The Battle is His

Dear Friend,

The following message is probably WAY more information than you ever wanted to know about me or my life, BUT I am sharing it with you for two reasons:

1) God is nudging me to do so, and I choose to be obedient to Him

2) Sharing MY AMAZING GOD experience that JUST took place may be JUST what you need to hear right now in your own life and with whatever YOU might be facing personally.

You see for weeks now I have felt like the Enemy has been ALL over me and my family.....we have experienced one trial, one challenge, one battle after another in the Bailey household. These trials have involved everything from health related concerns, to my children and their well-being, to financial challenges, to the 3 inches of septic "goo" I have growing in my back yard!! You do NOT want me to start on that one.... :) This is JUST the tip of the iceburg; trust me, but I will not elaborate on that one.

Well each day I try to make it a priority to read God's word, and if you do not take the time to read the Bible I encourage you to give it a try. It could be something as simple as a daily devotion for starters. You see I do NOT know what challenges will face me before the day begins, BUT God does. It is always amazing for me to see the verses of scripture that He encourages me to read that end up being JUST what I needed to hear for the day!

Well, ONE of the BIG trials we faced recently involved my 13 year old daughter. You see she has had Type I or juvenile diabetes since she was just 9 months old, and when she turned 3, she began to wear an insulin pump which kept us from having to give her 6-8 shots a day. So 10 years she has used this insulin pump, and 2 weeks ago she disconnected her insulin pump at the ball field to play and left it on the bleachers and FORGOT it. I assumed it was on her when I picked her up from the field to go home. We searched and searched, but NO luck. We even printed flyers and posted around the rec center fields. You see this ONE piece of medical equipment is between $4,000 and $6,000!! So I began to try to "fix" things myself....first, let's go back to shots even though we feel like we are starting ALL over (check,) second, I will call the pump supplier to see if our warranty will cover this (check)....warranty EXPIRED, third I will contact our insurance company to see if they will pay for another (check.)....the answer NO! Well I had checked off these items from my list in a futile attempt to "fix" the situation.

I felt like I had a new baby again.....up 3 times a night checking her blood sugars and giving her shots as we adjusted to this "new" schedule again with shots....6-8 a day in fact!

Each day as I read God's word, He kept sending me the same message in different verses...these first three were just SOME of the verses in my devotion time....

1 Samuel 17:47
Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."

2 Chronicles 20:15
And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

2 Chronicles 32:8
With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles."

THEN this past Sunday morning in Sunday School class the lesson included the verse below!!

Exodus 14:14 "The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (or be still and let HIM fight your battles!)

WOW!! Well several of my MAJOR battles WERE resolved without me having to do a THING. God DID fight my battles for me!! However, the MOST amazing story is this....

Sunday night my parents were coming home from church and stopping by our house to visit and while at their SMALL church that night they asked for prayer for Crystal, their granddaughter who lost her insulin pump. A man came up to them after church and said that his wife had lost her battle to diabetes and he still owned her insulin pump and though it might not be what we owned he would like to give it to Crystal in hopes that we could learn to use a new pump!!

Well when my mother walked in and handed it to me, I felt the tears streaming down my face!! There are at least 3 different manufacturers of an insulin pump, and THIS ONE was from the SAME manufacturer that we used....also THIS ONE was the SAME brand!!! In fact, for months now Crystal has really needed the larger pump that holds more insulin, but we simply could not afford an upgrade, and THIS WAS the upgraded pump that we NEEDED!!! Lastly as if this were not enough to blow you away with God's love, Crystal wanted her room painted a few months ago her favorite shade of blue.....she also asked that when we COULD afford the newer, upgraded version of her pump, could we PLEASE get her that "fun, blue color one day?" You guessed it.....it was the BLUE PUMP she had been wanting!!!!

You see Friends, the SAME God who placed every star in the sky and knows them by name, and who knows the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7,) and who even knew you before you were born (Jeremiah 1:5,) DOES care about your battles, your trials, your tears, and your daily life!! In fact, he EVEN cares about ALL the details....right down to the color!!! Oh and THAT same night, my husband and I had some quiet time together, and we read in our devotion for couples, guess what verse we read?? It was Exodus 14:14.....the SAME one God sent our way that morning!! ONCE again, He reminded me to "be still" and let Him fight my battles for me!!

I do not know what you are facing in your life Friends, but God does!! Maybe you are facing some serious financial circumstances right now with this economy, or maybe you are struggling with relationship and/or health challenges as well. Whatever your "Goliath" might be....like David choose to RUN into battle knowing that it is HE who fights our battles for us Friend.

Thank you for visiting this blog and joining me on an AMAZING journey together as we are encouraged to allow God to fight our battles FOR us! It sure takes a LOT of stress off of your shoulders this way,and the "peace surpasses all understanding..." (Phil 4:7)

Praising Him in the Storm,