Through our weaknesses and dealing with the haters.

Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll wake up and in my sleepy state I will see a shadow that isn’t supposed to be there. My heart will race and about a jillion scenarios will fly through my head. Thankfully my practical self will take over. Forcing my eyes shut I’ll tell myself: when I re-open my eyes if--and only if--the shadow is coming closer, am I allowed to start panicking. (I never said my practical self was logical.)

                And guess what…sometimes the shadow does move. It is then in that moment, I will reach for my glasses. (Right, did I forget to mention I have horribly bad eye sight? Let’s just say my husband says my glasses can help people see Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon.)

So with my glasses now on, I can see…Nothing. That’s right, peering through the darkness wearing my amazingly high prescription glasses, I can see no foreign shadows lurking in my room.

               

                This week I received my first ever ‘hate mail’ for my writing. It was creepy, weird, and well, really cruel. (Now I know why Taylor Swift wrote her song: Mean.) I could feel the beginnings of panic inching up my spine. Only after asking for wisdom did I finally put on my ‘glasses’ and see the hateful email for what it really was:

Showing God’s glory… DO WHAT?

(If you read the email, you’d think I’ve gone nuts.)

But stay with me!

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I didn’t need a stranger telling me all about my writing weaknesses. After all I live with them. I know them very well! But for whatever reason at this moment in my life, God has chosen to use my weaknesses to share the news about Him.

                If I never become known for my skillfully crafted writings, that’s ok. (Especially, if it means receiving less hurtful letters from haters. Lol)

               I know I can’t spell. I know I don’t use commas correctly, and I so know I have a very limited knowledge of what writers call ‘the craft.’  And I hate that. I’m working to better all of that. But I also know this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

                In your daily lives are you listening to the craziness of the world? The haters, the imaginary lurking shadows? Sometimes it is easier to shrug and say, “Yah, that dude is totally right. What in the world am I thinking…?”

Before you start panicking, I encourage you to stop and put on your “glasses”—and make sure the prescription was given to you by the Lord.

                See I’m not retiring my writing pen anytime soon, because God’s still working on me. (and you :) ) And when He’s done, I know the world will see how little of it was achieved by me.

                Are you seeing shadows?

Put on your glasses. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and let Him use your weaknesses to show His awesomeness!     

Because when I am weak, He often makes me strong.

with love and prayers,

Megan Besing

www.meganbesing.com

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

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The Mail-Order Brides Collection: 

9 Historical Stories of Marriage that Precedes Love

Escape into the history of the American West along with nine couples whose relationships begin with advertisements for mail-order brides. Placing their dreams for new beginnings in the hands of a stranger, will each bride be disappointed, or will some find true love?

Perfect for the Preacher by Megan Besing
1897, Indiana
Fresh from seminary, Amos Lowry believes marriage will prove to his skeptical congregation that he’s mature. If only his mail-order bride wasn’t an ex-saloon girl, and worse, pregnant.