Quand la souffrance augmente

Confiez-vous en lui en tout temps, épanchez votre coeur devant lui : Dieu est notre refuge. Psaume 62. 8

Au jour de ma détresse j’ai cherché le Seigneur. Psaume 77. 2

Ne te charge jamais du fardeau de demain,
Il est bien assez lourd, le fardeau quotidien.
Laisser à notre Dieu ce qui dépend de lui :

C’est lui abandonner son avenir, sa vie.

Pour le présent, la tribulation d’un moment
Produit, à son école, éternel changement,

Formation intérieure : paix, joie, confiance ;
Sans compter la patience, l’expérience, l’espérance.

Quand la souffrance augmente, Sa grâce grandit aussi…

Rejetons donc sur lui nos ennuis, nos soucis.
Sachons dire merci au milieu des détresses
Quand Sa force se montre au coeur de la faiblesse.

Qui veut faire un chef-d’oeuvre sait manier le burin.
“Je sortirai comme l’or” s’il me prend en sa main.
Mon seul abri, c’est toi, en qui je me confie,

Secours dans la détresse, mon éternel appui.

Est-ce que je sais toujours ce que Dieu fait de moi ?
C’est pour la gloire de Dieu qu’il prépare ma voie !

Geneviève Dandrieu, 26 août 2014

Rédactrice de nombreux textes du calendrier La Bonne Semence, endormie en Jésus le 31 décembre 2014, après une grave maladie et de grandes douleurs physiques.

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Fireworks of Life

He himself is our peace. Ephesians 2:14

On New Year’s Eve, when high-powered fireworks detonate across cities and towns worldwide, the noise is loud on purpose. By their nature, say manufacturers, flashy fireworks are meant to split the atmosphere, literally.

“Repeater” blasts can sound the loudest, especially when exploded near the ground.

Troubles, too, can boom through our hearts, minds, and homes. The “fireworks” of life—family struggles, relationship problems, work challenges, financial strain, even church division—can feel like explosions, rattling our emotional atmosphere.

Yet we know the One who lifts us over this uproar. Christ Himself “is our peace,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14. When we abide in His presence, His peace is greater than any disruption, quieting the noise of any worry, hurt, or disunity.

This would have been powerful assurance to Jews and gentiles alike. They’d once lived “without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Now they faced threats of persecution and internal threats of division. But in Christ, they’d been brought near to Him, and consequently to each other, by His blood. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14).

As we start a new year, with threats of unrest and division ever rumbling on the horizon, let’s turn from life’s noisy trials to seek our ever-present Peace. He quiets the booms, healing us.

By:  Patricia Rayon

Reflect & Pray
What “fireworks” are shattering the calm in your life? When you give them to God in prayer, what peace do you feel?

Comforting God, when life’s fireworks shock and unsettle me, draw me to Your peace.