"As thy days, so shall thy strength be"

Deuteronomy 33:25 "...as thy days, so shall thy strength be." This verse use to mean a lot in college, but has a completely different meaning now that I am a mom.

The last few weeks have been very trying with Josiah's health & not being able to do anything to help him while we wait for his endoscopy scheduled the end of April. God has been so good in all of it though to continue to give us the strength to press on. Recently, the pharmacy had some confusion on his medication & instead of putting the expiration date for 14 days after the meds were made, they had written on the bottle they were good for a month. Praise the Lord, we caught it the day before it expired & took it in so we could get a refill. In all honesty, they have been the best help there & some especially have gone so much out of their way to make sure we are well taken care of. For that, I am extremely grateful. Anyways, in bringing the prescription in, I just calmly explained the situation & the guy immediately got the pharmacist for me to speak with her. All I really needed was the refill but I think he wanted me to explain the situation to her to make her aware of what happened. The Lord keeps bringing back to mind, how in speaking with them they saw a difference in how I handled that specific situation & kept a calm spirit & testimony. One thing I believe the Lord is doing in all of this is using me to be a witness to those we interact with so many times through the coarse of one week at the doctor's office. That helps me keep things in the right perspective, that He is using our struggles in ways that will bring glory to Him.

Josiah was extremely sick on Tuesday & over an hour he screamed in pain. Not being able to do anything to help him, in desperation, I called the advice nurse to see if I should have him seen. She wasn't the nicest one I have ever spoken with, so I got off the phone discouraged but knew things would be better once I had him at the doctor's office & if something serious was happening, we would be in the right place. There's something comforting about just being there. So, I take him to the appointment & it wasn't at all as I expected it would be. Thankfully Josiah was feeling better by the time we were there but because of that, when the doctor saw him, she felt as if nothing was wrong. To make a long story short & not get into the details, I left so weak, frustrated, & completely discouraged. My heart hurt because I wanted answers, I wanted them to fix Josiah's problems & tell me something that I needed to hear, yet we left with nothing. So the rest of Tuesday & Wednesday, I prayed for wisdom on what to do, how to handle some things that happened during the appointment & sought counsel from friends.

Then Wednesday evening came. I was physically, mentally & emotionally exhausted from everything we had been dealing with but knew I needed to spend time hearing what God had for me & also spending time with God's people. I stand in awe at how the Lord gives us exactly what we need for each day. There are days that we just need the Lord to open the windows of Heaven & help our hurting hearts. That's exactly what He did for me on Wednesday. I can truly say, Wednesday night services are the most encouraging services of the week. Every word Preacher said was exactly what I needed to hear, especially at that exact moment. His message was "Shipwrecked & Snake Bit" & how Paul endured so much but God used it for His good. He explained how Paul was on his way to be executed, had went through so much already, then got bit by a snake. What really spoke to my heart was hearing him say how most would probably say, "That's enough!" & throw up their hands after being bit, but Paul didn't, he just shook the snake off. In my own life, oh how I need to just shake things off & keep pressing forward. If that would have been all I left with, it would have encouraged me enough, but the Lord had more! He went on to tell us how God used Paul greatly & many people came to know the Lord all because he had a good attitude when things didn't go his way. How I needed to hear that! Then he went to explain the different types of suffering we can experience & how He uses everything for a reason. Even though I could barely see to write, I jotted down some things to remind me of how God can help & use us.

1. God can encourage us in the worst environments. God told Paul "I am with you...you're doing the right thing." What a comfort to hear God say "you're doing the right thing" WOW!

2. You & I must learn to trust God even at the most unexpected times. God tells us "Your life is my life". We should praise him for the opportunity for Him to use us instead of getting bitter about what we are going through.

3. God can produce fruit in our lives in unusual ways. * It's about God using us where we are. "Brighten the corner wherever you are". Let God use you in the midst of what you're going through.

Isn't God good?! I'm so thankful He gives us the strength to get up each day & do our best to live for Him. Just like in the pharmacy, God can use us to be a testimony to others that we come in contact with. By His help & strength, I want to brighten the corner wherever I go & let God use me in the midst of what we are going through.

~Rachel