fought hard to destroy us both individually and as a married couple. But God thrust all those enemies out from before us with His strong arm - and for this I am truly thankful! In the face of great odds against us, there is no other way it could have been done, no other way that we could have fought our enemies and won. I'll be honest with you, had we sat in a counselor's office and poured out our problems on his lap, he would have shaken his head and said ours was a hopeless situation, it would have been too hard for man to figure out. We would have become just another addition to the divorce statistics. BUT Jeremiah 32:17 says,
"Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"
My husband and I are certainly glad for this truth! We were not so hard a case that our mighty God could not help us! I don't care WHO you are or HOW you are today - God's outstretched arm can help you, God's outstretched arm is capable of changing your situation into a better one, God's outstretched arm can reach down to the lowest of places and take you to heights you never thought imaginable! He'll pick you up and put you in a high place - right next to Him where He can keep an eye on you and continue to help you and strengthen you with His might! What a blessing to have such a caring, capable God, amen? You know, as parents, when we set our eyes upon our children it is a natural reaction to want to gather them up into our arms, amen? So it is with God.... Will you allow your heavenly Father to gather you into His arms, to draw you closer to Him and strengthen you? Mark 9:36 says,
"And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms...."
Mark 10:16 also says, " And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them."
There is nothing but blessings waiting for us in the arms of the Lord, ladies! What would keep you from running to Him today and receiving them?? There is comfort waiting for you in the arms of God! Comfort of which I am enjoying today, strength of which I am enjoying today, blessings of which I am enjoying today! Isaiah 26:4 says,
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:"
Isaiah 33:2 also says, "O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble."
God has put His hands upon our home and blessed us, and He'll do the same for you - if you'll let Him. All those who see their need of Christ, and are desirous of righteousness and life in Him, the Lord fills with good things, with the best things; and they are abundantly satisfied with the blessings He gives! He will satisfy the desires of the poor in spirit who long for spiritual blessings, while the self-sufficient shall be sent empty away.... There is strength available to us for all our tomorrows - we would be fools to refuse it, amen? I can't imagine where my husband and I would be today without the Lord's strength.... Leaning on Him is the only way to be confident of a victory!
Deut. 9:29, "Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000
Pamela A. Iannello
