LESSONS FROM AFFLICTIONS! DO 2646 5/90
--Grandpa Talking to Techi about Her Headaches
1. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!"--Psa.34:19. Now why do we have many afflictions? (Techi: To keep us humble & close to the Lord.) Exactly, that's right! David said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but in my affliction I cried unto the Lord & He rescued me out of all of my troubles."--(Psa.119:67; 34:6.) (Maria: It also says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Thy Word.") Amen.
2. To be afflicted doesn't mean that you're so bad or awful or anything like that, but we all could stand a little improvement! Once we've learned one lesson, then the Lord teaches us another one, & we kind of keep graduating step by step. So try to find out what the Lord's trying to tell you or teach you from your affliction, & see if you can profit by it. (Maria: She's working on it, aren't you?) (Techi: Yes!) Praise the Lord!
3. I'm so sorry that you've been having these headaches. I've prayed for you "that thy faith fail thee not."--Luk.22:32. (Techi: Thank you, Grandpa. Even though I have headaches every day, they come & go & they usually aren't real bad. TYJ!) You're a brave girl, Honey. PTL!
4. Well, let's pray. Thank You, Lord, that Techi has known very good health nearly all of her life. We know that it's a little hard on her now to endure even these light afflictions. But we're sure that You're trying to teach her something, Lord, & show her something & get her to look more to Thee, to stay closer to Thee, to lean more on Thee, Lord, with this light affliction. So bless her, Lord, & do heal her & deliver her from it, because You also said that You'd "deliver us out of them all."--"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!"--Psa.34:19.
5. Even if she has to suffer these light afflictions, they're nothing compared to the great reward You're going to give us in the Future. And they're to teach us something & keep us close to Thee, Lord, & prayerful & even careful.--To remind us to live right, eat right, get enough rest etc., & not to do anything foolish. So do bless & keep her now, Lord. Strengthen her, & if it be Thy Will, please deliver her from these afflictions. But if they're good for her, then let her learn the lessons that they're teaching her, even as You have done with all of us. You said that chastening is good for us, & if any son is without chastisement, then he's not really a son! "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, & scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."--Heb.12:6.
6. So Lord, it's a part of her purification, scourging & chastening, to keep & make her better & more pure & leaning more upon Thee! So do bless her & keep her now, Lord, & help her to get a good night's sleep, & to sleep in in the morning if she needs it. Do help her & strengthen her & heal her when it's Thy time & You know that she's had enough & she's learned whatever You're teaching her.
7. Keep her safely tomorrow, Lord, & give her strength for the day, in Jesus' name. Keep her always prayerful & knowing that she must depend upon You, Lord! TYL! Hallelujah! And Lord, when You deliver us from affliction, help us not to forget to be thankful & to praise You for it, in Jesus' name, amen!
8. I'll tell you, there's never anything like sickness to make you appreciate health! As I often say, people who have never been sick don't appreciate health, people who have never been poor don't appreciate wealth, & people who've never known darkness don't even appreciate light! Right? So it helps you to learn to appreciate things, amen? (Maria: It helps us to feel more sympathy for others too.)
9. You haven't always had these headaches, have you? You've had them for about six months, haven't you? (Techi: I think I'm just the kind of person who normally throws up easily & gets headaches frequently. I'm just that way. I've gotten them for years & years, almost all my life, but it hasn't been an everyday thing like it is now. Maybe once a month I'd get a bad headache, even when I was pretty small.) But you have them every day now? (Techi: Basically.) I'm so sorry, Honey. Lord bless & strengthen & help her.
10. Amen, Lord, we know that suffering does teach us things. TYL! Remember that famous little poem that Grandma frequently quoted?
"I walked a mile with Laughter,
She chattered all the way,
And never a thing I learned from her,
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And never a word said she.
But, oh, the things I learned the day
That Sorrow walked with me!"
11. So suffering does teach us things. Just try to seek the Lord & learn what He's trying to teach you. You have so much, Honey! You've got good health, an excellent body, you live comfortably, you're smart & you know so much. I mean, you're blessed in every way! (Maria: You're learning so many lessons too, & you have so much Word!)
12. So to have just one or two little afflictions is really not so bad. PTL? (Maria: That's how I feel, too. Before now, I hardly ever had any afflictions.) (Techi: Yours are a lot worse than mine, Mommy.) (Maria: Well, Honey, it just depends how you look at it or what you compare it to. The Lord gives us whatever He knows we need.)
13. Boy, when I had that problem with such severe loose bowels, the runs for so long, I just felt like my bottom was going to drop out! The Lord knows how discouraged I got for awhile, I thought maybe I was going to die. The Lord really put me through the mill. But now that I'm healed & my bowels are normal again, I'll tell you, you can't know how very thankful I am to the Lord & to the Family for their prayers, that the Lord healed me of that! TYJ!
14. We learn a lot from our afflictions!--Humility, desperation, closeness to the Lord.--And thankfulness for His blessings & healing! PTL! Are you learning the lessons He's trying to teach you? GBY! ILY!
+ + + + + + +
A PRAYER FOR TECHI'S HEADACHES!
15. We don't know all the reasons why You're afflicting her like this, Lord. Have mercy, Lord, on Thy little child. Please, Lord, have mercy on her. Please. Surely You care for me enough to heal my child. Oh Jesus, Jesus! Please deliver her, Lord, strengthen her. Heal her, Lord. We don't know why You're letting her be afflicted like this unless You want her to be humbled & cry to You for help.
16. Oh God, have mercy on her! Lord Jesus deliver her, strengthen her, don't let her suffer like this, Lord, unless You're trying to do something with her, Lord. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," but, Lord, You lead us out of them all.--Ps.34:19.
17. You promised to deliver us from them all, Lord, so You deliver her! She's righteous, Lord. This is a serious affliction, Lord, so now You deliver her, in Jesus' name! Rebuke the Enemy in the Name of Jesus! Cover her with Thy blood. Deliver her by Thy mercy, in Jesus' name. TYL! And heal her, Lord. Deliver her. Please have mercy on her. She's just a little girl, Lord, but she's very important to You & to us. Touch & heal her, Lord. Rebuke the Enemy!--In Jesus' name. Amen.
(NOTE: As with the pow-wow questions in the earlier Teen/JETT Techi GNs, the following questions are to be used as springboards for lively & inspiring lesson-learning pow-wows, discussions, skits etc. Even the very simple & perhaps humorous questions cover important spiritual principles that are good reminders & lessons for all of us.--So please use'm & enjoy'm! The Written Questions provide an opportunity for all of you Teens & JETTs to openly share your hearts with your Shepherds, & get answers to any questions you may have, ask for any help you may need etc. GBY! WRLY!)
QUESTIONS
1) A good thing to realise if & when you're afflicted is:
a. You must be a very bad & awful person, therefore you should plunge into the depths of despair & discouragement.
b. You are a very holy & righteous person, therefore God must have made a mistake in allowing you, of all people, to be afflicted.
c. We can all stand a little improvement, so it's best to look to the Lord to find out what He's trying to teach you from this affliction.
2) What are some of the reasons that the Lord allows us to be afflicted?
a. To teach us lessons & keep us close to Him.
b. To remind us to live right, eat right, get enough rest, & not abuse our bodies.
c. To chasten, scourge & purify us, to make us "better vessels" that will be more useful to Him.
d. To teach us to appreciate things more, especially our health.
e. To help us to feel more sympathy for others who are afflicted.
f. All of the above.
3) What lessons have you learned from afflictions? Have you found that afflictions helped drive you closer to the Lord?--Or further from Him? Do you think afflictions just automatically make us more yielded & "better vessels"?--Or does a lot have to do with our attitude? Why do you think some people get bitter, & not better when they suffer affliction?
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family