Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. The month of May has been an ebb and flow of the wonderful chaos that accompanies our family visits and the porch has been overflowing with love and laughter. Yesterday one group left and tomorrow another will arrive and we wouldn’t have it any other way. This morning it was quiet all over again and it was just me and my God…just in time to Strengthen me all over again. Life beyond the porch isn’t always beautiful, so I Know that if I’m going to Endure what He has for me to endure, and if I’m going to Bless a suffering soul in the process, it always comes down to me being One with Him. David said, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great”, and I live by this Truth day by day. I don’t have it in me to run the race of Life alone, but I find Peace and Strength in knowing that I have HIM IN ME. With Him, there’s nothing I can’t do and no pain too great for me. I’m like a Walking Billboard for what Victory looks like and I make sure that my world hears about the Power of my God day after day AFTER I’ve been readied. Isn’t that the way you live out your Faith too?

Some people square their shoulders and walk around as if they’ve managed to escape the hardships, and some of them have even convinced themselves that God is showing more favor to them than He does all the rest of us because (in their eyes) they’re anointed. But nobody escapes trials and tribulations in this life ESPECIALLY if they’re going to be used by a Mighty God because it’s the FIRE that refines the gold. Trials and tribulations ALWAYS have a multi-faceted Purpose from a multi-faceted God and they aren’t intended to be hidden behind closed doors. How can a Mighty God be Glorified through secrets and how can we offer Hope to a suffering soul unless they can see AND HEAR about what God has done through us in our darkest hours? The most beautiful (and powerful) testimonies are filled with accounts of Trials followed by Victory intended to be shared with the world. Refusing to talk about what God has done through the trials is refusing to Glorify God…period.

The world beyond the front porch of this old farm is filled with trials and tribulations and it sure would be easy to hoard up at the farm and to ignore the pain and the darkness of it all. But I wasn’t Created to hoard up or to shut up and neither were you! God didn’t accidentally place me in this Life at just the right moment in time without Good Reason, and He didn’t accidentally place you here without Good reason either. God doesn’t fill my world with only sweet, pleasurable things and He won’t fill yours like that either – regardless of what you’ve convinced yourself of! God hasn’t Refined me through Fire without Good Reason. He hasn’t made a mistake nor has He left His Throne…He never has and He never will. He doesn’t “play” with people like a cat plays with a mouse…He has Purpose for allowing the trials in your Life and He is patiently waiting for you to Glorify Him by telling the world about His work in your Life! How will you glorify Him if you keep Victories hidden away like a secret that shouldn’t be shared? This is the Key to a Powerful Testimony for Jesus Christ that can be used to lead a lost soul into His arms quicker than you can say “amen”. When you look at it that way, how could you NOT share your Journey with the world?

Sometimes it takes a season to recover from the pain beyond the front porch, but it’s never OK to sick back and to lick my wounds because of it. Instead, the hardness of my life has served to soften my Heart and I’ve been Tenderized by the King for Good reasons beyond anything my human mind can comprehend. ALL things work together for Good….if we let them.

I don’t understand it all, but I DO understand that I could do nothing without Him. Without Him, I would have no Hope. Without Him, I wouldn’t know what Victory looks like. Without Him, my Heart wouldn’t have been softened for the Journey. So, from where I sit, I know that all of those Trials and Tribulations Served a Purpose BEYOND me and they’ve “all worked together for Good” because I LOVE Him and I’ve been called according to His Purpose. He EXPECTS me to share my Journey (and all the ugliness that was turned into the most Beautiful Treasure) with all those suffering souls. NOT to whine…but to encourage. To offer Hope. To be a Living Testimony of the Power of a Mighty God! I’m what Victory looks like!

How about you?