The Struggle before the Peace

The Struggle before the Peace

December 10, 2008

By: Samuel Crawford Jr.

 

 

The Struggle is something I have to embrace, why because it confronts me face to face. ….THE STRUGGLE….

 

The struggle is like the wind on a cold winter day, biting as it blows across the face.  A threat it brings and a sting it does too, if left uncovered you are through.

 

It doesn’t ask if you, it may touch.  It doesn’t ask if you even mind if it blows.  It just blows and blows, causing shivers to run from your head to your toes. 

 

It makes you wish you had a heavier coat, but in your face it does gloat.  It knows there is nothing you can do to move it; it knows that there is nothing you can do to it.

 

Oh so much the wind is like the devil, thinking he is on another level.  The wind has it’s devices to make you think that you have no control; the wind is as satan a defeated foe.

 

The devil likes to blow our direction, hoping to divert our faith and attention.  As he did with the disciples in a boat out at sea, satan sent a storm to overturn their faith.

 

The wind blew and blew, every disciple knew there was power, and there was destruction.  They knew that this storm was meant to bring the end.

 

But something happened as they cried out…Jesus awoke out of His sleep.  Opening His eyes He took a peek, to see just what had caused His disciples to struggle.

 

Of course Jesus knew what they faced; He only wanted to increase their faith.  So He slept in order to allow this storm to come.

 

Yet when their struggle caused them to grow weak, they began to cry out, Jesus save us, for me this is too much!  Lord, if you don’t do something we’re all going down.

 

A moment longer, Jesus let the winds blow, still allowing the waves it created to crash onto the boat.  Then slowly He stood, raised His hands and spoke, “Peace, be still!”

 

That very moment the wind stood still, and the sea became as a sheet of glass.  No sign was left that there was ever any trouble.  The clouds in the sky left on the double.

 

Jesus asks them, “Why did you fear?”  “Have you no faith?”  He reminds them that with every temptation, God has made a way out.

 

The disciples ask, “What kind of man is this that the wind and the waves obey Him?”  Than there comes a laugh, as the disciples realize that there never really was any trouble.

 

The wind has no image and no one knows where it comes from or where it goes.  Yet it is a reality that we all must face, because it affects us day to day.

 

The disciples realize, like the wind on a cold winter day, that you can’t stop the wind from coming your way.  You can’t stop the waves from beating, to overturn your vessel.

 

Notice that Jesus never stopped the storm from coming.  He never diverted the waves from their boat.  He never even told them what they would face that day.

 

It is the same for us; we go through struggles that we never imagined.  We face things we thought God should have saved us from.

 

We feel alone as though no one is there and no one even cares.  We look for an answer, a way out and in the end all we can do is shout; “Jesus do you even care?”

 

For my world is in chaos, I don’t know what to do.  Jesus do you hear me?  What do I do?  Lord, do You care we are perishing?  Do you care that we drown?

 

Lord, do You care I have cancer?  Or that I struggle to remain pure?  Do you care that I am lonely?  Do you care that I have no money for rent?

 

Lord, do you see me, trying to do right?  Lord, do you hear me crying in the night?  Lord, do You care for me at all?  Or am I just talking to the wall?

 

That’s what we sometimes think as we try to do His will.  Often times battered and discouraged from a hard long fight.

 

As the disciples learned so must we, that Jesus is the one that set us on this path.  He knew the way we were going to go. 

 

He knew what awaited us and what we would do.  He knew how it would begin and even how it would end.  Yet, He didn’t stop it from happening.

 

He knew we would meet something to challenge our faith.  He knew we’d struggle at times to keep the faith.  He knew, HE KNEW!!!

 

Does that mean He DOES NOT CARE, since He let it happen?  Does it mean God is not real because trouble happens?

 

NO!!!  Jesus came to bring us life.  Jesus came to show us a better way.  Jesus came to die for us.  Jesus came to heal the sick!

 

Jesus came to destroy the devil’s works.  Jesus came to deliver His people.  Jesus came to give us hope.  Jesus came to show us the way.

 

Jesus came to restore that which was lost.  Jesus came with words of life.  Jesus came because there was no other way! 

 

Jesus knows the troubles and struggles that we face, and still He says nothing to cause us to change direction.  But He does give us promises to hold onto while we stay the course!

 

I may have to embrace the struggle, but the battle is not mine alone.  Jesus said He is with us even unto the end, but in Him we must depend.

 

Jesus never said that it was going to be easy, that you never will struggle.  He never said we won’t be sick or won’t get laid off.

 

Jesus never said there won’t be persecutions and trouble.  He never said you’re on your own.  Jesus never said you’d always have a place to call home.

 

It is true we all have different trials that we all must face, but it is important for us to remember He has given us His grace.

 

Jesus told the Apostle Paul, when he prayed THREE different times to remove the thorn from his side that “My grace is sufficient for you!”

 

Jesus didn’t take the thing that was causing Paul much pain and suffering away.  Instead, told him that He had given him grace to endure it.

 

The struggles we face and pray constantly for God to remove us from are the same as the thorn in Paul’s side.  It causes us pain and much suffering.

 

It puts our faith on the spot, will we believe Him or not?  Jesus tells us that He gave us grace and now it is time for us to have faith. 

 

These struggles are not to make us give up, but for us to have our faith in God increase as He brings us out.  For surely IF GOD put us in it He will surely bring us out. 

 

Today you may be struggling with Finances, Loneliness, Relationship Challenges, Depression, Rejection, Challenges at Work, Terminal Illness, Changes, Career Transition, Stress, Death of a loved one, Low Self-Esteem, Insecurities, Lose of Job and many other things, but there is ONE message that Jesus wants you to know through your struggle…That when the time is right Jesus cares enough to stand up for YOU, raise His hands and say to your situations “PEACE, BE STILL!!!”   It doesn’t matter what it is, the situation will have to listen.  God just wants you to have faith in HIM!!!  Remember, He doesn’t always take away all of the problems we face, but if we will trust in him, when we have endured as a good soldier in Christ Jesus, He will deliver us!!!  JESUS LOVES YOU AND CARES ENOUGH FOR YOU TO STAND UP, RAISE HIS HANDS AND SAY TO THE SITUATIONS YOU FACE…PEACE BE STILL!!!!!

Whom Shall I send??? Word from the Lord!

Whom shall I send?

A Word from the Lord

27 May 08

 

Whom shall I send to the aid of Jerusalem?

Whom shall I send?

I sent My prophets they heard not,

I sent My Son and they rejected Him!

whom shall I send?

Who will they believe?

They seek a sign, I gave them the Gospel. They wanted more, I gave them the apostles. 

Oh Jerusalem…Whom shall I send?

What must I do to help you see?

I am the Christ, the one you seek. 

You say blessed is he who prays for thee,

Yet when I sent to you the peace,

You rejected it and said it wasn’t from Me.

Oh Jerusalem will you see?

The answer you have been looking for is really Me!

What will it take for you to believe?

Will you believe before it’s too late?

Jerusalem, Jerusalem tell your watchman to awake!

The coming destruction will be the worst yet!

There is only ONE WAY to be kept,

Pray for the Holy Ghost, you’ll know when He comes.

He will fill you and you will be speaking in other tongues.

Pray for My Holy Ghost

To come,

For it is the peace of New Jerusalem…A free gift,

My only begotten Son.

Jesus Christ.

 

Through These Tears!

Through these tears

By Samuel Crawford

21 May 2008

 

Through the pouring tears I press on,

Wondering if my time will ever come,

I have been waiting for so long,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

My tears flow from the pains of life,

Life is full of heartaches and strife,

I often wonder what I have done,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

My heart cries for the hurts inside,

It is always the last thing to be found,

Yet it is the first thing torn down,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

Something is missing, something is gone,

My joy has been replaced by sorrow and despair,

It is all because something is not there,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

My heart used to sing happy songs,

Now my heart hears words to sad poems,

Why all the crying, why all the pain,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

So many tears my eyes have poured,

Each a reminder of the pain I have endured,

Many tears have obscured my vision,

But through these tears I must press on,

 

Because my tears just pour and pour,

I find that I’m at a place I can’t take anymore,

Something must happen, something must change,

So through these tears I must press on,

 

These tears I cry do not go unnoticed,

Someone is there gathering them into a bottle,

While Jesus is writing them into His book,

So through these tears I must press on,

 

 

 

 

Jesus is my strength and He holds me tight,

We talk before He tucks me in for the night,

He tells me to rest and be, He is looking out for me

So through these tears I must press on,

 

Jesus is always listening for His that cry,

He has a special place in His heart for you and I,

He shows up to bring comfort to my weary eyes,

So that THROUGH THESE TEARS I CAN PRESS ON!!!

 

 

This poem is written, yet may get changed.  I wrote this tonight through some jumbled thoughts and tears.  I wonder if anyone will even read this, would they understand it if they did.  Through these tears is the name of the poem, because it seems there is not many days they don’t come.  It is not always good and it is not always bad, but that doesn’t change the fact they still come.  This is my heart shown to you, if you are reading this I thank you.  You took time for me that you didn’t have to.  There is something I am missing that is the cause of this poem; it could be the end of what just began.  But if it is from God this is only the rough start and the best is yet to come!  Anyways, this poem I will edit it when I can, just to make sure it makes good sense, since it is so late in the morning.  So to all of you who feel this poem, and have been crying in the midst of your storms….I pray that God gives you the strength; because through YOUR tears you have to PRESS ON!!!

 

Blessings, Samuel…The Worshiper with a Word

a yearning heart

A yearning heart; written by Samuel on 10/1/07

I am a man with a yearning heart, for a love that seems to never come,

I dream of being together with someone and not being…alone,

I dream of a future with a wife, Not the emptiness of a single life.

I am tired of looking and being let down, I hate feeling like a desperate man,

Hopelessly wondering if my wife I will ever find, If God wills I will find the wife of His design.

I search and I search for you, my wife to find, My heart is yearning, to be with You,

Yet, I don’t even know who I am writing this to, Will you read it and know it to be you,

I hope and I pray, that YOU, God lets me find, You constantly stay on my mind,

I want to see you, I want to know you, I want to hold you, I want to love you,

When will I find, that thing my heart is yearning for, When will I find your heart with mine,

I don’t know, but until then…

 

 I am just a man with…a yearning heart.