New Year...new approach

January 6, 2024

Psalms 121:1 - 2 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth

Happy New Year! As we approach another year, I’m sure you like me have asked yourself what now? I usually don’t make so called ‘new year’s resolutions,’ rather I just evaluate my life and seek to make changes one step at a time. Even in difficult situations I still try to persevere.  Have you ever felt completely helpless?  When an adverse situation enters our lives at times there is nothing, we can do to change it. Often, we will not even attempt to approach a solution because the end result screams failure. It is during these times when we want to throw in the towel, cease from fighting, and quit plan and simple. Although we know all things work together for the good for them who are the called according to God’s purpose Romans 8:28. We still linger in the realm of fear, doubt, and unbelief. We know that the answers we seek are found in God. However, the enemy places stumbling blocks, bridges, and walls in our lives to kept us from reaching our deliverance. So, we are often left feeling helpless and afraid. It is second nature for us to reach out to others in our times of need. We look to the left, and then to the right and many times we cannot find anyone to help us. When we have exhausted all our means then we look up to God. One day we will learn to look up first! God is our refuge and our strength a very a very present help in the time of trouble Psalms 46:1. He has the solutions to every problem that we face. We seem to share this truth with others, but when it is time for us to embrace this truth, we do not take heed. A beautiful awareness that we must embrace is that we do not have to fight the battle alone. We must believe that the battle is not ours, it’s the Lords. It is time for us to exercise our faith in God and stop wondering how He will work it out. But we must praise Him during the trial because our faith teaches us that He will work it out! It is at these times when we feel the most helpless that God will intervene and show Himself strong and mighty in our lives. This year let’s exercise a new approach. Let’s form a habit not to look to others to mend our broken hearts, especially when others have broken pieces that they need God to heal. I have discovered on several occasions that looking to others only adds more frustration when we realize they do not have the answers that we seek. So when we are faced with trials and we feel so helpless, bypass the middleman, and go straight to the source… Jesus Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith Hebrews 12:2! 

Patience...

Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

What is it about us that cause us so much agony when we have to wait? We get so tired and impatient when we don’t get instant answers to the problems that we face in life. But as we study the scriptures, we will find that God moves at His own pace and according to His Will.

God teaches us valuable lessons through the waiting periods in our lives. Just because He does not answer us in the way we want, does not mean He will not answer us at all. When we read about how long some of the people in the bible had to wait, our waiting seems insignificant. Like the children of Israel, who endured so much pain under the bondage of slavery? They had to endure so much until God said enough is enough, I will bring deliverance to my people. The woman with the issue of blood suffered twelve long years. Job during his affliction had to wait and endured the loss of family, friends, and possessions before God decided He would heal his body. We don’t have to look in the bible to find people who have waited for seemingly forever for their situations to change.

Some of us are still enduring but we have not lost hope that God will deliver us. The word of God teaches us to wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He shall strengthen our heart Psalms 27:14. In our time of transition God will give us strength to persevere. He will daily pour into us His spirit so we can stay in the race. During our waiting we must dwell on all that is good. We must cast the “what if’s” from our minds. Ask God to reveal to you the lesson He wants you to learn while you wait. Maybe He wants patience to be perfected in you so you can be whole and entire wanting nothing James 1:2-3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produce endurance. Do you agree that every time you face a trail you are stronger than you were before you went through the test?

You are better equipped to handle the next obstacle because your faith increased. God’s grace is sufficient although we can’t see the end results, we know the end result will be victory through Jesus once again! I needed this reminder today as I face new obstacles and I wanted to share with you.

Sincerely from my heart...

In doing research when writing this novel Soiled Diamond, my main source of data was retrieved from www.childwelfare.gov specifically under the Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics column. I was alarmed by what my researched revealed concerning the statics of child abuse, not only worldwide but in the United States of America! It’s a sad reality that child abuse is more of a widespread problem than I imagined. Generally, we don’t pay a lot of attention to the things that don’t affect us.

I have worked with young people for most of my adult life in Youth Ministry at my church, with volunteering with the school system, and several nonprofit youth programs throughout the city. I’ve dealt with youth maneuvering through low self-esteem, self-image and acceptance issues, bullying, poverty, hunger, and their basic needs being met. I’ve assisted youth in dealing with hurtful words spoken by those in authority. I always encouraged them to rise above the negative stigmas that try to define them. I haven't encountered a situation like I wrote about in my fiction novel. Sadly, I realize that it doesn’t mean it never existed in the lives of the youth that I mentored. It just wasn’t revealed to me.

In writing this book I dealt with so many emotions because I know my character’s story is some scared little boy or girl’s reality. I have expressed countless times in describing the nature of my book that although the characters are fictional the content is real. As I realize there are millions of children that fall victim to childhood abuse.

It is my prayer that relief from their tragic circumstances is obtained. I hope this book will shed light on this dark evil currently plaguing our world. May it offer hope and ultimate freedom to some child that is currently suffering. I relate the character to a diamond because like a diamond she is tough. She endured so much pain and heart ache from the refining process. Just as a diamond is soiled with coal and must go through a rigorous process to sparkle. She too is covered with the weight of the world pressing her down.

There is hope for her as she realizes her own self-worth and value. She finally embraces the truth that although she is soiled at this particular time in her life…she is still a diamond!

Thank you in advance for your support.

-Patricia Brower