Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

God’s Word and a Scalpel

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scalpelI had surgery to correct tennis elbow on May 18 of last year. I don’t play tennis. But supposedly many different types of repetitive motion can cause the tendons to fray. The surgeon’s scalpel made an inch and a half long incision, pulled the tendon away from the bone, and shaved the offending frays from that tendon. The doctor then sewed the tendon back to the bone before doing something to cause additional bleeding. This extra bleeding supposedly brings quicker and more complete healing.

 

My elbow hurt more in the days after the surgery than before. I knew that wouldn’t always be the case, but was necessary for healing.

 

God Often Brings Growth through Suffering

 

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” Psalm 119:27 NIV

 

God makes it clear many times in scripture that we will not escape hardship in this life.  Sometimes He allows us to endure pain to teach us obedience.  Natural consequences can direct us to a better way. And suffering can increase our dependence on Him. We won’t always find a lesson in our heartache.  Sorrow, grief and distress are natural ramifications of living in a broken world.  But there would be no demerit systems, school detentions or time outs if discomfort offered no instruction or reformation.

 

God Brings Growth Through Scripture

 

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NIV

 

God’s word can be comforting.  We often buy wall art and home decor plastered with passages about God’s love and care for us.  We create or share memes for social media with verses about God’s good plans for us or encouragement to be strong and courageous.  And I would never want to diminish these expressions of God’s great grace and mercy for us.  But we can’t grasp on to the tender promises and ignore the instruction and conviction the Bible contains.

 

You will probably never see Hebrews 4:12 (above) cross stitched on a pillow, but it’s an important precept to understand and follow.  We love to talk about the abundant life we have in Christ, but that requires we walk in righteousness.  God’s word lays out His design for His creation – that’s us.  When we ignore that, we forfeit (at least for the time of disobedience) the blessings of right living.  God overflows with grace and mercy, but He will not allow His people to remain in sin forever.

 

How God’s Word Cuts

 

Not all of God’s word is comforting.  Some of it is cutting and convicting.  But it cuts to heal – like a surgeon’s scalpel.

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How   The cuts my doctor made were so tender after surgery that I held a wide berth around everything on my right side.  I didn’t want to touch anything and I didn’t want anything to touch me.  And I didn’t even want to think about flexing and extending my arm.  But I had full faith that my elbow would heal and return to better function than before.  Closer to God’s design for the elbow.  And heal it has.  I don’t regret the pain of the procedure for a second.

 

That’s the faith I have in God’s convicting and reforming Word.  It cuts straight to the heart if I let it.  It makes sometimes painful corrections to our actions and the thoughts and attitudes that brought about those actions.  But momentary pain, in the hands of our Lord and Savior, molds us more and more into the image of Christ.  God’s design for us.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on pain and suffering in this world and God’s part in it.  Drop a comment below to join the conversation.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

When You Try Trusting God & Things Get Worse.  I’ve definitely felt that.  If you have, this post from Donna Reidland will encourage you.

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

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We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

Joy Ride: My Word of the Year

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The last couple of years have been terrible for everyone.  At least that’s the way it seems.  Covid-19 lockdown snowballed into more struggles, more uncertainty and more pain.  I didn’t realize how universal these feelings were until I heard person after person wishing for 2023 to be a better year.  I hope you don’t fall into this category, but we all know sooner or later, we will have trouble (John 16:33).  Maybe we need a joy ride.

 

People often associate the term joy ride (sometimes spelled as a single word) with stealing a car.  But it simply means a ride for enjoyment.  And I, for one, need more enjoyment in my life.

 

Last year was a little better for me than the two years prior, but I still found myself saying the following to my mom and sister:  “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel true joy again.”  I almost couldn’t believe it came out of my mouth.  Full disclosure:  I realized a short time later that I needed a change in my anti-depressant and, as a result of that change, am feeling much better now.  But the reality is that I spent two years in sadness, grief and despair.  Medication or not, God has had to teach me anew to trust Him.  Hear me say that the lack of trust, of course, had nothing to do with His actions or who He is. I allowed my circumstances to skew my view of a God who never changes.

 

Which Leads Us to Now…

 

In the midst of that conversation with my loved ones, I knew “joy” needed to be my One Word focus for 2023.  I have put in a lot of work the last few years and I think God wants me to lighten up.  I know the Bible says we, in Christ, have joy no matter the circumstances.  James even said trials and the testing of our faith are counted as joy (James 1:2-3)!  For crying out loud!  But if I’m honest, joy is not exactly what I’ve been feeling.

 

Now I know feelings and truth don’t always line up, but I want to manifest the truth of supernatural joy in my life.  In plain speak, I’m tired of feeling burdened and sad.  I want to overflow with the joy that comes from knowing Jesus and walking daily with Him.  So I choose joy.  Not just for the moment, but for the year.  I plan on digging into what scripture has to say about it and exploring the things in my life that hold me back from its fullness.

 

Psalm 16:11 is my verse for the year.

 

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  ESV

 

If this resonated with you at all, I hope you will come on this journey (or ride, if you will) with me for 2023.  As I learn, maybe you will, too.  And please share your experiences with joy and the things you know about it in the comments.  I hope we encourage each other to soak up those pleasures forevermore.

 

Bonus:  I’m sharing the screen saver I made for my phone!

joy ride

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Joanne Viola gave a beautifully simple explanation of the gospel in Receive.  Thank you for linking up, Joanne!

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

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