Dear Prayer Warriors,
Hunted Down on Thanksgiving
I spent sunrise at the cemetery with the Lord thanking Him for Simon’s life. I praise the Lord that He gave us the hymn Thanks to God for my Redeemer as “Simon’s hymn”. This means that we sang that song to him frequently in his mother’s womb, at his dedication service, on his birthday, and whenever I’m reminded of the gift of Simon. Therefore, I sang it that morning as the sun’s rays met his tombstone. To keep time, I pulled up a video accompaniment on my phone. At the conclusion of the song there was a verse of Scripture posted to linger on. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Th 5:16-18
That verse struck me given my situation. So, I pulled out a chair, the Bible, and sat there by his grave reading the whole of that chapter at daybreak. I asked God in prayer “Really, that is your will for me? That’s it?” That morning, I fulfilled God’s will for me! I gave thanks, in prayer, and rejoiced in the hardness of my situation. Right there, amid pre-resurrected tombs: “this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Then throughout the day the Holy Spirit pursued me with that passage 4 more times.
@ 6:30 AM on YouTube at the cemetery, then again as I read the chapter
@ 7:30 AM on Grace FM I heard a pastor reading and preaching that same verse
@ 12 on Facebook a friend posted those verses
@ 5 PM on the Light radio in between songs
@ 8:30 PM I opened my Bible app and this verse was “the verse of the day”
Of the thousands of verses, it was these that God used over and over on Thanksgiving Day. As I drove the family to my mother’s rehabilitation center in Denver, I dwelled on the combination of the three imperatives it contains: rejoice, pray and be thankful no matter and at all times. The Bible isn’t a book to read and then to move on from. Its seriously challenging, who would give this advice to anyone coming from the cemetery and going to see their mother whose health is failing? My Perfect Heavenly Father thought it fit to feed me this. Given His faithfulness to His Word and His faithfulness to me through the years, I have tested and found trustworthiness in the Bible; so, I gave it a shot even though the thought of it rubbed me the wrong way at first.
Mom transitioned out of the hospital the day before Thanksgiving. She fell the week prior and suffered two broken ribs, a broken vertebra, “more fractures in her hips”, and another UTI. Before I entered the facility I chose not to hang onto my grumbling that this was yet another unorthodox Thanksgiving. Instead, I clung to my Father’s Words. I obeyed them by praying, and boldly walking into the rehab center with my family. We saw my mom struggling to grasp reality, continuously rambling with much lucidity in her thinking. She spoke only in French. The all-liquid diet was like a slap in the face to the Thanksgiving food we brought up to share with her.
Yet the Lord equipped me with perspective! Thanking Him made me think of the nurses working that day. I thought of how I get more time with mom and that my children can bless her with a hug and a kiss. By God’s grace, I thought to sing and play some of her God honoring music. Without the Bible instructing me I know I would have been critical, pushy with my mom, wanting to control, and despairing at the situation! Instead, Mom was allowed to have some of Lindsey’s Sweet potato pie filling. Praise the Lord!
Pray incessantly, rejoice always and give thanks no matter what for this is God’s will for you in Jesus. When applied, I’m learning to say I don’t trust myself, or my choices, or my heart. Sounds like an anti-Self-help book. Instead, here I am rejoicing during my mom’s burdens and enduring hard things in faith. The spiritual conclusion these verses led me to is: “know that God will show up in all His glory, He is the best at all things. Should my circumstance not be what I want, I will thank Him because it is what I need most!!!” Yes death, yes enemies, yes retail work, yes basement remodeling, yes rehabilitation centers, yes cerebral palsy have all shaped me for good this year more than all my wants. “Thank you, Jesus, that my eyes are on you through this.” D.L. Moody once said: “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” How yielded is my heart to allowing this?
A Tenderhearted Daydream
Perhaps the greatest evidence of God's grace to me through the loss of my son, the daily hardships Anna faces, and my mothers aging body is how the Holy Spirit has kept me tenderhearted. Glory to God! By sending this out so close to Christmas, I realize your prayers are gifts to us, but also, I want to give you a gift. I prayed to the Lord “how can I encourage my family in the faith that read this?”
If you received these prayer emails about 4 years ago, I sent an entry using my imagination to envision “what if Anna was visited by Jesus and fully healed tomorrow morning.” It’s certainly not true as of yet but writing it out proved to be an exercise in tenderheartedness and faith.
Have You Read My Book?
Death, the great delivery driver took me up to the Judgment Seat.
My free will had ended, it was a wild ride.
I checked my pockets for a comb, man, I wish my hair was more ready for this.
My fingers will have to do.
There must have been an automatic door sensor ‘cause that door swung open
Before I was ready. Well ready or not, it’s time!
I fell as I entered, on my knees in this living room sized Mercy Seat look alike.
Gold flooring, angel winged walls and God in the middle fix but not grounded.
I wish I had a bit more control right now.
I was ready, but it wasn’t my turn to break the ice.
An firm angelic voice declared to me: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.”
I bowed lower still, what comes next? Should I blurt stuff out like Peter at the transfiguration?
My thinking stopped.
The Savior’s hand touched my head as a warm surge of chills covered me head to toe.
He grabbed my clasped hands, that’s when I saw His.
It’s true, in plain view! The hands that took my punishment. It’s you!
There was a crown, there was a cross, there was a sacrifice acceptable to God, the punishment for my sins were indeed taken.
O Lamb of God holding my hand, eager in love.
Jesus lifts my head, I fix my gaze on Him, and like oxygen peace fills my insides.
“Simon Emmanuel Currat, your mission is done and we remain together. Enter into my Father’s house with me friend!”
He picked me up and gave me the power to walk, so I did.
We walked as the setting around us changed from closed to open, small to vast, from describable to indescribable, from familiar to glorious.
I stayed the course with Him still unsure of what to say.
My heart burning with the Spirit’s fire like those on the road to Emmaus as I listened to Him.
Jesus continued, “I wrote a book, have you read my Book?”
Contentment made me smile as I finally spoke my first words to my Sweet Shepherd:
“Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
If I live at the eastern horizon
or settle at the western limits,
even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”—
even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.
For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and I know this very well.”
Praise God for: (there are many answers to our requests that I can think of today)
-Anna had a significant Cerebral Palsy evaluation with three specialists and a PT. We were expecting to hear that her spine has become a major problem. They have been watching it for about 3 years turning slowly into scoliosis. Specialists have a way of grooming parents for what is likely in the distant future. I know this because that is how we were corralled down the path to Anna’s hip subluxation surgery. We were ready to talk about spinal fusion or bracing ourselves to hear how we have a new set of complications.
None of that happened, they said the percentage her spine is bent has stayed the same, her range of motion is great. Also, the x-ray show that her hips have taken well to the surgery of 3 years ago. “there’s no way they are going out of socket again.”
-Due to my mothers most recent fall, I have visited her 4 times since my last update, thanks for praying that I would get time with her.
-After 6 months and many prayers, our basement and guest room are complete, they look like a blessing from the Lord. We even came in underbudget by doing about half of it ourselves. The Lord used this construction trial to bring Lindsey and I into greater harmony.
-My morning devotions have been hard at times especially now that work wants me there at 5AM. I have been vigilant and passionate about using the minutes I do have before heading out.
Please pray for:
-our Christmas as we grow in faith to remember that God is good, and His big picture doesn’t have me in the middle but rather the radiance of His Son our Savior. Through death and hardship may I pray, thank and rejoice.
-my mom. I was struggling for how to pray for her. One of my prayer warriors reached out suggesting, “lets pray that God would do what only He can do.” That encouraged my heart to consider two things: 1, I want more time with her, and only God can strengthen her to grant that request. 2, Given her suffering, only God can draw her to His side to experience the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. This prayer of “do what only You can do Lord” is like “thy will be done”, and still, I will praise You in this circumstance.
Merry Christmas,
Nic
