Tag: faith

My God is Mighty to Save

For Christians, Easter is a time to celebrate Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection in victory over death and grave.  Jesus’s death paved the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, and His resurrection gives us the hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I received the promise of eternal life, but I also gained a richer, fuller, more wonderful life here on Earth.  Everyday Jesus walks with me through the joy, triumphs, trials, and challenges I face.  He hasn’t promised me a life without troubles, but He has promised to be with me through every step of my journey.

God’s peace fills my heart.  I am assured that God loves me more than I can even comprehend.  My God is mighty to save.  On this Easter Sunday, I am thankful that He has saved me.  I want to live today and every day to bring honor and glory to my risen Savior.

 

Mighty to Save
 
Everyone needs compassion
Love that never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King
Jesus
shine your light and let the whole world see
were singing
for the glory of the risen king

Blessings Through Tears

Laura Story’s song Blessings is the song which I most identify with at this time.  Our family, like most families I know, has endured some very difficult situations in the past few years, but in the midst of the difficult times we have felt God’s presence every step of the way.   His strong arms have carried us through unemployment, bereavement, and uncertainty.  We have absolute assurity that our God is in control of our lives and our future.  Athough we would never pray for God to bring difficult circumstances our way, we recognize that He uses those circumstances to reveal to us our need for Him and to help us grow in our faith.  Life on Earth will be challenging some days–many days–but as the song says, “This is not our home.” 

 

Blessings

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

‘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
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

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

 

 

Cover of New Book: Reconciliations

My new novel has just been published.  I haven’t received a copy yet, but my publisher sent me the cover files and a media kit.  I’m so excited.  The graphic designer did a wonderful job on the cover.

 

 

 

It won’t be available for sale on Amazon for a few days.  However, if the story sounds interesting to you, you can email me at susan@susaneball.com and I will be happy to email you a “sneak peak.”

Long-term Unemployment: Lessons Learned from King David

As Steve and I continue on this nearly three-year journey of unemployment, I lean on lessons learned from the trials and tribulations of David as he awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise that he would reign over Judah.

As a boy, David was anointed by Samuel to succeed Saul as the king of Judah.  David was a full grown man with wives and children when he ascended to the throne.  Quite a few years passed between the promise of kingship and the fulfilment of that promise.  

The years of waiting were comprised of great victories and great hardships.  David faced and killed the giant Goliath and was appointed a commander in Saul’s army. He led the army in many battles with tremendous success.  Yet, Saul became increasingly jealous of David and sought to kill him.  David was forced to hide in caves and live the life of a fugitive for many years.  Still, he continued to believe God.  He could look forward to the day when this difficult phase of his life would end and he would return from exile to rule over his nation.

It is easy for me to get discouraged about the state of our economy and the lack of job prospects for Steve.  Two years and nine months is a long time to be unemployed and there is no end in sight.  In these moments, I reflect on the trials that David went through and the place he arrived at when the trials were over.

1) David’s troubles were not of his own making.  David did not seek to become the king of Judah.  He served King Saul and honored him.  Yet, he found himself running from Saul.  Likewise, Steve’s unemployment is not the result of any action or decision on his part.  He is a victim of a poor economy and bad decisions made by others.

2) David had victories in the midst of his hardships. While a fugitive, David continued to lead an army and had great success.    Despite the loss of the majority of our income, we have learned to be wiser with our money and have been victorious over credit card debt.

3) God’s hand of blessing was on David during this time.  God supplied David with food and shelter, and David married two of his wives and fathered several children during this time.  God continues to bless our family, as well. Our family has grown in the last three years, with the addition of a daughter-in-law and our first grandchild; a second grandchild is on the way.

4) David became discouraged at times.  In spite of David’s close walk with the Lord, he was human.  He grew weary of the struggle and faced discouragement.  David poured out his frustrations in psalms.  In Psalm 55, David wrote, “My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.  My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.  Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.” (verses 2 – 4)  We know that we will have moments of discouragement.  In those moments, we need to take our eyes off our problems and focus our attention on God and the blessings He has bestowed on us.

5)  David trusted God.  The same man who cried out in despair also wrote, “I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.  I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name will I hope, for your name is good.” (Psalm 52: 8, 9)  Our hope is in God.  Our lives are in His hands, and our trust is in Him, for He is good.

6) David’s troubles did not last forever.  Although David was a fugitive from Saul for years, there came a day when Saul died and David was crowned King of Judah.  David knew that God had promised him the kingdom and he looked forward to the day that God would fulfill that promise.  God has a plan for our lives.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Steve and I are at peace knowing that God has a wonderful plan for our lives.  Even in the midst of this trial, we can see His hand of blessing and His plans being fulfilled.

If you are in the midst of a trial that seems like it will never end, please know that God has a wonderful plan for you.  He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Suffering and trials are part of God’s plan to help us focus on the important issues in life and to learn to depend on Him fully.  I pray that you will turn to God in your moments of despair and allow Him to fulfill his purposes for you.

Freedom to Step Out in Faith Without Fear of Failure

No one wants to fail, and I am no exception.  It’s easier to not try something than to take a chance and risk falling on your face and making a fool of yourself.  For some people, this fear can be paralyzing; it holds them back from becoming all they can be.  Others take the “What’s the worst that can happen” attitude and try almost anything.

When I was in school, I preferred concrete assignments.  I was happy to solve math problems, write book reports, and memorize dates of historic events.  The assignments I hated were the vague ones requiring creativity.  I can still remember the dread I felt in second grade when my teacher would hand out large sheets of paper with room for a picture and a story.  “Draw a picture and write a story” would be her only instructions.  Most of my classmates were thrilled with the assignment, which she made about once a week.  I hated it; I would be paralyzed with fear that I wouldn’t come up with a good topic or that my picture would not look like what I intended it to be.  Eventually, I would draw the simplest figure I could and write a few sentences.

So, it’s ironic that God has given me an assignment to write novels that point readers to Him.  I’ve always been comfortable using the analytical side of my brain, but I feel totally out of my element when it comes to being creative.  I resisted God for a while before stepping out in faith and beginning to write.  Every morning I had devotions and prayed for God to give me the words He wanted me to write that day.  The writing went surprisingly smoothly.  No one knew that I was writing, however.  Eventually, I told my husband I was writing a novel.  I expected skepticism.  I received encouragement and support. 

The first draft of the novel was completed before I shared with anyone else that I had written it.  Telling my family and friends that I had written a novel and asking them for their honest feedback was very difficult.  Eventually, I had to ask myself, “What’s the worst that can happen?”  Maybe they wouldn’t like it, but they would reject me or stop loving me.  Fortunately, their response was overwhelmingly positive.  I made the changes they suggested and I was ready to begin the search for a publisher.  In a relatively short period of time, I had secured a contract for the novel, Restorations, to be published.

I did not fail in my writing endeavor, but failure was certainly a distinct possibility when I began. Knowing that God had placed the desire to write in my heart alleviated my fears but did not dispel them altogether.  And although my book has been published, it has not sold many copies.  I have to keep my eyes on God and recognize that He has a plan for this book and the others in the series that are in progress. 

This morning I was reading a back copy of The Pentecostal Evangel.  The issue was devoted to second chances.  Several articles shared that many of the patriarchs of the Bible failed God, yet He forgave them and continued to use them to accomplish His will.  Then I read a devotion from Eugene Peterson’s book, God’s Message for Each Day.  The devotion was entitled “Freedom to Fail.”  Peterson wrote, “Fear of failure inhibits freedom; the freedom to fail encourages it.  The life of faith encourages the risk taking that frequently results in failure, for it encourages human venture into crisis and the unknown.” 

I wondered if God is preparing me for another step of faith into a new venture.  Is He preparing me to try something new that has the possibility of failure?  One part of me cringes and wants to shy away from trying something that might lead to failure.  Another part of me recognizes that God is faithful and that tremendous peace and joy are the rewards of stepping out in faith and succeeding.  I don’t know what God has in store for me next, but I believe I will step out in faith and follow His lead.

Has God put a dream in your heart that you’ve been afraid to try?  I pray that you will have the faith to let God fulfill His dreams for you.

Two Years of Unemployment and Counting

January 5, 2009.  My first day back at work after the Christmas holidays. Steve’s  first day of unemployment.

My husband, Steve, an engineer, worked for a small, family-owned firm. Work had been slow throughout the fall, and the boss had toyed with the idea of cutting hours, but had put off that decision until after the holidays.  Steve went back to work fully prepared to have his hours cut.  Upon arrival, however, he and most of the staff learned that their jobs had been cut.

Steve called me shortly after 10 to give me the news.  He had packed up his belongings already and was back at home.  Fortunately, my job was still secure.  Unfortunately, my job accounted for only 30% of our family’s income.  At that moment, as shaken as I was by the news, I felt a strong sense of peace. My foundation was firm.  God is my fortress; in Him I trust. 

I took off the next day and provided moral support as Steve applied for unemployment and began a job search that held little hope of success.  We took immediate steps to cuts our expenses.  In God’s providence, we were about to become empty nesters.  During the previous four years, we had helped to put our three sons through college, but we had just made the final college tuition payment for our one son still in college.  With careful spending, we could survive on my salary and Steve’s unemployment.  Money has been tight at times, but we have never lacked for anything we needed. 

Steve’s unemployment benefits ended a few months ago.   But by the grace of God, we have been able to not only pay all our bills, but have also managed to save some money. We know that we have it much easier than many other families who have been affected by long-term unemployment, and we are truly thankful.  But, some days I despair that Steve may never have a job again.  That’s not to say that I don’t benefit from his being home. Steve has taken over an ever-increasing share of the household chores.  I look forward to coming home from work and being able to relax knowing that dinner is cooked, the shopping has been done, and clean clothes are hanging in the closet.  After years of taking care of my family, it’s nice to be taken care of.  I will miss these things when he finally does go back to work.

I read yesterday that unemployment benefits are running out before Christmas for 2 million Americans.  My heart goes out to them, and I will remember them in my prayers.

We’re approaching the end of two years of Steve being unemployed, with no end in sight.  Yet, every day we are reminded of God’s faithfulness.   In many ways, this period of long-term unemployment of our family’s major breadwinner has been a blessing.  It has reaffirmed that our faith is not in our government, the economy, or earthly systems.  Our faith is firmly rooted in God.  It has opened our eyes to how much we have and how little we truly need.  When Steve goes back to work, we will have a better balance in the management of our household and our money.  After all, everything we have is a gift from God.  We want to do our best to honor Him by being the best stewards we can of all that He has given us.