Baby Steps of Success

Yesterday was kind of a blah day. Nothing bad happened, but all the things I wanted to happen just didn't go as planned. But at the end of the day, my phone blinked letting me know that I had an email. Since my computer was up, I just glanced at it to see what it was. It showed two messages. My phone said three. I refreshed my webpage and it still said two. I looked further at my phone at it was from the book email address and not my personal. I was so excited. It was an order!!!! That makes three books I've sold so far and the marketing is still barely existing. Some more well-known authors might laugh at the excitement I felt, but that one sell made my day. I was on cloud nine. Then my mind began to whirl and how to make it six books and then twelve and so on.

Yesterday I learned that I need to be patient and wait on God. It is not easy, and it is not fun. But it is SOOOOO worth it.

Devotion of the Day:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Have you ever wished for pain and suffering to go away? Have you tired of dealing with it or putting on a strong face? I know I have. And in 2 Corinthians Paul was in the same boat. Paul! The man we at times put on a pedestal as one of the most holy of men. He struggled. He suffered. And he begged for relief. Many times God gave him relief. But this time, God said no. How can this be? It doesn’t make sense. But when God said no, he added that His very grace should be more than enough to get Paul through it. Maybe we need to look at what is grace. Grace is accepting consequences and the mercies all wrapped up in one bundle. An example I read was an illustration where a guy was speeding and slammed into a police car. He had to accept the consequences of a fine but he also had to accept the free coffee the policeman got him to help him calm down. Consequences and mercy all in one. Wow! We have to accept the consequences. They might be fines, embarrassments, loss of possessions, unemployment, jail, or sickness. But there is mercy in each of those if we just look. It could be a new friend, a chance to be a better parent, to learn new experiences, to see a different side of others, to understand those we hurt in the past. When we are weak, the power of God shines the brightest because we are not competing for the spotlight. Only His light can shine that bright. Paul accepted that answer and took it further by saying that now he was glad of whatever problem he was having. Glad? Yes, if it will cause the light of Christ to shine all the brighter and others see Him more clearly, then yes. When my father was diagnosed with liver cancer, so many people asked why. It just didn’t make sense to us. He had a history of heart problems not cancer. There was no cancer in our families. Heart problems plagued everyone and took all their lives. But God chose him to have cancer. Though it seemed a rapid way to die, it was slower than a heart attack would have been. As people watched how strong he was, they were amazed. His faith only grew. He knew there was a reason for the method of death. He discovered one of the reasons when a man, with whom he had been friends with for many decades, asked him to come over to talk about Jesus because he had to know about what drove my father’s faith. That 77 year old man accepted Christ that day. My father said that if that was the reason why he was given cancer, and he had to go through so many treatments, then he was glad to have been chosen. God’s grace. Accepting the results while accepting the blessings. How can you see God’s grace in the hardships you are facing? In the struggles you are enduring? In the conflicts that seem to be encompassing you? Open your eyes to what He is showing you. Open your eyes to His many mercies.