Turning Lemons into Lemonade

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

 

Have you ever felt like life wasn’t fair,

Like you had been given a lemon?

Then check out today’s devotional,

And discover what you can do with lemons.

Several years ago Sandy & I met the sweetest woman;

she was full of loving kindness.

Her sweet spirit was so pleasant to be around. 

I knew that her life wasn’t always easy,

but I never knew the hardships she had faced

until I met with her family after her death.

When Esther was born her mother died giving her birth.

She met the man of her dreams

and he was murdered on their front porch.

Leaving her to raise seven very young children

with next to nothing.

Some say she was lucky to have found a man

who would marry her with so many children

and he was a blessing.

They had three more children

which made her an active mother of ten.

Her second husband was a military man

and this meant she would be an army wife

and mother raising her kids in military camps.  

The marriage struggled and ended in divorce.

I met Esther’s ex-husband in the hospital, January 6, 2000.

He lived up to the military reputation

of being a very hard and tough guy.

But in that hospital room he began to weep

as I shared Christ’s love for him.

I followed up on her ex-husband

 after he left the hospital to live in a nursing home.

This is where I met Esther,

she still cared for her ex-husband;

and the two of them asked me to marry them

so that Esther could care for Bud until the day he died.

Bud died August 3, 2000, when Esther was 60 years old.

At age 64, Esther was diagnosed with cancer

and went through chemo and radiation.

She enjoys a short time of remission,

but died May 1, 2009 at the age of 68.

I shared with those who attended her funeral

that I saw her as “a sugar jar full of sugar.”

She had gotten a lot of lemons in her life, 

but she never got bitter.

She never considered herself a victim.

She squeezed her lemons, they never squeezed her,

and poured out a lot of sugar

and enjoyed life with her lemonade.  

When life gets hot this summer, enjoy your lemonade!

I will never forget Esther, I hope you won’t either.

Scripture Reading

James 1:2-8 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith

develops perseverance.

4 Perseverance must finish its work

so that you may be mature and complete,

not lacking anything.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom,

he should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to him.

6 But when he asks,

he must believe and not doubt,

because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea,

blown and tossed by the wind.

7 That man should not think

he will receive anything from the Lord;

8 he is a double-minded man,

unstable in all he does.

Child’s Play can be very Damaging

Child’s Play can be very Damaging

Making fun of others can cause a lot of pain.

When Isaac was weaned,

Abraham throws a party.

Ishmael, Abraham’s son by the Egyptian maid servant,

mocked Isaac.

Ishmael’s poking fun at Isaac created a lot of trouble.

Sarah in verses 6 & 7,

 shows it is a wonderful thing to laugh “with” someone.

But, Sarah is enraged when her son is made fun of.

Sarah takes this little act of poking fun to a new level

as she storms over to Abraham

and demands he gets rid of Ishmael

and his mother, Hagar.

Abraham now becomes distressed

as sides are being drawn between his two sons.

God steps in and tries to put things back together.

God says,

Don’t be distressed.

Don’t let this thing get in the way of your judgment.

God says,

Be a “listener” hear your wife Sarah.

Recognizing where she is right

– Isaac is to receive the inheritance

because he is the son of promise.

God reassures Abraham

He will take care of Hagar and Ishmael.

Whether it is a child or an adult,

a little poking fun

can creates a lot of hurt and distress.

Not only are people hurt,

but judgments are many times clouded,

only making the problems worse.

Let’s make it our goal

to rejoice with those who rejoice;

and avoid foolish talk and jestering.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 21:5-21 THE MESSAGE

5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

6 Sarah said, God has blessed me with laughter

and all who get the news will laugh with me!

7 She also said,

Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse a baby!

Yet here I am! I've given the old man a son!

8 The baby grew and was weaned.

Abraham threw a big party on the day Isaac was weaned.

9 One day Sarah saw the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham,

poking fun at her son Isaac.

10 She told Abraham, "Get rid of this slave woman and her son.

No child of this slave is going to share inheritance with my son Isaac!"

11 The matter gave great pain to Abraham — after all, Ishmael was his son.

12 But God spoke to Abraham, "Don't feel badly about the boy and your maid.

Do whatever Sarah tells you.

Your descendants will come through Isaac.

13 Regarding your maid's son,

be assured that I'll also develop a great nation from him — he's your son too."

14 Abraham got up early the next morning,

got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar,

put them on her back and sent her away with the child.

She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba.

15 When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub

16 and went off, fifty yards or so.

She said, "I can't watch my son die."

 As she sat, she broke into sobs.

17 Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying.

The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar, "What's wrong, Hagar?

Don't be afraid. God has heard the boy and knows the fix he's in.

18 Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight.

I'm going to make of him a great nation."

19 Just then God opened her eyes.

She looked. She saw a well of water.

She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.

20 God was on the boy's side as he grew up.

He lived out in the desert and became a skilled archer.

21 He lived in the Paran wilderness.

And his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Romans 12:15-21 NIV

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

16 Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.

Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath,

for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

20 On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."  

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Ephesians 5:4-5 NIV

4 Nor should there be obscenity,

foolish talk or coarse joking,

which are out of place,

but rather thanksgiving.

The Lord was Gracious

The Lord was Gracious

 

God’s grace is reached through patience

and

Patience reveals our love!

  

The NIV says,

“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah.”

I find these words a little remarkable.

I don’t think many of us would have said that.

I think many of us would have said,

 “God, what took you so long?”

Grace would have been at the age of child bearing.

I think if we were honest,

we would have a list of reasons why

this was not a gracious act.

This was a mixed bag,

but Sarah said,

“God has brought me laughter

and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

Sarah did not let God’s timing

get in the way of her joy and gratefulness to her God.

The years of waiting for God’s promise

did not make her bitter.

My observation of human activity

tells me most of us do not like to wait.

Too many of us find our patience has a short fuse.

The word patience means,

the ability to endure without murmuring.

In the devotional book,

 “The Love Dare”

Stephen & Alex Kendrick state that

patience is one of the two pillars of love.

All other characteristic of love

are extensions of these two attributes.  

Love inspires us to be a person of patience.

When you choose to have patience,

you respond in a positive way to a negative situation;

You become slow to anger.

You choose to have a long fuse,

instead of a short temper.

Rather than being restless and demanding,

love helps you settle down.

Patience brings an internal calm.

Sarah’s love for God had the pillar of patience.

She received the promise with laughter.

How about you and I?

Does God see our patience?

What about those around us,

do they see our patience?

Can they be sure of our love?

Scripture Reading

Genesis 21:1-7 NIV

21:1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said,

and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.

2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,

at the very time God had promised him.

3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.

4 When his son Isaac was eight days old,

Abraham circumcised him,

as God commanded him.

5 Abraham was a hundred years old

when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter,

and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

7 And she added,

"Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?

Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

Hebrews 6:10-15 NIV

10 God is not unjust;

he will not forget your work

and the love you have shown him

as you have helped his people

and continue to help them.

11 We want each of you

to show this same diligence to the very end,

in order to make your hope sure.

12 We do not want you to become lazy,

but to imitate those who through faith

and patience inherit what has been promised.

13 When God made his promise to Abraham,

since there was no one greater for him to swear by,

he swore by himself, 14 saying,

"I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."  

15 And so after waiting patiently,

Abraham received what was promised.