VANESSA'S STORY - April 24th...

Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Two need jobs in the worst way. Bills, pressure, phone calls and threats were starting to mount. Another was facing family strife. Misinformation, misplaced anger and misguided agendas were robbing every inkling of peace. Another was having to say goodbye to mom who just lost her fight with cancer.

Call upon call, text upon text adversity after adversity. There was real fatigue in their voices, real desperation in the tone of the texts.
These are the days when I wish a magic wand or a special secret “stash” of assistance was available. These are the days when the truth, while divine, doesn’t go down very easy.

And what is that truth? What does GOD say about these trials and adversity? HE says weather them. HE says find joy in them. HE says press through them. Transformation is coming. Learning is coming.
James 1:2-4
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

I know. That is a tough one to swallow when we are at our wits end or feeling overwhelmed.
But GOD calls us to persevere when things are tough; to trust HIM to see us through it as I shared yesterday. That is why I want to share a little about Vanessa this morning.

I was fortunate yesterday to hear Vanessa’s story.

On the outside you could see the impact of her tough bringing up. Her mother traded her childhood for drugs. At 12 years old she became a mother herself. Her mother’s addiction forced them into multiple stints in emergency housing and poverty. Vanessa too turned to and struggled with drugs and the trouble they cause. Her mother then died when she turned 14. With a 2 year old in tow she and he were moved to “the system”.
The future looked bleak. Hopeless. She seemed destined for an ending like her mother’s.

Yet it was when things were the most difficult that Vanessa learned to PERSEVERE. With the help of her new community and a steely resolve, she emerged from her apparent hopeless state to be the keynote at a community breakfast event telling corporate and community leaders about the power of perseverance.

And as she turned her attention to inspire the kids attending the event, she shared one of the most insightful analogies I've heard in a while.

“Kids”, she said, “Deal with life challenges like the levels of a Playstation game. You keep working, playing and trying until you reach that next level, don’t you give up.”

GOOD WORDS. GOD WORDS.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Regardless of the adversities and challenges that we face we need to listen to Vanessa and the apostle Paul. We must meet the challenge head on. We must TRUST GOD that we can get to “the next level” of life’s game. We must remember that there is joy in the challenge and reward at the end.

If Vanessa could find her way through her challenges; drugs, a neglected childhood, and a preteen pregnancy, to emerge a productive and impactful nurse and mother; then we too can emerge from the challenges we face!

Don’t you agree?
So keep playing to the next level my friends!

2 Corinthians 4:9
… God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

I love you all!
HAVE A BLESSED DAY!
Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney