Discouraged

The sun is shining, and we have a beautiful day here in Northwest Arkansas. It went from 42 degrees on Tuesday to mid-70's today. Despite the return of warmth, I feel a bit discouraged today.

We have a good family friend who has been diagnosed with colon cancer, and Stuart drove down to Little Rock to be with him during his surgery today. The doctors will be able to tell more about the staging and prognosis after the surgery. We are praying that they caught it early. He is Stuart's age, and it hits so close to home when a friend of your own age is diagnosed with a serious illness. It was also exactly this time last year when we battled fear about Stuart's health, as he was having a lot of symptoms. We feared that he might have colon or stomach cancer, and he did a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Finally, he was diagnosed with severe GERD and put on medication which greatly eliminated his pain. Thankfully in our case, it wasn't anything life threatening.

We also heard this week that another very dear friend of ours lost his job. He had gone through a job loss just a year ago, and I'm sure it is devastating to have it happen again so soon. He and his wife have three children, and he is the main income, so it must be a very scary time for them. I have seen this couple go through many financial storms over the past five years, and I wonder why things can't be easier for them. It just doesn't seem fair, and it makes me so sad.

I'm doing the Beth Moore Bible study over Esther right now, and it is amazing. Just when I have had a hard day or a hard week, her video always seems to touch on something that strikes a cord with me. In last night's session she said, "I'm a huge proponent of praying against what we fear and for the desires of our hearts. I also believe we're free and safe to voice our worst nightmares to God. In times of crisis and demonic attack, however, our vulnerable souls need something more. The most critical breakthough of faith you and I could ever experience is to let God bring us to place where we trust Him -- period. We don't just trust Him to let us avoid what we fear most. We determine to trust Him no matter what, even if our worst nightmare befalls us. We have no greater victory and can render Satan no harsher blow." (p. 107-108).

In this midst of so many fears that are befalling my friends and myself, I pray that God will give us strength to TRUST in HIM -- regardless of our circumstances.