The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 2 Chronicles 20:29 NIV
Faith. Trust. Peace. Yea, right. Or at least that’s what I thought. I wondered if God would even consider fixing this mess. After all, He could. A snap of the fingers or a simple puff of breath and poof – God could fix this.
Our family is no worse than any other family in the world. We have our moments of “Oh my, will this ever fix?” FYI, don’t ever believe it when folks blow smoke about having a perfect family. Chances are their mess is messier than yours – they just aren’t willing to let others see their misgivings.
So when medical issues had us reeling, I had to find my ground and plant my feet firm. Faith and trust was something I rarely questioned. I’d been through my share of ut-ohs in life, and refusing to believe God was in the mix of helping us out, was not something I questioned. I’ve never doubted His being an active part of my life, good, bad, or indifferent. We’ve been the gamut from a prodigal to jail. Despite the wonderful hearts of our children, they’ve made mistakes. Mistakes so big. . . we wondered if God would intervene. Still we prayed things into His hands and trusted. We had faith.
I understand, nothing is too big for God. He continually works amazing things daily with a simple glance, but this...this battle was the devil cancer. This was different.
The truth is, it is no different. The hard part is how we continually place constraints on God – the Creator of the world. I needed a few days to process this information, but everytime I sat down to absorb the situation, my head went into overdrive. I like to have a plan and this time, the plan was one step at a time. I couldn’t get my head around that. What about down the road?
These verses from 2 Chronicles kept surfacing. Do not fear, the battle is the Lord’s. How could it be His? It’s us it’s happening to. The opportunity came for me to attend a spiritual retreat in another state. While guilt tried to envelope me, telling me not to go, I was needed at home, I bit my bottom lip and headed out.
We never know how God plans to help us but it’s important to know, He always does. What we have to grasp is the simplicity of His ways. When we think He can’t or won’t, He smiles and reminds us that He fights against our enemies. As I looked around the tribe of new friends, I saw issues and hurts far greater than ours, yet in the moment, God took hold of me and and said, “You are important. I know you’re afraid. I know you feel helpless, but I’ve already fought this battle. Trust me.”
Suddenly there was a peace. My feet found the ground and were planted firmly. Perhaps God reminded me of His faithfulness. Maybe He nudged me to say He had it under control. Maybe… maybe...He was simply preparing my heart for the road ahead. Either way, I walked away from the retreat feeling fearless. Feeling comforted and at peace.
God’s ways are not always ours and that’s okay, because in the long run, the Creator of the world already knows the plans He has made and what is ultimately best...what will glorify him and what we will gain from that glory.
Our battle with this monster on earth is just beginning, but I rest assured that God has firmly planted my feet on solid ground and He will walk with me through the valley and to the mountain.
When you feel completely spent. When your mind cannot fathom one more thing, trust. Have faith. Grasp hold of the will of God and know He has everything perfectly aligned. He has, after all, already fought our battles.
A Time to Be Gracious
Cindy Sproles
3/29/2026
Yep, That's Life!
Cindy K. Sproles
1/23/2026
Olaf! Oh, No!
Cindy K. Sproles
1/8/2026
The Hands on My Clock
Cindy K. Sproles
12/28/2025
Little is Much
Cindy K. Sproles
12/10/2025
Hospital Humor AKA What to do at 3 a.m. In the Hospital
Cindy Sproles
11/10/2025
A Note Can Change the World
Cindy Sproles
9/11/2025
Old Times, Good Memories
Cindy Sproles
8/28/2025
Stop Petting My Peeves - A Lesson in Reality
Cindy K. Sproles
7/28/2025
Door to Door
Cindy Sproles
6/26/2025
Photographs of Memories
Cindy K. Sproles
6/1/2025
Three People Who Changed My Life
Cindy Sproles
5/4/2025
An OPEN Moment
Cindy Sproles
4/19/2025
Anti-Aging and Baggy Eyes - ME?
Cindy Sproles
4/17/2025
As Far as the East is From the West
Cindy K. Sproles
3/28/2025
Three Things I Learned from a Mother-In-Law Who Hated Me
Cindy K. Sproles
3/21/2025
Just an Update
Cindy K. Sproles
3/18/2025
Allergic to Exercise
Cindy Sproles
10/18/2024
Rose By Any Other Name...
Cindy Sproles
10/15/2024
Never Look Back
Cindy Sproles
8/2/2024
Words Have Power
Cindy Sproles
7/12/2024
Those Hallmark Holidays
Cindy Sproles
5/12/2024
Deep and Wide or Sick and Tired?
Cindy Sproles
12/18/2023
What Would Jesus Do?
Cindy Sproles
11/10/2023
Chick, Chick, Chick
Cindy K. Sproles
9/30/2023
In My Inperfections
Cindy K. Sproles
8/27/2023
What Dumb Cluck!
Cindy K. Sproles
6/29/2023
Submit! ME?
Cindy Sproles
4/14/2023
Why Are People So Mean?
Cindy Sproles
3/30/2023
I'm Getting Old
Cindy K. Sproles
3/3/2023
Happy New Year, Happy New Year News
Cindy Sproles
1/9/2023
Happy Neuter Year
Cindy Sproles
12/31/2022
Facing Reality - Aging Parents, Aging Children
Cindy Sproles
12/30/2022
Word of the Year for 2023
Cindy Sproles
12/24/2022
My Grown Up Christmas List - Three Things to Adulting the Right Way
Cindy Sproles
12/13/2022
Weebles Wobble but They Don't Fall Down
Cindy Sproles
12/6/2022
The Man In the Middle
Cindy Sproles
11/24/2022
Diversity is More Than Color
Cindy K. Sproles
11/14/2022
Love in Motion
Cindy Sproles
11/7/2022
Deadbeat or Deadline
Cindy Sproles
10/31/2022
The Color of Scared - The Final in Seeking Spiritual Renewal
Cindy Sproles
10/14/2022
The Color of Scared - Second of Three in Seeking Spiritual Freedom from Fear
Cindy Sproles
10/9/2022
The Color of Scared - First of Three in Seeking Spiritual Freedom from Fear
Cindy Sproles
10/3/2022
Fog, Mist, Morning
Cindy Sproles
9/29/2022
From a Rooster to a Hen
Cindy Sproles
9/24/2022
Soggy Scrubby and the Long Goodbye
Cindy Sproles
9/13/2022
Wramping Up for ACWC
Cindy Sproles
9/10/2022
Rest Not, Want MORE!
Cindy Sproles
9/3/2022
Reality for Me
Cindy Sproles
8/17/2022
Beyond
Cindy Sproles
8/4/2022
Two on the Way
Cindy Sproles
2/26/2022
The Party's Overrrrr!
Cindy Sproles
2/22/2022
Every Day is New
Cindy Sproles
1/1/2022
Silent Night
Cindy Sproles
12/25/2021
Things are Back on Track - I think!
Cindy Sproles
12/18/2021
Writer Self-Care - Welcome 2021
Cindy Sproles
1/4/2021
Hope in a New Year
Cindy Sproles
1/1/2021
One More Christmas Thought - Taken from ChristianDevotions.US blog
Cindy Sproles
12/25/2020
A Christmas Saga - Joy in the Season
Cindy Sproles
12/24/2020
When Writing Grows Hard
Cindy Sproles
12/22/2020
The Power of the Pen
Cindy Sproles
12/15/2020
What Really Is Important
Cindy Sproles
4/12/2020
In the Midst of Chaos
Cindy Sproles
3/17/2020
Writing in a Pickle
Cindy Sproles
1/30/2020
The Joys of Aging
Cindy Sproles
12/30/2019
The Reality of Who We Are?
Cindy Sproles
12/22/2019
Perseverance to Write
Cindy
11/16/2019
The Battle is Fought
Cindy
10/15/2019
Pray with Fire
Cindy Sproles
10/3/2019
In Prayer - I Write
Cindy Sproles
3/3/2018
Encouraged - Even When . . .
Cindy Sproles
1/2/2018
Christmas Tears
Cindy Sproles
12/18/2017
Grateful for a Dream I Didn't Know I Had
Cindy Sproles
11/9/2017
Overshadowed
Cindy Sproles
8/21/2017
Five Keys to Overcoming Rejection
Cindy Sproles
8/12/2017
Hearing the Call to Foster – Renee McCausey
Cindy Sproles
1/13/2015