God Will Be Waiting

Most people assume that when someone becomes a Christian that their lives will be a glorious paradise afterwards.

That it will be as if Christ had come and whisked them off to Heaven and they will henceforth have no more troubles in this life.

But my walk with the Lord has been just the opposite.

And from my study of scripture, the Gospel teaches that Christians should expect suffering as a normal part of their journey with Christ.

One is either called to suffer or to serve those who are suffering.

There are no two ways about it.

Jesus said, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” Matthew 10:38-39 KJV

All God’s children are equal and the Lord has no favorites.

Jesus said, “““…You are all equal as brothers and sisters…Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.” Matthew 23:8-12 ERV

I live with an autoimmune illness that causes me to suffer from chronic daily migraines. These have been all but unbearable in the past few months. But for the grace of my precious Savior, I could not survive them.

When Christ saves a soul, it is not to take us out of this world, but to help us overcome it through His power, strength and grace.

Only Christ’s presence within me enables me to survive through the darkness of this illness.

Any artist or photographer who works primarily with graphics or photography software will be familiar with a function known as the invert tool that reverses an image from light to dark.

During severe migraines all of the light goes out of my heart and it’s as if I have been transposed into a shadowland of darkness.

I cry out to Christ to reverse me back into His world of light and love where there is peace, hope, and joy.

For in the inverted world of darkness there is no joy, hope, or peace, only intense suffering and pain.

Oh Jesus, I pray! Guard my heart from the world of darkness in this place of trouble and fear and pain.

And Jesus comes and holds my hand. He is with me in the storm and guides me safely through.

For His Word promises, “…Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:3-4 KJV

And He keeps every promise forever. Psalm 146:6

He promises “… I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.” Hebrews 13:5 ERV

“Be strong and be brave. Don’t be afraid of those people because the Lord your God is with you. He will not fail you or leave you.””

Deuteronomy 31:6 ERV

God brings the soul who trusts in Him through their trials.

He has proved Himself faithful time and again as my saving strength.

No amount of prosperity, fame, money or anything material will purchase peace, joy, or health.

If one comes to Christ seeking Him for material blessings they will be sadly disappointed. For He is not found in secular things that can be lost in the blink of an eye. I lost my health in an instant and my world was upended in the prime of my life. Never would I have suspected that I would lose something I had taken so much for granted.

Christ is a spiritual God who will be there for the soul even when they have lost everything else in this world.

For the world and everything we see around us is passing away, and when it is gone, God will be there waiting for every child who believed, hoped, and trusted in Him all along.

Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 KJV

In Jesus’ name, amen.

This is a prayer poem that I made this morning in my journal after suffering from a horrible migraine. Once the Lord got me through the storm He helped me make this graphic so I could share this prayer. I pray He will use it to bless others who suffer through the shadow valleys as I do, in Jesus’ name, amen.

The Rabbit Writer

Featured ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

I drew this whimsical rabbit writer several years ago when I was doing a lot of pen & ink work before I came down with the virus that caused my auto immune illness.
In those days I drew and painted or wrote incessantly; from the time I woke up until I went to bed at night.
Like the rabbit character in the illustration I was always thinking of something to draw, write, or create.
I was certain that the Lord had put me on the earth to make things.

That is until I got sick with a mysterious debilitating virus and could neither write or draw, or even walk or do anything for almost four months but sit in a darkened room.
I experienced excruciating migraines.

I prayed fervently and listened to the Lord. He spoke to my heart. He told me that I had value apart from my gifts.

The Lord said that if I never drew or painted or wrote another thing, but just sat in my chair in the dark and prayed to Him I was still glorifying Him by living for Him.

For to live for Him as He chose for me to, even if I had no gift or talent to display, was to glorify Him, as long as I was doing His will, and not my own will.

He told me that I thought I had no value apart from my gifts and He needed to assure me that my value did not rest in what I could or could not do, in my gifts or talents, in my occupation, in my role as a mother or wife, in what I did for any church, in where I lived, or what kind of car I drove, or my economic status, and so forth.

My value as a human being came from Him, for I was His creation made in His holy image.
I needed to understand that.
Nothing I did or did not do could or would change His love for me.

Christ had redeemed me apart from my merits, I did nothing to earn His salvation, His grace, His forgiveness.
God loved me for me.

The Lord spoke these things to me every day.
And all I could do was listen.
It was very hard to go from someone who had walked six miles a day and created all the time, to someone who could do nothing.

As much as most might tend to avoid such verses, I clung to scriptures like those penned by the prophet Jeremiah below:

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them
that wait for Him,
to the soul that seeketh Him.

It is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,
because He hath borne it upon him.
He putteth his mouth in the dust;
if so be there may be hope.

He giveth his cheek to Him that smiteth him:
he is filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
But though He cause grief,
yet will He have compassion
according to the multitude of His mercies.

For He doth not afflict willingly
nor grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:24-26,28-33 – KJV

We take for granted that if we have many talents then it is the Lord’s will that we use all that energy like mad and think we are doing it for His glory.

In my case the parable of the talents haunted me.
I didn’t want to get to Heaven and have Christ say to me that I had hidden the talents He had invested in me.

I’d had that parable drummed into me since I was a child.
But when I got sick I discovered He wanted me to sit at His feet and worship Him and love Him and listen to Him and get to know Him.

He wanted to be my God, not art and writing and creating things.
For all those things I was making were going to burn up some day, but only those things I did that were truly His will would abide forever.

(“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17 – KJV )

For the things that are God’s will bear eternal fruit. But the things that I manufacture from my own plans, purposes, and goals are born out of my own worldly desires.

Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 – KJV

When the Lord finally restored me, He never gave me back the health I had enjoyed before I got that simple virus that changed the whole course of my life back in 2007.

He promised me back then that He was going to heal me, but that my healing was going to be a journey.

It was like I had fallen from the top of a great mountain and now the Lord was going to walk with me every day as we climbed together back up.

But this time I would go with Him, I would be getting to know Him, and holding His hand every day, and learning His voice and doing His will and not my own.

He had to knock that false god out of my heart that I had not known I had. For indeed I had believed I was worshiping Him and doing His will.

But through my illness He showed me that the light within me was very dark.

God is indeed merciful. We can be completely blind to our idols.

How I thank Him now that He came along and set me straight. As the Psalmist wrote: “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.” ~Psalm 119:67 – KJV

I lost track of my Rabbit Writer Illustration for many years, then when I was going through my files recently I found him again and thought he’d make a great gift for my Peaceangelsong’s shop.

So I asked the Lord if He would inspire a good digital card from this illustration and He gave me this one.

https://peaceangelsongsgifts.com/collections/digital-fine-art-encouraging-cards-1/products/digital-download-writer-at-work-digital-art-card-illustrated-by-suzanne-davis-harden

May this whimsical card inspire the writer or even the artist in you and be a card that will always bring a smile to your face!

The Lord also gave me a companion poetry print for this illustration~ see the variation in our shop; it is a whimsical take on the rabbit writer.

If you identify with this poem, then it’s simple to download, print and frame and add to your office.
Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you will come visit us at my new Peaceangelsong’s Gifts Shop! (My Shopify Store) https://peaceangelsongsgifts.com

Whether you choose to just browse or purchase anything, I’d love for to visit us. May you be encouraged by the gifts the Lord has given me to share with you!

In His Grace~Suzanne

Poems and Illustrations, Copyright © by Suzanne Davis Harden, Through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Inspired by the Holy Spirit, to the Glory of the Heavenly Father, In Jesus’ name, amen, All Rights Reserved.

Forget Not

Featured ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

Forget Not

There has been so much bad news lately that sometimes I find myself feeling very anxious and unsafe.
Psalm 103:19 reminds me that God truly is in control of all things no matter what is going on in the world.

“The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.” ~ Psalms 103:19 KJV

The Psalmist tells us, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:”
Psalms 103:2 KJV

The word he used for “forget” means “to forget, ignore, cease to care…”

He then goes over all of the wonderful things the Lord does for us:
“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” ~Psalms 103:3-5 KJV

Imagine spending a night in an agony that affects every fiber of your body, unable to feel Christ’s loving presence, certain that you’re the chief of sinners, unforgiven, forever condemned to this abyss of torment.

Whenever there is a bad storm or rainy weather, I get violent migraines that rupture my mind with as severe emotional pain as the physical and neurological symptoms they cause.

Suddenly it seems I’ve fallen into a bottomless pit and that no one loves me—not even Jesus. I feel as if I’m the most despised of souls by everyone, even my family. I’m completely cut off, isolated in an abyss of pain.
The burden of all the sins in the world are fastened around my aching head in a crown of thorns as sharp as daggers. My legs will not be still and seem like a thousand snakes are crawling inside of them. “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

I see Jesus on the cross crying to His Father and I cry out in tears for the Lord to come rescue me from this horrible torment. But I neither see nor feel Him. I’m a condemned sinner screaming and weeping in the darkness for I can’t bear to look at any light.

There in the Abyss I weep tears of remorse.
Surely I must have been unkind to my husband, been the worst of mothers and grandmothers, daughters, siblings, friends, and citizens.
I’m certain that I must have failed God and everyone else.
And the most tormenting of all—-I must have committed the unpardonable sin— why else would I keep having these wretched migraines? Why else would God keep letting this happen to me?

In that pit of Sheol showers of condemnation pour mercilessly upon my soul like the rain drumming endlessly upon our windows and roof as the pain and neurological symptoms torture me.

My precious husband comes and prays for me, while I weep and pray unable to feel either Christ’s presence or love, nor even Mark’s, until at last I fall asleep, exhausted.

The next morning my symptoms are gone. I awake as if resurrected to new life. I’m filled with wondrous joy and peace, How grateful I am that Jesus went to the cross for me; that He has washed my sins away as far as the east is from the west. “Bless the Lord oh my soul. Forget not all His benefits. Who forgives all our sins, who heals all our diseases…”
The beautiful sense of Christ’s love and presence enfold me in His arms.

I know then that He has held me throughout the night. He had not really abandoned me.
Yet the dark storm of pain from my fierce migraine made me feel hidden from Christ’s presence and forsaken by Him who had promised to never fail or forsake me.

The Psalmist once experienced something like this.
“Will the Lord cast off for ever?
And will He be favourable no more?
Is His mercy clean gone for ever?
Doth His promise fail for evermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah.

And I said, This is my infirmity:
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” Psalms 77:7-10 KJV

He goes through the bad things he suffers but then he says, “Ok, this is happening because of my afflictions. But I won’t dwell on the suffering. I will remember the good things God has done for me.”

In other words, “Bless the Lord oh my soul! Forget not all His benefits!”

Nationally we are experiencing a stormy path of darkness.
Severe pain and troubling circumstances can make us feel isolated from the loving presence of God and cut off from all His promises.

God’s word promises that He heals all our diseases, He forgives all our sins.
God is watching over all of us. He is still on His throne.
He has not hidden His face from us.
He hears all our prayers.
Just as He eventually heals me from my migraines, I believe that the Lord will ultimately heal our nation from our current plague of troubles.

The definition for the word the Psalmist used for healing is interesting: (BDB Bible Dictionary Definition of original translation~ rapha~Strong’s H7495)
To be healed of national hurts (figuratively)
Of personal distress (figuratively)
Of national defects of hurts (figuratively)
To heal (literally)
Of hurts of nations (Involving restored favor)

“The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalms 103:8-12 KJV

Not one of us deserves the grace that has been given us by the Lord through the cross of Christ, for the Bible declares that all of us are sinners.

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Psalms 14:2-3 KJV

I guess our world reflects what the Bible declares we are.
A mess.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to die for us all to make us holy and to clean our souls up~to forgive our sins and heal us spiritually~to make us one with Him.
This is very good news and fills me with such joy and peace!

Peace I Leave with You

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth,
give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.”
John 14:27 KJV

I appreciate Christ’s gift of salvation and forgiveness more than I can ever say because of my chronic migraine affliction.
Therefore I pray that I will never forget, mislay, or cease to care about this wondrous benefit from God, this gift and treasure of everlasting life and peace with God that my Lord Jesus suffered and died on the cross to give me and everyone in the whole world who will receive it.

“Bless the Lord,
O my soul:
and all that is within me,
bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord,
O my soul,
and forget not
all His benefits…”
Psalms 103:1-2 KJV
In Jesus’ name, Amen and amen.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your Gift of Salvation in Christ,
the forgiveness of sins
As far as the east is from the west,
Your measureless love for us,
Oh thank You and may we never forget
Or mislay, or cease to care about all You do for us every day
For Thy mercies are new every morning,
In Jesus name.
Amen and amen.

Christ, My Healer

Featured ~ Suzanne Davis Harden

Christ, My Healer

I Am the God that heals thee
I mend the broken hearts
I restore the shattered souls
That have been torn apart…

I Am the God that heals thee
Who bears with thee thy pain
I bore upon My cross thy grief,
Thy sickness, and thy shame…

I bore thy suffering, thy sin
And by My stripes you’re healed
And made whole within thy soul,
Redeemed, forever sealed…
Upon My heart, upon My hands
You ever are engraved,
Forgiven from thy every sin,
Thy soul within is saved.

I Am Thy God that heals thee
Within thy very soul,
I’m working every day you live
To ever make thee whole…
Perfecting thee on thy journey
Since it was begun,
I will complete My work in thee
Until Thy journey’s done,

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures for Meditation

“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” ~ Psalms‬ ‭30:5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“Lord my God, I prayed to you, and you healed me. Lord, you lifted me out of the grave. I was falling into the place of death, but you saved my life.”~ Psalms‬ ‭30:2-3‬ ‭ERV‬‬

“I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until He completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again.” ~Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭ERV‬‬

“God has blessed you in ways that serve Christ. He allowed you to believe in Christ. But that is not all. He has also given you the honor of suffering for Christ. Both of these bring glory to Christ.” ‭~Philippians‬ ‭1:29‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Jehovah Rapha, My Healer Peaceful Prayersong Music Video

Prayer

Lord, many of Thy children are suffering. Please wrap Thy Holy arms around each one of them. Help them to know that You love them very much.

May they feel Thy tangible presence with them as they walk through the Shadow Valley; may they know without a doubt that You are with them, so they will have no fear.

May You comfort and encourage them today and give them peace and hope that You will surely bring them through this dark time; that there is joy and light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel.

Though weeping may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning, for so Thy Word has promised.

Lord, please hold their hands and pour Thy peace upon them without measure; let them know that You love them as if they were the only child that You had to love. Thank You Lord, we love You.

In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Peaceangelsong, All Glory to God, Copyright © 2020 by Suzanne Davis Harden, All Rights Reserved. Original Prayer Poem, Christ My Healer, May Christ be glorified in these works! Copyright © 2020 by Suzanne Davis Harden, All rights reserved. Original Scripture Collage Digital Paintings, Copyright © 2020, by SD Harden, All rights reserved.

Share this:

I prayed fervently and listened to the Lord. He spoke to my heart. He told me that I had value apart from my gifts.The Lord said that if I never drew or painted or wrote another thing, but just sat in my chair in the dark and prayed to Him I was still glorifying Him by living for Him.

For to live for Him as He chose for me to, even if I had no gift or talent to display, was to glorify Him, as long as I was doing His will, and not my own will.

My value as a human being came from Him, for I was His creation made in His holy image.I needed to understand that.Nothing I did or did not do could or would change His love for me.

Christ had redeemed me apart from my merits, I did nothing to earn His salvation, His grace, His forgiveness.God loved me for me.

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;therefore will I hope in him.The Lord is good unto themthat wait for Him,to the soul that seeketh Him.

It is good that a man should both hopeand quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,because He hath borne it upon him.He putteth his mouth in the dust;if so be there may be hope.

He giveth his cheek to Him that smiteth him:he is filled full with reproach.For the Lord will not cast off for ever:But though He cause grief,yet will He have compassionaccording to the multitude of His mercies.

For He doth not afflict willinglynor grieve the children of men.Lamentations 3:24-26,28-33 – KJVWe take for granted that if we have many talents then it is the Lord’s will that we use all that energy like mad and think we are doing it for His glory.

In my case the parable of the talents haunted me.I didn’t want to get to Heaven and have Christ say to me that I had hidden the talents He had invested in me.

I’d had that parable drummed into me since I was a child.But when I got sick I discovered He wanted me to sit at His feet and worship Him and love Him and listen to Him and get to know Him.

He wanted to be my God, not art and writing and creating things.For all those things I was making were going to burn up some day, but only those things I did that were truly His will would abide forever.

(“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17 – KJV )For the things that are God’s will bear eternal fruit. But the things that I manufacture from my own plans, purposes, and goals are born out of my own worldly desires.

Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 – KJV

When the Lord finally restored me, He never gave me back the health I had enjoyed before I got that simple virus that changed the whole course of my life back in 2007.

He promised me back then that He was going to heal me, but that my healing was going to be a journey.

It was like I had fallen from the top of a great mountain and now the Lord was going to walk with me every day as we climbed together back up.

But this time I would go with Him, I would be getting to know Him, and holding His hand every day, and learning His voice and doing His will and not my own.

He had to knock that false god out of my heart that I had not known I had. For indeed I had believed I was worshiping Him and doing His will.

But through my illness He showed me that the light within me was very dark.

God is indeed merciful. We can be completely blind to our idols.

So I asked the Lord if He would inspire a good digital card from this illustration and He gave me this one.

May this whimsical card inspire the writer or even the artist in you and be a card that will always bring a smile to your face!The Lord also gave me a companion poetry print for this illustration~ see the variation in our shop; it is a whimsical take on the rabbit writer.

If you identify with this poem, then it’s simple to download, print and frame and add to your office.Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you will come visit us at my new Peaceangelsong’s Gifts Shop! (My Shopify Store) https://peaceangelsongsgifts.com

Whether you choose to just browse or purchase anything, I’d love for to visit us. May you be encouraged by the gifts the Lord has given me to share with you!

In His Grace~Suzanne

Share this:

Forget Not

Peace I Leave with You

Prayer

Share this:

Christ, My Healer

Scriptures for Meditation

Prayer

Share this:

I prayed fervently and listened to the Lord. He spoke to my heart. He told me that I had value apart from my gifts.

The Lord said that if I never drew or painted or wrote another thing, but just sat in my chair in the dark and prayed to Him I was still glorifying Him by living for Him.

My value as a human being came from Him, for I was His creation made in His holy image.
I needed to understand that.
Nothing I did or did not do could or would change His love for me.

Christ had redeemed me apart from my merits, I did nothing to earn His salvation, His grace, His forgiveness.
God loved me for me.

“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;
therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them
that wait for Him,
to the soul that seeketh Him.

It is good that a man should both hope
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,
because He hath borne it upon him.
He putteth his mouth in the dust;
if so be there may be hope.

He giveth his cheek to Him that smiteth him:
he is filled full with reproach.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
But though He cause grief,
yet will He have compassion
according to the multitude of His mercies.

For He doth not afflict willingly
nor grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:24-26,28-33 – KJV

We take for granted that if we have many talents then it is the Lord’s will that we use all that energy like mad and think we are doing it for His glory.

In my case the parable of the talents haunted me.
I didn’t want to get to Heaven and have Christ say to me that I had hidden the talents He had invested in me.

I’d had that parable drummed into me since I was a child.
But when I got sick I discovered He wanted me to sit at His feet and worship Him and love Him and listen to Him and get to know Him.

He wanted to be my God, not art and writing and creating things.
For all those things I was making were going to burn up some day, but only those things I did that were truly His will would abide forever.

May this whimsical card inspire the writer or even the artist in you and be a card that will always bring a smile to your face!

The Lord also gave me a companion poetry print for this illustration~ see the variation in our shop; it is a whimsical take on the rabbit writer.

If you identify with this poem, then it’s simple to download, print and frame and add to your office.
Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you will come visit us at my new Peaceangelsong’s Gifts Shop! (My Shopify Store) https://peaceangelsongsgifts.com