Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.
Imagine yourself being chosen to play on the greatest team of all time. All of your hard work has suddenly become the fruit of your labors. God is your coach and He has seen His talents in you through the work of your hands. This is your reward, you are now a member of a team forever. You can never be too young or too old - you won't ever have to retire. You won't ever experience injury or defeat. You can't be traded and the Coach will never bench you.
Imagine yourself being chosen to struggle through life to help others become members on the greatest team of all time.
Imagine yourself being chosen to struggle through life to help others become members on the greatest team of all time.
DAY 14 WORD
“Only the Lord
had a delight in thy fathers
to love them,
and he chose their seed after them,
even you
above all people,
as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 10:15
had a delight in thy fathers
to love them,
and he chose their seed after them,
even you
above all people,
as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 10:15
DEEP THOUGHTS
There are many times in life when we'll face situations where we will be chosen or rejected. Sports teams, school events, romantic relationships, neighborhood friendships, employment, medical services and many more. Old guys usually retire from sports teams before they get rejected because they can't help the team as they once did. Young people struggle to make the cut due to lack of experience. Companies downsize or go in a new direction. You will experience rejection in life, so how do you become a member of the "chosen ones"?
Pruning, cutting and discarding happen wherever there is growth. You may have experienced a divorce simply because the two of you were too immature to love each other through your weaknesses. You may have physical disabilities or disease that limit your abilities to join any team. You may feel like you were chosen for a team called "struggle." You probably are.
I would imagine that you are a pretty good person, most folks are. Some conditions happen in life that are not the fault of the one who has to suffer through them. You may not be guilty of doing anything wrong, but you feel that you've been chosen to play on the wrong team. God has chosen to love you in a unique way. He trusts you. Only you can carry and struggle with the condition that hurts you.
The way you cope with your condition can become a more excellent way of revealing God's Love. He desires that none of us will perish or be left off His team of chosen people. Some folks are harder to reach than others and your struggle just might be the last play in God's game plan to save them.
A lady broke my heart about a month ago. Every moment I think about her, becomes a moment of salting the wound in my heart. The pain remains fresh and the wound deepens with each passing moment. Tears form even now as I remember the few moments that she passed through my life. I recall a Bible story about the lady whose tears washed the feet of Jesus. I will forever remain broken by my experience with this woman, this wound will never be healed.
Her body was limply sagging into a motorized wheelchair with a small knob to control its movement. My wife and I were visiting a long term care facility having a CHRISTmas Celebration for the residents. She was the victim of a stroke that left her severely paralyzed. Her hand could move the knob, but her ability to maneuver her wheelchair up to the dining table was limited. After watching her for a few moments in my own paralysis, I offered to help her. What caused my immobility was the smile on the face of a woman with a disabled body. After I moved her wheelchair up to the table, I returned once again to my own immobility, amazed at her grace in affliction. She broke me again.
She smiled and repeatedly told me how wonderful I was. She was so happy for the experience of this CHRISTmas celebration. Her appreciation and gratitude were overwhelming. Her words and demeanor were a moving power, parting the sea of her disability and immobility. How could somebody in such a struggle be like a light to the world? She was just one of many with long term struggles taking each sunrise as another day to smile through pain. I have not been the same since, nor will I ever be.
If you are struggling, I'm sorry for you, but there is hope. God has chosen you especially for a team that is one of a kind. You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Your light is God's Love that penetrates even to the joints and marrow. Your salt refreshes wounds and causes them to become wells of compassion in other people. You have a power that is inconceivably beyond anything you can possibly imagine. You are overwhelming in your capacity to create a greater love through brokenness. You are loved in greater ways because of your struggle. You are worthy of being chosen to be on God's Forever Team where there is no struggle, only new mercies each day.
Pruning, cutting and discarding happen wherever there is growth. You may have experienced a divorce simply because the two of you were too immature to love each other through your weaknesses. You may have physical disabilities or disease that limit your abilities to join any team. You may feel like you were chosen for a team called "struggle." You probably are.
I would imagine that you are a pretty good person, most folks are. Some conditions happen in life that are not the fault of the one who has to suffer through them. You may not be guilty of doing anything wrong, but you feel that you've been chosen to play on the wrong team. God has chosen to love you in a unique way. He trusts you. Only you can carry and struggle with the condition that hurts you.
The way you cope with your condition can become a more excellent way of revealing God's Love. He desires that none of us will perish or be left off His team of chosen people. Some folks are harder to reach than others and your struggle just might be the last play in God's game plan to save them.
A lady broke my heart about a month ago. Every moment I think about her, becomes a moment of salting the wound in my heart. The pain remains fresh and the wound deepens with each passing moment. Tears form even now as I remember the few moments that she passed through my life. I recall a Bible story about the lady whose tears washed the feet of Jesus. I will forever remain broken by my experience with this woman, this wound will never be healed.
Her body was limply sagging into a motorized wheelchair with a small knob to control its movement. My wife and I were visiting a long term care facility having a CHRISTmas Celebration for the residents. She was the victim of a stroke that left her severely paralyzed. Her hand could move the knob, but her ability to maneuver her wheelchair up to the dining table was limited. After watching her for a few moments in my own paralysis, I offered to help her. What caused my immobility was the smile on the face of a woman with a disabled body. After I moved her wheelchair up to the table, I returned once again to my own immobility, amazed at her grace in affliction. She broke me again.
She smiled and repeatedly told me how wonderful I was. She was so happy for the experience of this CHRISTmas celebration. Her appreciation and gratitude were overwhelming. Her words and demeanor were a moving power, parting the sea of her disability and immobility. How could somebody in such a struggle be like a light to the world? She was just one of many with long term struggles taking each sunrise as another day to smile through pain. I have not been the same since, nor will I ever be.
If you are struggling, I'm sorry for you, but there is hope. God has chosen you especially for a team that is one of a kind. You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Your light is God's Love that penetrates even to the joints and marrow. Your salt refreshes wounds and causes them to become wells of compassion in other people. You have a power that is inconceivably beyond anything you can possibly imagine. You are overwhelming in your capacity to create a greater love through brokenness. You are loved in greater ways because of your struggle. You are worthy of being chosen to be on God's Forever Team where there is no struggle, only new mercies each day.
DAY 14 PRAYER
Thank You God for brokenness.
You are the Way of compassion.
You inflict us with the faithful wounds of a Friend.
All struggles can be used for good in Your chosen people.
You gave Your one and only Son
To go through the greatest struggle of all time.
You had a purpose for His struggle.
You have a purpose for our struggle.
You will take us through.
We have been chosen by You
To go through our own unique struggle.
Help us to focus on you as our remedy to pain.
Help us to trust you in the most debilitating of circumstances.
Help us to help those whose struggles are greater.
You said we would do greater things.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.
You are the Way of compassion.
You inflict us with the faithful wounds of a Friend.
All struggles can be used for good in Your chosen people.
You gave Your one and only Son
To go through the greatest struggle of all time.
You had a purpose for His struggle.
You have a purpose for our struggle.
You will take us through.
We have been chosen by You
To go through our own unique struggle.
Help us to focus on you as our remedy to pain.
Help us to trust you in the most debilitating of circumstances.
Help us to help those whose struggles are greater.
You said we would do greater things.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.
For more information about how you can become a YWAP supporter and volunteer, please leave a message or call us at 716-830-8240. Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody. Jesus loves you and so do we. #ywapbuffalo #ywap4God #ywap716 #JLYASDW
RSS Feed
