Hey girls!

HIDDEN JOY UPDATE-PLEASE READ

IF YOU RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM ME ENTITLED HIDDEN JOY:WEEK ONE MARCH 30TH OR 31ST, DISREGARD IT PLEASE.  IT ACCIDENTALLY WENT OUT EARLY.  WE DO NOT BEGIN UNTIL APRIL 9TH.  SO SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION!

I am so excited (too excited I guess since the post went out!)for us to begin, and I cannot wait!!  It is not too late to sign up.  There are easy to follow instructions at the end of today’s post.

My friend Heather Bleier is my guest today.  She has become a dear friend through the on-line study journey we have been on over the last few years.  She is a talented writer filled with great wisdom and knowledge.  I pray you are blessed by her message below.

Message from Heather……

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4

I once heard a story about a Florida man who owned an orange grove. Most of the farmers would water their trees abundantly so that the trees would mature faster and they would get a harvest more quickly, but not this man. Instead, he would only give his trees what they needed to survive, at times he starved their roots for the water they needed. It would take him much longer to get a harvest, but he had an even greater goal to achieve. As the trees grew, their roots had to dig deeper in search of water. The other farmers laughed at this man as they pulled in their harvest each year, but this man had faith in what he was doing was better for his trees in the long run.

You see, Florida has these occasional natural disasters called hurricanes; they sweep through with their high winds and torrential rains. Well, a particularly strong hurricane came through this man’s grove and the winds tore at the trees, stripping them of their leaves. The same was true for the groves in the surrounding area…with one major difference. Since this man’s trees had deep roots, they remained standing strong, maybe a broken branch or two, but as a whole, they were intact. As for the other groves, their trees had shallow roots; after all, they had no reason to dig any deeper since they received what they needed in abundance. Those trees were easily ripped from the ground and flung aside like pieces of driftwood, shattering them into pieces, destroying the tree. The end result, the man who took the time to allow his trees to grow deeper roots, despite having to starve them of water and wait longer for his trees to mature, was able to pull in bountiful harvests for years while the other farmers had to pick up the pieces and start fresh.

Well, we are not trees, but this story can still apply to how and why God allows bad things to happen in our lives. A very wise friend of mine once said, “God will never let the pain, surpass its purpose,” Stephanie Clayton. God isn’t out to punish His children; that is not what He is about, He is Love. Therefore, what He permits us to go through stems from that love. For some, it will take a hurricane experience and complete brokenness in order for Him to get us to a place where we will allow Him to complete His work in our lives. For others, it may only take glancing blows to help them dig their roots deep into His Word, taking shelter in His arms. Let me give you an example…

I have received glancing blows throughout my life. On more than one occasion, I have been sexually assaulted, but never raped. Each time, I had to press into God’s Word, even though at times, I felt so far from His presence, surrounded instead by grief, shame, and guilt. My parents divorced when I was in middle school. Though it was not mutual, they divorced peacefully, and they never made us feel like it was our fault. We could visit our father whenever we wanted to and were not bound by “visitation rights.” Once again, I found myself digging into God’s Word.

More recently, I lost my step-mother to suicide in the same week I miscarried our first child. Both were still only glancing blows. I loved my step-mother very much, but I moved away not too long after she and my father were married, so we did not build a strong relationship. When we lost our first child, it was very early in our pregnancy, only about five weeks along. They were both painful experiences, but once again…they could have been much worse. My step-mother and I could’ve had relationship that was strong and thriving. I could have carried our child full-term and lost him or her at birth. But neither was the case.

Now, I am not trying to downplay the pain I went through with those experiences, but neither will I turn them into something they are not. What I do see them as, are my Father’s way of helping me to dig my roots deeper into His Word. In this way, when a true hurricane comes along, {not that I’m inviting God to send one my way} though I may be blown about, stripped of my leaves, and maybe end up with a broken limb or two…I will be able to stand strong, because I’m standing firmly on His Word.

This may be the same for some of you; you have been going through life with blow after blow. You may be wondering why God keeps sending these storms your way and when they will end. But, these are opportunities for you to draw closer to what you need most…your heavenly Father. For others, glancing blows may not be enough to wake you up from your complacency, they may not be enough for you to surrender yourself fully into God’s hands. The thing is God knows what it will take to move your heart. Some of you may find yourself in the middle of a hurricane, or perhaps right now you are trying to piece together your brokenness because that hurricane has already blown through without mercy.

What I invite you to do is something that may actually sound frightening and counterintuitive. Leave your broken pieces on the ground and let God be the one to put you back together. Allow Him to use your broken pieces to make you a new creation. One that will mature to a place where even when another hurricane or just a glancing blow comes along, you will be able to stand firm on His Word.

As we prepare to begin Wendy’s study on her book Hidden Joy, you will discover the hurricane that swept through her life. There will be times when you think the pain is just too much. You will wonder why God could have possibly allowed this to happen. When you get to that point, I don’t want you to give up or put this book aside. Why? Because, where we find our dear Wendy in the beginning, is not where we will find her at the end. This is The Transforming Power of God’s Story and we will see how God took the broken pieces of Wendy’s life and created something beautiful and new. We will see how He used every aspect of this story, her story…His story to bring Wendy to a place of strength, compassion, forgiveness, and ultimate healing. This transformation is what is also offered to you. Yes, YOU! It doesn’t matter what you have done, what’s been done to you, how long ago it happened, if it’s happening right now, or whatever! God can and does bring healing. He has a purpose for what you have gone through. He has a purpose for what I have gone through and we can see the purpose He had for Wendy. She now stands firmly on His Word, fully using the gifts He gave her long ago. I pray that you will not give up on this study. I know God will use it to bring healing into your life. I know this because you are not here by accident. He brought you to this place and He will bring you through.

Heavenly Father,

There are times when we just don’t understand why you have allowed things to happen in our lives. Painful things. It’s at these times that we find it so hard to understand how anything good could possibly come out of what we’ve had to go through. And it’s during these times that we have to dig deep. We have to stop relying on what we are feeling, but instead rely on what we know. You experienced agony as You watched Your only Son hang painfully on a wooden cross. You had to stop Yourself from rescuing Him from the suffering He endured for hours as He hung there, struggling for breath. You knew the pain You and Your Son endured had a much greater purpose…it rescued us from sin, freed us from the fear of death, and from the clutches of the Evil One. Therefore, we must know and believe that even though we cannot yet understand; our pain always has a greater purpose. Jesus did not benefit from His own suffering, but He will allow us to benefit from ours. As we get ready to begin our journey through the story You offer us through Your daughter Wendy, strengthen us. Walk with us each step of the way. Be our strength, when we want to give up, to give in. We also ask You to be with Wendy and her family during this time. As she leads us, place a hedge of protection around her family so that the Evil One may not have any access to them. Surround their home once again with a wall of angels, standing guard against any scheme to bring harm or unrest in their home. We ask this all in the Name above all names, Your Son, our Lord, our Savior, and our Brother. Jesus Christ. Amen.

So what about you? What brought you here and what is the one thing you hope to gain from digging into this study? Leave a comment, words of encouragement, or even a short prayer below. I will choose one winner who will receive a one year subscription to the Proverbs 31 Magazine. I look forward to hearing from each of you!

Information to sign up for Hidden Joy Study:

There is no cost to join the on-line studies. The only cost will be the purchase price of Hidden Joy. You will also need a Bible and a notebook or journal. We would love for you to purchase the book through Proverbs 31 Ministries. I will sign each book purchased from our P31 web site. But the book is also available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book stores. It is also available electronically.

To register for the study, simply visit the sidebar on my web site and click on “Sign up for Wendy’s On-Line Studies.” Place your e-mail address in the box and click “subscribe.” Doing this registers you for this study and ensures you will receive invitations for all future studies. If you have registered for an on-line study in the past, you do not need to re-register.

If you would like to receive the weekly posts for the on-line study in your inbox every Monday, visit the side bar again. At the top of this sidebar, you will see “Subscribe to updates.” Place your e-mail address in the box and click “Go.” Each week you will receive an e-mail with the post for the week. It is important to note that to view the video, you will need to visit the web site directly. You may do so by clicking on the title of the post in the e-mail.

Blessings to you today,