Thursday 29 September 2011

Thinking Thursday: Scripture Encouragement

Since my stroke, there have been certain scriptures which really spoke to me and encouraged me. The first one, which I have shared before, was Philippians 4:7 'And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.' During my stroke, I found I was not scared at all, but rested at peace in God's arms.

To go with that scripture, I later found Psalm 34:4 'I sought the Lord, and he answered; he delivered me from all my fears.' And my recovery prayer was summed up by Hebrews 12:12-13 'Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.'

Now God has blessed me again through scripture. On our church weekend away we had teaching from Chris Matthews from Linden Christian Fellowship. He shared two things in particular which struck home with me.

He told a moving story about a young boy playing 'chopsticks' on a piano and a master pianist reaching either side of him and playing a beautiful piece woven around the boy's simple tune. He reminded us of the story of the five loaves and two fishes that Jesus used to feed more than five thousand people. God can take our seemingly inadequate skills and make something great with them. This was confirmation to me that I can indeed make a contribution at church, even with my limitations.

The other things he shared that helped me was the scripture Psalm 73:26 'My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.' My flesh has failed, in that my stroke has left me disabled, and it would be easy for my heart to fail in the face of the obstacles that present themselves. God has been my strength, although I have not thought of it in those terms before.

As I strive to recover and master my walking in particular, I must not get downhearted and must remember that God is the strength of my heart, and I must lean on him and trust him. Isn't God good!

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