CYCLES OF CHANGE!!

Hello my faithful sister's,
I know it has been over a week or so since I have blogged seems as if it has been much longer,
however only about a week. Today I feel led to share on the cycles of change we all go through
often and how it brings about growth, the Lord takes us through many seasons and for some time now we have been on a hill top in almost every area of life , however as some of you know
we are now in the midst of a trial and the thing that took me by surprise is that I had foolishly aloud my guard to fall knowing the enemy lurkes around and is just waiting for our weaknesses to show themselves. I had forgotten to appreciate the season I was in and to know it could go away as fast as it came, with the next season awaiting. He has taught me that I need to cling to Him even more in the good times....... and not that I wasn't I have been in word daily and I have praised Him.......However I let my guards down and you really never can do that we are called to stay ARMORED UP DAILY..... so I am thankful for His tender mercies and that He can use a trial to focus me solely on Him again. I am also looking at it as a test... you see it is sooooooo easy for us to be joyful and doing great when we are on those hill tops of life, however it is when the sudden changes of life come that count the most! How will we respond is so important because how we respond to adversity, is when our belief in JESUS becomes visible to those around us.
Adversity can be painful, however the Lord uses it to further HIS purposes and equip us to carry out HIS plans for our lives. The Lord uses trials and hardships for a few things:
1) TO PREPARE US FOR HIS WORK
2) TO TEACH US TO OBEY (HEBREWS 5:8)
3) TO BROADEN OUR MINISTRY
Difficulties can also be used by the Lord as a tool in preventing a problem from consistantly happening. When disobedience threatens our walk with the Lord He will take whatever steps
that are needed to draw us near to Him once again. He may allow a need to go unmet or something cherished to be removed. His purpose is that we are being restored to Him. We may not know the reasons we are going through a current trial or hardship However He has shown me time and time again we are to trust in Him that is the wisest choice we can make. In Roman's
8:28 it says "HE who saved us through the sacrifice of His Son has promised to use our sufferings
to bring about eternal good." AMEN My prayer for myself as I am going through this trial as well as any of you who are or will be soon going thru a trial would be to remember that if we believe that God keeps His promises, we will become stronger in our faith and more at peace and the hardships that once would have devestated us would now seem to lose there power and it be replaced with the hope that thru this trial the Lord is making us more like Christ and less like ourselves. The Lord has shown me today that it is my emotions that are being tested you see in the past I have let my emotions dictate my actions and I was not trusting in my loving Father to show me the way out, I wanted the way out and wanted it now and at any cost that's not being CHRIST like at all. See in Mark 3:21 Jesus' own people (family) questioned His actions and He was rejected by those HE sought to serve in (John:6:66) and even so He NEVER allowed such circumstances to control HIS emotions or dictate HIS actions. Instead , HE chose to trust that the FATHER was able to carry out HIS word ............. so how much more should I trust in the Father for my trials as well???? SO I pray that I as well as you all remember to ask ourselves when we find ourselves in these hardships/ trials "what is the Lord trying to teach us in the midst of these trials? and "are we co-operating with our FATHER" ?? I have to admit the trial hit home this past Friday and I was not co-operating with the Father I was not happy and the Lord mercifully showed me that my joy "IS NOT FOUND IN MY CIRCUMSTANCES" HOWEVER FOUND IN HIS WORD HIS LOVE HIS FAITHFULNESS "PRAISE GOD" that HE loves us and promises us never to give us more than we can handle and never to leave us nor forsake us we truly are blessed no matter how grave our situations may be!!!!
I ask you all for continued prayer and when we are thru this trial (Lord led) I will share. May you all have a blessed week and may our Lord multiply your efforts each one!
In His Love,
until next time,
Cindy