Late Night Epiphany!

Okay, so I just had a revelation and I had to share it before I head to bed for the night. I was reading Kindra's comment on my last post, and it just really hit right on the spot for me! (Before you read the rest of this, click back and read her comment!) I've really been dealing with doubt the past few days. The reports just seem so grim and there's so much "wrong" with me that I don't see how it will ever work out! But then I re-read her comment tonight and it struck me that He's been speaking to me that He made me just the way I am. He made me imperfect for His glory! So that when it does all work out, all the praise will be to Him....not to a doctor, not to me, not to Jacob, but to GOD ALONE!!

And as I began thinking about it a couple of things came to me that I had just read in a book that I'm studying. I'm taking a class at church over the book "Trusting God Even When Life Hurts" by Jerry Bridges and it is WONDERFUL! I'm only on chapter 2 and have already gotten so much that I know I'll need to re-read it to soak it all in. These are the parts that spoke to me:

"Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" Ecclesiastes 7:13

He made me "crooked" and allowed "crooked" circumstances to enter my life, and only HE can make them straight. Only He can heal me and only He can straighten out what seems to be a mess!

The book also describes God's providence as "His constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people." Notice the word "and"! "God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory."

His glory and our good go together. He isn't putting me in this place only to bring Him glory, I'm in this place to bring Him glory AND for my own good. It doesn't seem that way now, but it's true.

Okay, so it's late and I'm probably not tying all this up with a nice little bow on top, and in fact I feel like I'm completely rambling!! I know this is nothing new and you're probably thinking "Uhhh, yeah duh!!" I've heard it all before too, but this time the Holy Spirit really revealed it to my heart! Maybe it will strike you like it did me and maybe not, but I'll leave you with a few scriptures that I felt led to after reading and re-reading these things tonight.

"For when I am weak, then I am strong." 1 Corinthians 12:10

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness'." 2 Corinthians 12:9

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not to to nullify the things that are, so that no one should boast before Him." 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

The KJV says "so that no flesh should glory in His presence". When God answers our prayer for children, no flesh will glory in His presence, for only He can make straight that which He has made "crooked"!! Thank you Jesus!

By the way, thank you Kindra for your insight! Hope you don't mind that I'm sharing it!!! :)