Big promises, small beginnings

I once made God a big promise;  that if He lifted me out of my circumstances, I would put no restrictions on Him – the sky would be the limit.  I hadn’t factored in what He’d want to do with me. 

When I made this extravagant promise I was living in small town New Zealand, after having lived in Sydney.  After Sydney, I despised the town I was living in.  All I wanted to do was get back to Australia.  For a few months my dream was realised.  I lived in Canberra, Australia’s capital.

But like a boomerang I ended up back in New Zealand, again.  I asked God how can the sky be the limit back in a small town of a small country?

He told me not to despise the day of small things.

I have learned since then that what matters is its not where we live but what we live.

Did I overcome the small town limitations that I chafed against?  My book tells the story.

Laugh and the world laughs with you …

Image from rainingtruthsmallrain.wordpress.com

My Gran once recited part of a poem to me by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, which I never forgot. 

“Laugh and the world laughs with you
Weep and you weep alone
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth
But has troubles enough of its own.”    

It almost stopped me getting help from a friend when I really needed it.

This would have been a popular poem in her time.  Weep, and you weep alone.  In our family, it became a truth.  That’s the world’s wisdom.

But it was not THE truth.

In the Kingdom, it’s the other way around.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15

Which is better?

Man of sorrows

The shortest verse of the Bible is “Jesus wept”.  He wept even though He knew that He was going to bring Lazarus back from the dead.  He wept for the sisters that lost their brother.  He wept for those who weep.   

In Isaiah 53, a prophecy about the King written about 700 years before His birth, He is described as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”

He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  2 Corinthians 1:4

We are not alone.