Fountains of Life

Another In The Fire

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We recently sang a new song in church called Another in the Fire by Hillsong United which reminded me again of how close the Lord really is to us. 

Based on the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from Daniel chapter 3, the faith of these three men was tested by King Nebuchadnezzar as they chose to be thrown into a furnace rather than bow and bestow worship to an image. They knew there was only one true God and nothing or no one else was to be treated as divine or worthy of worship.  

So into the fire they were pitched. 

Ever feel like you’ve been pitched into the fire? In situations or circumstances where you’re getting overwhelmed and burnt up? Where there is no win-win resolution, only what seemed like a lose-lose one?

Sometimes we just can’t go around certain obstacles; we have to go through them. Illnesses, cancer, losses can be some of those difficulties where we pray and believe for miracles, yet we still have to walk through the process. We get pitched into the fiery furnace. 

This is where we, like those three guys in the Old Testament, have our faith tested. This is where we truly find out what we believe in our heart of hearts. This is where all our words and sayings can fall to the ground in a puddle of tears as we face fears and trials like we never have before. This is where God reveals how close He is to us. 

Immanuel — God with us. (Matt. 1:23) Jesus promised He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb.13:5). He promised He would always be with us, even to the ends of the earth (Matt. 28:20). And there are definitely times when we feel like we are at the ends of the earth, deep in the fires of grief and pain, caught up in fears of the unknown. 

It’s right here in this uncomfortable, dire, and agonizing place where we make that choice exactly like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. I remember making that choice four years after my father had died of colon cancer. It was in the afternoon, newly planted in a foreign country where I knew not their language nor their culture, and I was all alone in my bedroom ironing, talking to God. I slammed the iron down. The grief I had buried up till then came out as hot anger as I yelled at Him, “Why did you take my father?” Then with tears in my eyes Father God held me as I finally let go of needing to understand the “whys” and allowed the ache in my heart from missing my dad to be smothered under a blanket of unconditional love.

We have to choose to trust in God’s incredible love as we go through the fire. It’s not easy. It’s possible there may even be death or loss at the end. Those men didn’t know, but they knew His love. It never fails. (1 Cor. 13:8) 

King Nebuchadnezzar watched as those men were thrown into the fire then “he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’” (Dan. 3:24, 25) 

There was another in the fire.

My dear reader, let this story of these tenacious men encourage you. God is so, so close to you. Choose to trust Him. When you can’t go over, under, or around those obstacles that come into your life and you just have to go through them, there will be another in the fire with you too. You are never alone. 

When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

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by Cyndi

Upon returning from a mission trip with a scratchy throat, then preparing to leave for out of town again, a nasty cold seized me. Frankly, I can’t remember the last time I’d been sick, but this one was a doozy. It put me in bed a couple days and I had hoped it would lessen by the time we went up to teach at a Shiloh Place school the following week. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

On the day I was to teach, I came prepared with tissues and cough drops and hoped the cold medicine the night before hadn’t spaced me out too much. There’s a wonderful group of people we work with at these schools, so at the morning team meeting, after they prayed for me, one of the sweet ladies gave me a verse: 2 Cor. 12:10 — For when I am weak, then I am strong.

This has always been one of my favorite verses because it embodies the divine exchange. When I acknowledge my weakness and inability, it is the very thing that empowers and strengthens me. You see, I have nothing without Father. Well, let me clarify—yes, I have talents, skills, education, etc.— however, if I use them and rely on myself only, I may fail. Oh I can succeed too, causing a boost to my ego, but I can also so easily fail. And if I do fail, the condemnation and rejection is almost unbearable. 

Yet, if I understand that God is good and loves me no matter what happens, there is no fear of failure or disappointment — it’s Him using my abilities. And when I don’t have a need to take credit for anything, I’m strengthened and emboldened. There is nothing to prove, no pressure to perform, no impression to make. I have everything with Him.

I felt terrible that morning and was physically weak. I had to teach, but that precious woman’s word had encouraged me. I was reminded me that I’m just a little child who has a great Big Daddy. He would be my strength. 

When I stay little, weak, and needy in my own eyes, I become secure and powerful through Him. Perhaps occasionally I need to be weakened a bit, just to remind me of how strong I can be with the divine exchange.

And by the way—I think that was one of my best teaching days ever!

Hidden Expectations

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By Cyndi

I came out of the water from surfing the other day frustrated. I’m still having trouble popping up on the board to my feet quick enough so I wipeout a lot. Wipeouts are not as fun as catching and riding waves. Disappointment settled in on me because I wasn’t performing like I wanted to that day.

Then words from a surfer friend of mine I’ve known for years came into my head: “But did you have fun?” Well…. No, I didn’t! I was so irritated and bummed with myself I’d left no room for fun and enjoyment. (Kinda the purpose of surfing.) Instead I had put all these demands on myself to perform, to get things right, to excel and achieve! I had forgotten all about the “having fun” part.

Later on Father God got ahold of me in my quiet time. The first thing He mentioned to me was to be careful of my expectations. These negative little nit-picky buggers hide! We don’t realize how we subconsciously have hidden expectations on our spouses, our friends, our pastor and church, and, most definitely, on ourselves. These types of expectations are usually the “demanding” ones — the “shoulds” and “ought to’s.” We hear phrases in our mind that say: “That salesperson should have been nicer.” Or, “My husband ought to have realized how stressful my day has been.”

I find myself demanding a lot from me quite often without recognizing it: “I should have taken the other way home.” “I should have given myself more time.” “I ought to have worked on this harder.” That day surfing I thought I should have popped up better, I’d been practicing. I should have caught the waves at the right time better. I should have done everything a lot better than I did, but I didn’t.

So as I began seeing these hidden expectations I put on myself, He told me to let go of them. Just drop them. He loves me no matter what. Subconsciously I’m trying to be good enough to deserve to be loved. Even for myself to love me. But I don’t have to be perfect — I’m loved anyway.  

Father God encouraged me to stop putting expectations on myself. Stop putting all this pressure on myself to do everything right the first time. Allow myself a growing/falling/growing curve. Cut myself a break, alright?! Oh, and He reminded me that this goes for others too. Yep. Spouse, family, friends, pastor/church, strangers, slow drivers — cut them some slack too. No one’s got it all together, but everyone needs to be loved.

Hebrews 12:14 exhorts us to do all we can to live in peace with everyone as much as we can. This includes ourselves. We don’t need the high blood pressure and anxiety that comes with expecting from ourselves some higher-than-average performance. Yes, we are to work hard and do our best at things, however, there’s also a time to relax and have some fun — without judgment!

So the next time I loaded up my surfboard and headed for the beach, I took a deep breath and sighed. Then I told myself to just have fun. It’s even okay if I wipeout every single time. No demands, no performance ratings. Enjoy the time in His love.

It was the best day of surfing I have ever had.

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(Thank you, Dave S. for those life changing words.)

One Step At A Time

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Rope bridge at Epworth by the Sea, St. Simon’s Island, GA

Yesterday I was reflecting back on a ladies retreat I went to last year where a few of us ventured to take on one of those high ropes obstacle courses as a team building exercise. And, yes, it was high — maybe 40 feet in the air — and yes, there were lots of ropes. But the feeling that kept coming back to me was the specific experience I had on the rope bridge obstacle.

This obstacle was a bridge of planks connected by ropes. And these wooden planks were quite distantly separated, I might add. So you had to move as a team, stepping off a platform, crossing with large strides plank to plank, and onto the other platform. 

This rope bridge reminds me of my life. There are those “launching out” seasons when I have to leave the comfort of my stable and secure platform. Looking down at that first step is scary. It’s a big one. It’s shaky and unknown. I might fall.

The ladies and I came to this launch point of crossing the rope bridge. We held hands, counted to 3, then stepped off the platform down onto that first wooden plank. It was scary. It was big. It was shaky. But nobody fell. 

You see, we held hands, which gave us stability. We also used safety ropes attached to us in case anyone did fall. Step by wobbly step we nervously crossed that bridge together. After several giant steps and lots of anxious laughter, we all made it to that final platform.

So what was the feeling I had yesterday that brought back this memory?

That feeling of launching out onto something unknown. Taking steps that seem really shaky and scary. Thoughts of falling, failing. Life can be very unsure and unknown sometimes.

Then Father God reminded me I have His hand to hold. And I have a safety rope attached to Him. I may wobble and be afraid of heights, but He’s got me. Even by chance if I were to fall, He’ll get me back up. (Ps. 37:24) I just have to take one step at a time.

Fighting Battles

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By Cyndi

Once again I looked at the weather forecast for the next few days and I dreaded the weekend—rain was coming. Again. So once again I’m thinking I’m going to have to move our bed and place a trash can to catch the water that’s dripping from the ceiling in our bedroom. Our roof is leaking. 

Having gotten estimates from roofing companies we are now waiting for news about insurance coverage before the work begins. Meanwhile, “the mold guy” came to inspect the water damage on the ceilings (yes, plural). Looks like there is water damage for sure, even down a wall. There will be work to be done.

Naturally my good Christian full-of-faith response to all of this is, “Praise God, He’s working all things for good!” However, honestly I must say this was not my first reaction. In fact, I felt quite overwhelmed. 

So for a moment let’s try to not pretend and put on our Sunday morning church faces and just be real here. There are actual battles we are all fighting—some emotional, some financial, some physical, some a combination. And they can be scary. Cancer is scary. Additions are scary. Broken families and wayward children are scary. These are undeniably intimidating battles.

This Is How I Fight My Battles

One of the newer songs out now is Surrounded. It’s quite repetitive, doesn’t do much musically; it simply sings this phrase over and over again. Why? Well, let’s think about fighting for a minute, shall we?

Ever watch boxing? Is it just a few punches and the fight’s all over? Not usually. What about wrestling? Is it just one quick takedown? Hardly ever. Think about the different wars we’ve been in—how many battlefields were fought upon? And how long did those battles last? Many took years.

Self-defense teaches you that when you’re attacked, you hit, you kick, you scream, you poke, you jab, you stomp, etc.

Where am I going with this? 

“This is how I fight my battles…this is how I fight my battles…this is how I fight my battles…this is how I fight my battles.” 

“It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You… It may look like I’m surrounded but I’m surrounded by You.”

Psalm 125:2 says—As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore. Like a mother hen covers her chicks to protect them, the Lord does the same with us. (Luke 13:34)

We are all fighting something and these are fighting words. Repeat them over and over again. Like a battering ram, bang “the door” down with your praise and thanksgiving. Strike your opponent repeatedly. Depression, grief, hardships, loneliness, financial ruin…sing over them, pray over them, quote the Word over them. 

This is what I’m doing.

When I look at the water spots on my ceilings, I fight. As I’m patiently waiting for the roof work to begin, I fight. 

Do I still get overwhelmed? At times. That’s when I take a breather, gather myself and my weapons (praise music, scriptures, prayer, phone a friend) and get back into the battle. 

Father God is surrounding me. He will never not leave me. (Double negative for effect!) And He’s doing the same for you.