Thursday, July 13, 2017

What Are We Magnifying?

While living in The Philippines, one night I was sitting in the living room watching TV.  The doors and windows were open to let in the breeze since we did not have air conditioning in our off base house.  All of a sudden I heard scratching on the locked screen door.  I listened quietly and heard it again.  It sounded like someone was trying to break in (my imagination working overtime) so I quickly called to Joel.  He came and went over to the door.  He discovered there was something, not someone trying to get in.  A rice beetle!  Rice beetles are sometimes a food source in the P.I. and other Asian countries.  They like to eat rice, and people catch them and boil them, breaking open their insides to suck out the rice.  Those who work in the rice fields have scars from their nasty bites.  Somehow this beetle made its way up on our patio, drawn to the light inside I expect.  The noise seemed loud, probably magnified by my fear, so that I was sure it was a person trying to get inside.  It turned out to be a bug.  They are nasty looking, but if you avoid their pinchers you will not be harmed!

Today I heard Joel Osteen say, "Magnify the promises of God, not your problems!"  This brought me back to that night in the Philippines when I thought for sure someone was breaking in and it turned out to be a bug.  My fear magnified the situation.  I actually felt that recently with a Melanoma diagnosis.  I have quit telling people about it unless they ask because when many hear the word, Melanoma, they react.  Just today a pastor asked me what I had surgery for and when I told him he replied, "Ohhhhhh" with a big eyed look.  I felt like he was magnifying the "problem" so to speak.  I don't need anyone to do that for me, I am pretty darn good at doing it for myself!



So maybe this magnifying the promises is not such a bad idea.  Magnifying the problem is definitely not helpful, so I'm thinking that if we take God's promises and put them under a big ol' magnifying glass things will look and feel pretty darn good!  At the least, hopeful.

There are so many promises of God to magnify, we would never run out of making our God bigger than our problem!  One of my favorite is the verse sent my way over 5 years ago now...."I will give you back your health and heal your wounds, says the Lord."  Jeremiah 30:17)  Another good one is....."Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight.  Indeed, do not rely on your own wisdom, and stay away from evil, then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones." (Prov. 3)

I expect there are promises we can magnify for just about every situation we encounter! God is good that way.


1 comment:

Jan said...

Great food for tough to!๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ’•