"Nevertheless"

I stumbled over this one today, like tripping over a kid's toy laying in the floor.    It was waiting for me. I  know it's there, but all of a sudden I am tumbling head first.   It's going to be painful and I know it.   I can already feel the bruised knees, hands... maybe even my head.    No... I'm not gonna like this one bit.      There is gonna be pain.    A lot of pain. This time it isn't a toy in the floor or a shoe I left laying or a rug that was out of place.   I didn't stumble over an inanimate object. No, this time, it is words.     Living Words.   Words that hit me like a ton of bricks.   Words that pierce my heart and make me sick in my soul.  To be more specific, these are the words that bruised and pierced my ego, my heart and my conscience:   "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law b...

 The story of Jonah came to life for me way back in 1998.    You know... the guy that got swallowed by the whale? No... I wasn't being swallowed up by a whale.    But I was being swallowed up by the problems of life. God used His story of Jonah to get my attention.    He brought His Word to life in my mind and spirit through Jonah and made me understand that if He could save Jonah from the inside of the belly of a fish... from that horrible pit of a prison from where there was no escape.... then He could do anything in my life.   Anything. Miracles became more than an imaginary image in my head.   They were real and could happen for me.    God did a miracle in my life during that time.    He brought me out of the pit and set me on solid ground.  His ground. I've been in a pit or two since then, but never without knowing that He would bring me out. Now...