Hi ~

I’m thinking right now of a few friends of mine. . . .

They are mothers who have escaped with their children from evil ones (comparable to my “What if you married a Nazi” post).

In many cases these are evil ones who continue to terrorize them from afar through slander and threats that they may even have the wherewithal to carry out.

In almost every case, the family church chose to support the evil abuser instead of the victims.

These friends continue to endure these terrible things, as well as the fallout of abuse in their own lives and the lives of their children, while they continue to seek to protect these, their most valuable possessions.

Even in their extremely difficult circumstances, these friends continue to see God reveal Himself in small ways, and they choose to focus on those.

They are grieving their monumental losses, but they still have a remarkable spirit of joy.

All through his New Testament epistles, Paul emphasized that what pleased the Lord wasn’t the religious/spiritual hoops Christians can jump through.

It was the faith, hope, and love they had, from the spirit of God.

Colossians 1:9-11 tells us they are “strengthened with all power,” (like the power of His glory, which is pretty impressive power) . . .

which leads to “all patience and longsuffering” (notice, not staying IN the abuse, but according to Scriptural and historical examples, getting OUT of the abuse whenever possible) . . .

“with joyfulness.”

When I think of “power” in living the Christian life, several people stand as shining examples to me, but these friends—living in quiet circumstances with few who know their stories—stand tall among them.

This, I believe, is the kind of life Paul (and by extension, God) was referring to when he prayed in Colossians 1:8-10 that the Christians he was writing to would be “filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” so that they could “walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in everything, being fruitful in every good work.”

The power . . . to endure . . . with joyfulness. In spite of continued grief and other aspects of PTSD.

In spite of the outrageous darts the enemy continues to fling.

In spite of betrayal by those who claim to be the people of God.

They still have the occasional flashes of joy.

They still hope in the Lord.

This is the power of God at work in the lives of His children.

I know it’s at work in the signs and wonders He does around the world, and I don’t want to discount that.

But will you quickly cast your eyes over here, at the quiet ones hiding away unobtrusively in homes that they do their best to fill with love and hope while they seek to keep their children safe from evil abusers, simply living their lives day to day, continuing to look upward because they know their hope is in the Lord?

Can you see the power He is accomplishing in their lives?

It is worthy of our admiration, that He has chosen to show such impressive power in the weakest and most downtrodden among us.

I bow my head to honor them, and I thank Him for such examples.

Happy Mother's Day.

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

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