Jeremiah 29:11
“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.”
On Sunday, September 27, 2015, our family will be commemorating my father’s 3rd death anniversary. It was truly a difficult time for us and continues to be in many ways, especially for my mother.
It’s hard not to avoid going through the many trying times we had since he was diagnosed with a very advanced stage of pancreatic cancer just over 2 months before he passed away. I remember lying down on a couch beside my father’s hospital bed on one of the nights that I was watching him together with my mom. I remember glancing at my very sick father deep in his sleep. I recall that as I did that, an overwhelming sense of peace came over me, and for the very first time, the Lord sculptured a smile on my face. (If someone saw me at that moment, they would have thought I was cruel and crazy!)
I smiled for the first time then because I sensed the Lord telling me that I have a choice to make at that moment – the choice to see my father’s pain and suffering or the choice to see what blessings He is drawing out from that experience. For the last couple of weeks before he died, we have chained our souls and our spirits by focusing more on the hardships we as a family are going through. He reminded me at that moment that I also have the option to see the tremendous blessings He has rained down upon us – invisible to the weary heart.
Life is about choices. We cannot even wish for heaven as a destination – heaven is a choice we make. We need to choose heaven by choosing to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior – that’s the most important decision we will ever make in life. But even when God brings us into the arena of life struggles and troubles there are choices He wants us to see. Would we choose to see the more obvious, which are often the pain and suffering that accompanies these trials? Or would we chose to see the ones that require more spiritual discernment – the ones that are more oblivious – the blessings and grace that God keeps pouring out when He allows us to go through fiery trials?
Remember that the choices we make will help shape our character. As we mature in the Lord, being trained to choose right over wrong, God will elevate our capacity and ability to choose by giving us the wisdom to make a decision between the choices that give Him glory and the ones that give Him greater glory.
Choose to give Him greater glory today!