Motivational Inspiration/ /His Hands

Family devotionals have always been very trivial with my family. We either don't get enough time to do it, or events take place and we simply forget to do it. But most cases we end up just making excuses. After coming back from our mission trip we realized how important those devotionals were with our group. They were empowering and motivating. Each day it became one of the things I looked forward to doing. 

When we came back home we knew that we wanted to include my dad in the devotionals, who wasn't able to join us on the mission trip. We've picked through some really good devotionals, but books never seem to be finished with us, so my dad found a video devotional series by Mark Hall that we are almost finished with. Every night he reads a scripture in the devotionals and goes over it with funny analogies and stories that tie everything in together. 
After a few nights passed things started to happen. 

First epidemic, my mom was saving a bunch of edited photos, I mean a lot of pictures, (two years worth of pictures is the quantity of one average person's lifespan worth of pictures, to my mom, that is), she didn't tell anyone what she was doing on the main PC in our office room. My dad, not knowing, hit the switch when he was finished with it and the files came to a complete stop. They disappeared. Somehow the hard drive that was transferring crashed. Pictures mean a lot to our family, and not just because my mom is a photographer either, we take pictures of all of our trips and family gatherings. It's one of the only ways we can look back and commemorate our lives. So if you take two years worth of our lives away, imagine a not-so-happy day in my household. 

The second thing that happened was noticed by my mom when she was taking the towels out of the dryer; they were sopping wet. Our dryer's vent that leads outside was stopped up. 

The third thing―because they always come in threes―was the engine to our trusty ol' van choked and stuttered one Sunday morning. We've traveled in this van ever since we began homeschooling. It's gone up and down the east coast twice, been to the Smokey mountains dozens of times, and I can't even number the field trips across the states we've taken. Honestly, we really weren't surprised our van was holding up as long as it was, but nonetheless, it was sad to hear it stutter unexpectedly that morning.

I know why these certain events happened now, but I didn't really grasp what was happening then. 

One of the verses from the video devotional series was from James, the expressions of faith book in the Bible. 

"But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." 

(James 1:2-4)

After reading this verse over once again from the video devotional, we all knew. It was as if our heads came up from under the waves and a realization came over us. No other verse in the Bible could have perfectly concluded the trials that were happening in our lives at that moment. When it says that the Bible is alive, it really is. I never really understood what that meant until now. 
Two people can read the same sentence and it will affect them both in different ways. When verses you read correspond to the things that you're going through, like this one did for us, you know God is trying to get your attention.
When James says to, "count it all joy" when you go through things that you really don't have time for, it can be really, really difficult. While we were hanging up towels on hangers throughout our living room we didn't understand this. Nor did we understand why our van decided to die at this time in our lives. Fortunately, the pictures that we thought were lost forever were able to be retrieved by a program my mom found. 
Things happen that make you question and doubt. But know that it's all for a reason and a purpose. God doesn't test you more than what you are able to withstand, (1 Corinthians 10:13). I truly believe these things happened to us because we were doing family devotionals. The topics of each night have been opening us all up to admitting our difficulties and personal convictions like never before. No doubt, it has definitely been a time of faith growing in our home. 
We sometimes think, why would God allow this to happen?? Or question where He went when things don't go our way. Does He still listen to us when we suffer?? This verse clarifies that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. 

Yes, even when we go through trials and tribulations, He is still the same God. 

Nothing is able to separate you from God. Never fear that you are alone, or that He has abandoned you. Oftentimes we are the ones who have moved away. We distance ourselves from Him. He is always there. 

Take hope and peace in your salvation which was bought at a heavy price, because it will never be taken away from you. Remember that once you become a born-again believer you are completely His.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

(John 10:27-29)

I sincerely hope that you were motivated and encouraged by this post. Please leave any prayer requests or if you have any questions down below, I would love to pray for you! Thank you for reading! Here's a song that I recently shared with a co-worker that was also going through some trails, perhaps you can relate to the beauty and peace of music. 

♡Anna