Seven Words of Wisdom | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Seven Words of Wisdom | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dolores Stohler
05/03/21
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This past year, while people I talked to were moaning about covid19 – how it was ruining their lives or changing it in various ways – I was trying to sympathize. But inwardly I was wondering what God's plan was for allowing this pestilence to happen and what would be the benefits our land would reap when it was over. You see, having lived a very long time and experienced both joy and tribulation, I knew that every hard time was followed by a period of blessing and renewal.

I still believe the United States is the greatest country that ever existed and no one can talk me out of it. It's not political, it's a fact. We're a great nation because we're a land where people can fail repeatedly to succeed at something and each time pull ourselves out of the trash and start over again. Our country is full of success stories and always will be unless we allow ourselves to be dominated by those who want to take over our lives, tell us what to do and pay us when we're not working. A stimulus check is only OK if it provides the impetus to put on our thinking caps and find some new and innovative ways to keep us afloat when we've lost our jobs and are suffering hardship.

True, I'm not in that situation now but I've been there. Approaching my 40th birthday, I lost my husband to suicide leaving me with three children to raise. Six months later my eleven year old son, with another boy, got into trouble with the law and I lost my job in a law office because of it. I know my son was hurting inside and the other boy's parents were going through a divorce but my boss was lacking in compassion.

With mixed emotions I made the best decision I ever made in my life. Falling on my face before God, I turned my life over to him and told him I would go wherever he sent me and I didn't care what my salary was. I would trust him to provide for me and the kids, who were his children also.
Following this, he sent an angel to me in the middle of the night and then he sent a neighbor to help me get a job at a Christian charity where she worked. What a breath of fresh air when I walked into that office! I felt God's presence there and positively loved what I was doing. But life wasn't easy. I had to make sacrifices but they were worth it.

My optometrist, Dr. John Rabins, recently published a book about his own tragedy called “Defined by Fire”. He was examining a patient when he received a phone call telling him the forest around his home was on fire and his property was threatened. A few minutes later his cousin called to let him know his dad just died. When he left to attend the funeral it was with the knowledge that his home, his property and all his personal belongings had been destroyed. Only his wife and children escaped the fire.
But before he even knew the extent of his loss, he prayed and the Lord gave him seven words to remember. They were process, pray, prepare, provide, protect, prevail and prosper.

Out of the fire or the storm and out of the loss come new beginnings. There is always a new life to experience no matter how hard things may seem at the time if you never give up. “There's an old hymn that goes “Breathe on me breath of God, fill me with life anew.” When you survive the loss and the time of darkness, you emerge a new and much stronger person, someone whom God can use for his purposes. Dr. Rabins holds clinics where poor children receive glasses and have their eyes examined for free. I don't believe he recovered his wealth but his life is a blessing to many.

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