Just recently I came across her notes and was greatly encouraged by them. I want to bless and encourage you also with them, especially if you go through difficult times.
Nandor
Encouragement "Seeing Jesus in our clouds"
By Miriam Weisz 2009
Open with prayer- Thanksgiving for safety
Calm my spirit
Help me to minister to these ladies
I am Inadequate
Thank you for the cross
When Brenda asked me to share, my first reaction was
I’m busy, tired, exhausted, and overwhelmed.
There are too many things going on in my life right now
I’m not a speaker etc
But the big question kept coming back, “What does God want me to do? Do I obey Him and get out of my comfort zone or excuse myself and play it safe?”
I love this paragraph, don’t know who to credit it to, I jotted it down on an old envelope that has become a fixture in my bible. Do you have special pieces of paper like that?
A ship in the harbor is safe, but that isn’t what ships were made for. Christ didn’t die on the cross for us to hide in the harbor. He didn’t sacrifice His life for us to play it safe. The low risk life may seem cozy and secure but when we spend our time and energy figuring out ways to detour around the risks of authentic lives it will zap our vision and lead to a life of mediocrity and stagnation.
So today I will take a risk, step out of my comfort zone even though I am not a speaker but a regular, everyday, flesh and blood woman just like to rest of you who prefers speaking one on one rather than in front of people.
When I started to think about what to share today I asked myself what would be an encouragement and benefit to my sisters along this road we are all on together. What was God teaching me right now? Among other things one kept coming to the forefront SEEING JESUS IN OUR CLOUDS AND WHEN WE SEE HIM WE WILL BE CHANGED!!!
We all at one point or another experience clouds in our lives. What are the clouds?
How do we interpret or look at them?
Clouds are sorrows, sufferings difficult circumstances in and outside of our personal lives which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God.
Have you asked any of these questions?
How could God allow this to happen? Where is He? He doesn’t love me!!
When difficulty comes what is our first reaction? We curl up into ourselves and think that God has somehow left us or forgotten about us, we are all alone.
FYI – Satan would have us believe we are all alone and no one is going through what we are going through, we have to guard against that lie.
We could probably go around this room and spend hours sharing clouds that each of us have experienced, we all have them, but the awesome thing is we don’t have to stop there, because we are the children of God we are not to despair as if we have no hope.
This leads to the second question, how do we interpret or look at the clouds?
When going through hard times never connect the circumstances and what He allows with who He is.
We need to interpret the mysteries with what we know about Him. Things we have been shown in the light.
Heb 13:5b: Never leave us or forsake us
Php 1:6b : He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Rom 8:28 : And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Clouds are the very thing He uses to teach us to walk by faith.
Heb 11:6: without faith impossible to please God.
If there were never any clouds in our lives we would have no need for faith.
What a revelation it is to know that sorrow, suffering etc are actually the clouds that come along with God. Instead of seeing clouds as God being gone or not there, they are a sign that God is there!!
Nahum 1:3: The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
Clouds come along with God.
As James M says “He is just rolling up His sleeves”
What an awesome and exciting thought it is knowing that God is actually honing in on me and is personally working on me through this difficulty. If that is the case, then bring it on!! Imagine the creator of the universe taking an interest in me, puny me and not just that He is actually making me, forming, shaping me to look a little bit more like His Son. WOW!!!
Php 3:20-21: He is transforming us into the likeness of His Son
Psalm 119:71: It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes.
Psalm 119:75: I know, O Lord that your judgments are right and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Now does this sound totally outrageous, crazy …………Well to our flesh and the world it does. BUT in Gods economy seeing Jesus in our clouds is the very thing He uses to change us so we would trust Him more and more.
Supernatural things start happening, things that we cannot explain in human terms. Here are a few.
This past May we discovered a bump on my belly. It began growing pretty quickly. I started worrying and had every scenario worked out in my head already. This is before I got any type of diagnoses.
I got a phone call from my cousin and shared with her what was going on, then she rebuked me, I have no business worrying about what will happen 1 week, 2 weeks from now. God promised He will give you grace for today!! Wow that hit me like brick wall. This has helped to take one day at a time and not allow the what ifs to control my life.
La 3:22-23: Through the Lords mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Your faithfulness!!!
I was then diagnosed with rare form of ovarian cancer. They removed the tumor. I distinctly remember how I felt going in for the tests and the surgery. I felt like the Lord wrapped His arms around me and said I am going through this with you. The day before the surgery I was relaxed and carefree all day. I kept pinching myself, is this me, the worry wart, I should have been at least sick with worry by now.
This is what I mean by supernatural!! Only God can do this. And because the only explanation is God, He gets the glory!!
To finish I would like to share with you a little story that really had an impact on me. It illustrates whether in the good times or bad times what we tend to do.
A radiant bride greeted her guests with a brilliant smile as she entered the reception hall after the wedding ceremony. She gracefully moved and milled about the room, the train of her stunning white gown flowing along the floor behind here, her veil cascading down her button-adorned back.
She conversed with each guest one by one, taking the time to mingle and soak up the compliments: You look absolutely lovely… Your dress is divine… I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride….. What a stunning ceremony… The lavish praises rang on and on. The bride couldn’t be more proud or more appreciative of the crowd’s adornment. She could have listened to them swoon over her all evening. As a matter of fact, she did.
But where was the groom? All the attention focused on the bride and never once did she call anyone’s attention to her husband. She didn’t even notice his absence at her side.
Scanning the room, I searched for him, wondering, where could he be?
I finally found him, but not where I expected him to be. The groom stood alone over in the corner of the room with his head down. As he stared at his ring, twisting the gold band that had just been placed on his finger by his bride, tears trickled down his cheeks and onto his hands. That is when I noticed the nail scars.
The groom was Jesus.
He waited, but the bride never once turned her face toward her groom. She never held His hand. She never introduced the guests to Him. She operated independently of Him.
My prayer is, for myself first, that be it in the good times or the bad we would totally rely on and cling to Jesus and live our lives moment by moment in His presence.
That we would become so intimate with Him that we would
acknowledge Him,
introduce him to our friends,
withdraw and be alone with Him
Love Him with all our heart and soul.
So that no matter what cloud comes into our lives we would always turn to Him and have Him be all that we need.
I have a song called GOD ON THE MOUNTAIN that I would like to share with you.
Please join me on the chorus
Life is easy when you're up on the mountain
And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.
But then things change and you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith for you're never alone.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.
Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.
But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation
That's when faith is really put to the test.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
"God On The Mountain" words and music by Tracy G. Dartt
And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.
But then things change and you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith for you're never alone.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.
Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.
But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation
That's when faith is really put to the test.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
"God On The Mountain" words and music by Tracy G. Dartt
