These are some special thoughts I have been clinging to...

The Heavenly Grandstand

I was running the race of life, and the wind was at my back;

There was never a fairer day to run, never a smoother track.

So with my head held high as the miles raced by,

I ran with careless ease.

I would run this race, I would win first place

So my Master I would please.

Then an unforeseen hand rudely pushed my down,

And I fell with a thud to the cold, cruel ground;

And broken and bruised, I began to cry

As the other runners all passed me by.

”Lord, help me please! I can’t run any more;

I’m broken and battered, I’m tired and sore;

I don’t think I can make it, I just want to die,

I don’t even have what it takes to try.”

And as I lay bleeding upon the ground,

A vast “cloud of witnesses” gathered around.

There were heroes of old, all the saints of the ages,

Who through weakness were strong

And through faith made courageous.

They started to cheer and to wildly applaud,

And their voices rose up giving glory to God.

And then to myself I said, ”How can this be?”

For the saints of the ages were cheering for me!

Then Abel cried out, “There is power in the blood!”

And Noah said, ”He’ll keep you safe through the flood.”

Then Jacob said, ”Weary one, lean on the Lord,”

And Moses cried out, ”Child, look to the reward!”

Then Sarah stepped forward, holding Abraham’s hand,

And they both said, ”Trust God when you don’t understand.”

”In God’s promises, child, you must always believe,

For sometimes He’ll do things you just can’t conceive.

Come on! You can do it! Get up off your face

And run with endurance the rest of the race.

And remember, my child, when your strength is all gone,

The saints of the ages are cheering you on!”

So I rose to my feet midst their thunderous ovation

And started to run with great determination;

And that’s when I saw Him, my Savior and Lord,

And I knew in my heart I must win the reward

To cast down before Him the crown that I’d won,

And to hear Him say to me, ”Well done, child, well done!”

~Janice Rogers Edmiston~

   ”Have you ever cried out,  ’My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ Circumstance did not work out the way you had wanted. God did not answer your prayers exactly as you wished. Simple principles and formulas did not work the way you thought they would. Somehow you were the exception to the rule. Did that mean that God did not hear you when you cried to Him? Does it mean He doesn’t care? Oh no; that is not true at all.” ~ Joyce Rogers

   ”I don’t know why, why, why some people are plagued with tragedy and others suffer little in this life. But I know, I know, I know that ’all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). And I know this: To all those who lean on Him, God offers peace in the midst of every storm.” ~ Joyce Rogers

   ”God never explained the why of the circumstances, but He gave a magnificent assurance of all things working together for good. Life may seem like an earthquake perhaps 7.5 on the Richter scale. ’For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed’ (Isaiah 54:10a), but the good (oh, so good) is, ‘ ‘My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord who has mercy on you.’ (Isaiah 54:10b).” ~ Joyce Rogers

“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: the faithful love of

the never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His

faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore

I will hope in Him!”

Lamentations 3:21-24