Mercies in Disguise

I recently heard a song on the radio that stopped me in my tracks. It was a song about "mercies in disguise" and the timing could not have been better. You see, this last year of my life has been anything other than what I thought it would or should have been. I fully expected to be able to enjoy my first year of marriage making awesome memories with my husband and 2 stepdaughters as we explored life together. That did happen, but not the way I would have imagined.

Endo happened. For a while, I hated that word. It was like a true 4 letter word in my head. It had kept me from so much in life. It had controlled me. It kept me from work and confined me to my house. It stopped my world while everyone else moved along at a normal pace.

But there was one thing Endo could not do, take my eyes off of Jesus. Endo actually caused me, and my entire family, to seek God in new and different ways. We prayed bigger prayers and believed they would come true. We sought after Him to lift our spirits on down days and carry us through the hard times.

It was during this state of mind, being thankful for Endo, that I heard this song. I must share the lyrics with you as it is truly amazing. I pray that as you read through these lyrics that you will search your heart and your life and ask God to reveal to you your "mercies in disguise". Maybe, like me for a long time, you have held on to bitterness and anger at a certain event, diagnosis, situation, or relationship. Maybe it is time to deal with that and let that go. What better time to do this than this special holiday season. You see, God CAN when we CAN'T. He WILL when we WON'T. He sees the FUTURE when we can't let go of the PAST. He is ready to take you, just as you are, and love you like never before. Will you fall into His open arms?

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

~Blessings by Laura Story 

With this on my mind and my heart today, it was a funny "coincidence" (NOT! Nothing happens by chance! Our God is too big for there to be anything left to "chance") that this was our Pastor's blog post for today. I hope it brings comfort, peace, or even challenge you as you read. He CAN!!!

 

I can’t change someone’s heart…He Can!

I can’t do the impossible…He Can!

I can’t turn a bad situation into something amazing…He Can!

I can’t bring dead things back to life…He Can!

I can’t guarantee how things will turn out…He Can!

I can’t heal your hurts…He Can!

I can’t see the big picture all at once…He Can!

I can’t take something broken and turn it into something beautiful…He Can!

I can’t fill your heart with joy…He Can!

I can’t tell you what your purpose is on this planet…He Can!

I’m so thankful that HE CAN trumps I CAN’T in anything that comes my way!

~Perry Noble

Praying for you, dear friend. My family would love your prayers in return. We don't live in a perfect world and we are among imperfect people. Disappointment, frustration, and sadness are bound to happen. People don't always make the choices you would hope they would make, but there is hope. Jesus can do great things. It is up to us to TRUST Him. That is where we are now. Trusting Him for great things. Believing that HE CAN!