Tag Archives: God’s in control

King of the Jungle

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Recently, a friend and I lamented the craziness of the current world we live in. The conversation reminded me of a similar conversation I had with a different friend in the nineties, where we lamented the craziness of the world at that time.

In the eighties, while I dined on a terrace in Greece, a British stranger leaned over her table and told me, “You Yankee Doodles have done it this time.” Yes, we lived in a crazy world.

Events in the seventies proved craziness abounded all around. I grew up in the wild and turbulent sixties. Talk about craziness. Boy, howdy.

Of course there were the fifties, forties, thirties, and twenties. And let’s not forget the 1910s and 1860s.

Seems no matter how far back we go, this world’s been one wild and crazy place, inhabited by a bunch of wild and crazy people. I’m sure I’m not the only one with  memories of times you shook your head and wondered what in the world was going on.

So what to do?

In 1994, Steven Curtis Chapman wrote the song, King of the Jungle. Guess he was looking at the state of the world, and doing some head shaking of his own. Wonder if he’d add any additional verses today? Maybe not, because it seems his message was no matter how crazy, and how much of a jungle our world appears, the truth is, God is still God. He is still on his throne. He is still in control. He’s the King of the Jungle we humans inhabit.

Things spinning out of control? Take heart, my friend. God’s got it. He’s the LORD of the gentle breeze, as well as the rough and tumble. It’s all under his command.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. And so we need not fear even if the world blows up and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam; let the mountains tremble! Psalm 46:1-3 (TLB)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Knocking On Doors

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One of my devotions will be posted on Christian Devotions November 26, 2013. Please stop by and check out the site.

January 16, 2008, I submitted an article retelling the events of Pie’s seizure when he was 10-months-old, to a magazine I felt was a perfect fit. The article was not something the editor was looking for at the time, so she rejected it. AAGGHH!

All through 2008, I submitted that article to numerous magazines. All rejected it. Discouragement. I sent it out a couple more times, and met with the same fate.

I let the article sit in my files until May of 2012. I never gave up on it. I really believed what I wrote about how God brought me through an overwhelming situation, was something others would benefit from reading. So, at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, I showed it to an editor.

She liked it! She requested I submit it, and submit, I did.

October 21, 2012, I had an offer to publish the article. Yea, God!

July 10, 2013, “Letting Go” posted on Today’s Christian Woman Parent Connect.

If you’ve done the math, you saw this was a five and a half year journey of closed doors. But God…

He knew the people he wanted to read my article. He knew who it would benefit most. He orchestrated it all. Was I happy when the article kept being rejected? No. Was I discouraged? Yes. Did I give up? Not completely. I kept knocking on doors until one opened.

Oh, perhaps you’ll find this interesting…the magazine I submitted “Letting Go” to in January 2008? Today’s Christian Woman –print version before there ever was a digital version of the magazine. God’s perfect timing.

Are you in a place where you’re waiting for doors to open? Perhaps it’s a job. Perhaps it’s a health issue. Perhaps it’s concern for a family member. Release from addiction. Release from pain –however it is manifesting itself. Release from self-doubts.

Just as my article met with closed doors, there was a reason. There’s a reason for your closed doors, too. We don’t need to know that reason, though sometimes we’d sure like an explanation. What we need to do is keep knocking. Keep persisting. Keep trusting. Move through that door when God opens it. And stay put when he keeps it closed.

The Apostle Paul met closed doors, but he kept on knocking. He didn’t give up, and neither should we.

They (Paul and Silas) went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.

Acts 16:6-8 MSG

I wish you well.

Sandy

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