Who’s Your Support?
Mustard Seed Chronicles: Story Time with LU Grandma
Last summer we had such beautiful irises blooming in our front yard. They had grown taller than in years past and I had noticed that some had succumbed to the strong northwest winds we had experienced earlier that spring. Some of them were actually at a 45-degree angle to the ground. As I was working to put bamboo stakes in the ground and tying the stalks of the irises to the stakes, the Lord spoke to my spirit as He often does. He said, “Timi, who is your support? Is it your husband, family, your friends or maybe the church? Your main support needs to be Me.” And of course, He was right…again!
There have been times when it seemed like a northwest wind was blowing hard in my life, too. In other Chronicles, you have heard of the health struggles and financial issues the Lord has allowed in my family’s lives, and how He brought us through them. Many of you may be there now, bending low against the windstorms.
I know a lot of us are dealing with the whole issue of COVID-19, quarantining, social distancing, masks, and all that the guidelines bring. If you’ve had a family member admitted to the hospital for any reason, then you have experienced the isolation caused by the guidelines. COVID has certainly added to the “wind” pressure, has it not? Because of my family’s health situations presently, if my happiness relied totally on human interaction, human help, and the fellowship of my husband and family in person, then I would feel very sad. I praise God for the technology that allows me to virtually interact with all of them instead. What sweet substitution! Virtual meetings are not what I would prefer, but the connections do give me encouragement.
Inside our Christian circles of community, we can be tied to a lot of different stakes of support right now. Even with the friends at church, our family members, and of course the members of our larger Liberty University family to anchor us, our main support is still The Lord. It must be Him! He is the only omnipresent one; the only one who is omniscient and omnipotent. He is the only one that can work in all of our life’s situations. We must rely very heavily on Him.
Through this year, especially, I have learned that I am not alone. I never will be alone, and I have one that “sticks closer than a brother!” He is always with me. He is: perfect strength, perfect wisdom, the healer, and the comforter. So even in my “alone” times, I can rejoice because my support is ultimately the One that holds me up in the face of adversity, is the One and only God of every god, and He is my beloved Savior Jesus Christ.
We have never been promised that we’re not going to have problems in this world. Scripture says in Hebrews 5:7-9 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,” (emphasis is mine). If Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered, I don’t expect that we should be free from suffering in this broken, sinful, disease-ridden world.
But in James 1:2-4 we are told to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Isn’t that what we need?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You created us for community, but also created us to have unity with YOU! We tend to look to others for support instead of coming to You. Please forgive us and help us all to be mindful of Your presence and power that we always have, to lean hard on You in these times of trial, and to praise You in these times, too.
I pray in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.
Meet the Author
Timi Plyter
“LU Grandma”
Lead Parent Advocate
