Thanks in the Middle

by Cassandra Walker

As I was thumbing through my Bible recently, I saw a Post-it note marking Luke 4:18-19:

     The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

     Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the capitves

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus is quoting this passage from Isaiah, illustrating that He is the fulfillment of it. On June 23, 2004, I felt in my spirit that the Lord wanted me to consider this passage my calling as well.  So, on my note I wrote, "This is why I woke up this morning.  This is why I draw my next breath. This is why I'm granted another heartbeat." I like to review the note from time to time because it helps keep me grounded.  I may have the daily circumstances of being human on this planet swirling around in my brain, but I can read this and be snapped back into the proper perspective. 

Recently, when I reviewed this passage again and its application to me personally, I thought about the time of testing through which I've been going, and I did something that I have never done before-- I thanked Father God for the test as I was experiencing it.  I rehearsed in my mind the past trials that the Lord has allowed me to experience and started thinking about how every time I leaned on him for guidance, there was always a reward on the other side.  I began to realize that the Lord desires to give me something, so He is moving me towards what He has for me.  For the first time I thanked the Lord out loud for the current test I was experiencing while i was still experiencing it. I believe that it was the grace of the Holy Spirit to lead me to do this.  This isn't something with which I could have come up!

After I did this, my trial did not instantly ease up. In fact, it pretty much stayed the same.  However, the trial was easier to face knowing that it was designed to equip me to fulfill my calling.  Thanking Father God while it was still going on helped me to maintain more of a thankful attitude even though the stress level remained the same.  

It seems the Lord tests me in three areas: money, relationships and health.  Father God has tested all of humanity in these same areas regardless of whether they are Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Universalist, atheistic, Christian, etc.  Knowing that I can't escape the trials of life, I desire to accept this and learn how to go through them well.  My pastor has said, "You can get there in a beat up Volkswagen Bug, or you can get there in a Cadillac." I would like to learn how to keep peace in my heart during all of life's experiences, whether it be tests or times of refreshing that come after the trials are resolved.  Only the Holy Spirit of the God of Abraham, poured out by Jesus Christ, can show me how to continue to experience joy in the middle of a trial.

Cassandra Walker and her husband Gavin own MedTech Medical Management Systems in Springfield, Missouri and Lead the Amazing Graceland Children's Ministry for Abundant Life Covenant Church.