Psalm 20:1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
vs 2 May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion!
vs 3 May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
vs 4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
vs 5 We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
vs 6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
vs 7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
vs 8 They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.
vs 9 Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.
Welcome to my blog! As I was reading this passage this morning, a pattern of thought was illumined to me.
I was diagnosed with severe arthritis in my feet. The troubling part goes deeper than the pain itself. It affects my life long desire to bring healing to people, alleviate suffering, educate in wellness, while I work in the health food store. I am on my feet more than I could bear, and when I got home I was on the couch for the rest of the day.
One day while I was walking in the aisles at the store, my feet felt like they were crippling. I could feel them turning inward while I favored them. There was a mirror in front of me, at the end of the aisle, and as I walked towards it, I noticed my feet were not actually turning inward. They were straight! But they felt crippled!
I got a flash of the movie “Miracles from Heaven” in which a young girl, who was diagnosed with an incurable digestive disease that would eventually take her life, fell out of a tree and got a concussion. The concussion was used to restore and heal her.
Just a few days ago, a well-respected pastor in our area had leaking cataracts. He also had macular degeneration in both eyes and has been blind for 14 years. He needed surgery in order to repair the cataracts because the pressure was great, however, the macular degeneration was incurable.
After the operation, he pulled his bandage off and to everyone’s surprise, he could see! Sight had been restored although this was not the goal of the operation; the goal was to remove the pressure. Could his sight have been restored sooner if he had an operation sooner? I don’t believe so. I believe that this 14 years served as an important journey to shape his character, refine him and “see” things spiritually he may never have seen if he had his natural sight. He is seeing his son-in-law and daughter-in-law and grandchildren for the first time.
God has used what was meant for evil, for good.
This somewhat goes along with my recent posts. We want to rebuke, even cast out, the devil and stand on God’s promises while we rebuke Satan, but God used what Satan meant for evil to destroy us in the very thing God wants to glorify Himself in. Our questions are wrong! It is not “Why me?” but “Help me to see You in this chapter of my life.”
Healing should not be a goal. Seeing God in the journey should be our everyday goal; our plan; our purpose even. Spiritual warfare has nothing to do with rebuking the enemy in our lives, but rather finding strength, peace, help, answers, defense, fulfillment, and acceptance in the midst of trouble, weakness, sorrow, trial and tribulations, and our response should be to rejoice, set up our banners (continue to stand on the word and declare it), and rise up in the name of Jesus.
Don’t give your weakness nor illness credit, don’t give your enemy power! He is a tool in the hands of a Mighty God!
Thank you for reading,
Darlene
Photos: how I WAS walking (1st photo) and how I walk now (2nd photo)
Darlene Rose 
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