Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:1-5
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Melancholy Moments
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Melancholy moments
have their veins of gold
as do memories
marbled with grief
Good can come
from each circumstance
I’m told –
if we will…
but believe
For it’s our attitude
that blesses or burns
and gives them worth
I’m learning
to mine for treasures
and be thankful
for things could have been worse
Using faith to pick at rocks
and with His Power
I’ve found
I can pan for gold within the pain
swishing it
in Living Water
round and round
Focusing on eternal gems
casting aside
marred and broken thoughts
and slipping sparkling
words of wisdom
into my leather pouch
of all
that He has taught.
Wendy/2013
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The passage of time seasoned with His grace can turn anything life dishes out into something savory.
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In the low lying areas of life’s journey treasures can be found. I love the mountaintops – but we can’t stay there all the time… at least not on this side of Heaven.
In the valley I become acutely aware of my lack and my need. The personal growth of faith and spiritual maturity takes place here on the bottom. And you know what they say about being here: The only thing left to do is to look up.
When I am on higher ground and feeling confident in myself rather than confident in what He is doing in me, and through me, then I am dragged to the bottom in a landslide of suffering (pride before a fall).
Suddenly everything in my environment seems uprooted and unstable. Any idols I had foolishly clung to show their real substance – fluff!
Some landslides come simply just because… and not self-induced. Stuff happens on this planet. But our hope in Christ, and his word, can cause us to soar sooner than the world would have expected us to – and that glorifies God!
It reveals his strength and majesty while we are slowly being conformed into his likeness, and our faith is refined into something of far more worth than anything we might mine for…
Character Building Blessings ~ Wendy
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In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1: 6-7
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:18 & 28
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The Word With Wendy 
Thanks Wendy..this is exactly what I needed to read today.
Blessings,
Alicia
Alicia, it blesses me to hear if any of my posts are used for good – thank you!
It does seem that those trials are truly producing the character in us God desires! Thanks for reminding us. You also reminded me to dare to look back into those places of “melancholy” to see what God produced there for me and His glory! Blessings to you, dear friend!
Heidi, I had a little melancholy moment yesterday when my van broke down just as I arrived at my son’s guitar instructor’s place. It could have been so much worse – like on the bridge into town… Alls well that ends well! So, I wrote a poem for next week’s post while I waited for my handsome and mechanically wise husband!! xo
I can testify with you, the riches that come from suffering. Our attitudes allow us to learn, or, we stay low and in a rut when our hearts are closed off. The book of Romans is a steady thread in my life right now, and the apostle Paul a frequent teacher–especially as we will continue to hear L recite the powerful story of grace in Paul’s life from the book of Acts!
Your pictures take me back to my childhood in CT…playing in streams and woods that looked just the same. Thank you for an extra smile.
I turned to the Word late in the day yesterday and had unnecessary anxiety and misplaced control. Today I can feel God’s words washing my heart clean from this morning and into the day. Can’t live without it!
Blessings–Alison
Alison, Romans is always a delight to read! It is not difficult to understand and has so much in it. Yes, we need to feast on the Word daily – I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
WOW, Wendy–this is chock-full of good stuff–Amen, Amen!! I love the message about “attitude”–how grateful I was when I finally learned I had a choice about it, and how much power a good attitude (of gratitude) holds! I also loved the line about “broken thoughts”–oh yes, in my recent Valley, my thoughts were pretty broken, banged up and bruised. BUT, I just knew that God would bring me through–and not to brag, but I didn’t panic or complain nearly as much as I used to, about the “when and how” He would accomplish my victory. Every time, such as these, we grow stronger and stronger in Him–such JOY! God bless you abundantly–love from your old sis Caddo (J/C)
I missed you, sweet poet friend, during your time off, and it was so wonderful to see you back! Yesterday I got a test when my van broke down… I decided to stay positive and even wrote a poem while I waited for my husband to rescue me. It was a lot easier than the time I was driving the truck and the water hose broke in the middle of a snowstorm ( An unbelieving relative commented on my calmness during the event ,and I was thinking the whole time that God can use even a broken truck for good… my flesh wanted to rant and rave but I’ve learned the hard way that it would only add to the pain.). xo
Wendy, what beautiful words of wisdom!
Thank you, dear Sue! 🙂
Beautifully said…thank you!
Thank you, dear Patty! 🙂
Together on the journey…
Amen! 🙂
Your devotions are so good, Wendy! God uses them to calm us and draw us to Himself. I loved the idea of panning for gold in our tough times. 🙂 I recently read about how a lot of the rose oil comes from the Balkan mountains. The workers there gather the roses between one and two a.m. The author of this devotion wondered if it was a superstitious act, that they did this at that dark time, but found out that the roses lost 40% of their fragrance during the day light hours. It went on to compare us to those roses, that what God does in our dark times cannot be brought forth in the happy lighter times.
Thank you so much, for sharing Him with us like you do! God bless you!
Debbie, I love what you have just taught us about the roses! I guess that is why herbs and lavender are supposed to be gathered in the early morning too. Thank you for your really interesting comment! xo
People do not appreciate the intricate details in nature and how God took the time structure each petal, color, shape, and bulb, I love what your doing
Thank you! Botany must be a fascinating field of study because of all those “intricate details.” I’m happy with just gardening, photography, and poetry. 🙂
lol
I love the tree root photo and your words (as always!). This line: “I can pan for gold within the pain swishing it in Living Water round and round Focusing on eternal gems” — lovely imagery that really speaks to me.
Today I was reading something that made me realize that some of the pain we get is to turn our heart away from an idol to Him. It has been true in my life. Thank you for your visit, Jill!