Trusting in God's arms and Praising Him in the Storm (Fearfully Fabulous Friday & Then Sing My Soul Saturday)

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. This is my first time participating in Fearfully Fabulous Friday and Then Sing My Souls Saturday.


My friend, Jill, has kindly invited me to join her new Fearfully Fabulous Friday!

For Fearfully Fabulous Friday we can write or share pictures about the way we love the Lord, along with bible verses that help us draw closer to Him. Examples of how we are fearfully and fabulously made are GREAT! We can write about the miracle of birth, adoption and life! We can write about Creation! We can share photos of birth, adoption, and His creation!

I am thankful to God for giving us His Words and many encouraging writings of His beloved people.

I am thankful to God that He loves us and is in control of everything in our life. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. He is our Creator and He cares for us. In this life we shall have our share of ups and downs, happiness and sorrows, wellness and sickness. Our greatest assurance is God loves us and He is with us through them. He is lovingly working all things for His glory, our good and the good of His people.

Recently, I read a very encouraging devotional by CH Spurgeon and like to share with you too. Hope you will also find encouragement in it.

"On mine arm shall they trust." Isaiah 51:5

In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone. When his vessel is on its beam-ends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God.

Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!

There is no getting at our God sometimes because of the multitude of our friends; but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless that he has nowhere else to turn, he flies into his Father's arms, and is blessedly clasped therein!

When he is burdened with troubles so pressing and so peculiar, that he cannot tell them to any but his God, he may be thankful for them; for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time.

Oh, tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives thee to thy Father! Now that thou hast only thy God to trust to, see that thou puttest thy full confidence in him. Dishonor not thy Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; but be strong in faith, giving glory to God. Show the world that thy God is worth ten thousand worlds to thee. Show rich men how rich thou art in thy poverty when the Lord God is thy helper. Show the strong man how strong thou art in thy weakness when underneath thee are the everlasting arms.

Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord thy God shall certainly, as surely as he built the heavens and the earth, glorify himself in thy weakness, and magnify his might in the midst of thy distress. The grandeur of the arch of heaven would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye. May the Holy Spirit give you to rest in Jesus this closing day of the month.

(Taken from Morning and Evening, CH Spurgeon, Morning, 31 August)

How true it is that in times of severe trial we have nothing on earth that we can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast ourselves on God alone. It is then that we are drawn nearer to God and to know His love and faithfulness in very real and personal ways.

O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!

For this reason, we can thank God for the trials, afflictions and difficulties we face in this world. All of these are working together for our good and God's glory.

Therefore we can rejoice in the Lord always because He loves us and He is in control of all things. May God deepens our love and devotion to Him, and make us useful in His Kingdom.

And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose
... in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us.
(Romans 8:28, 37)

My friend, Peggy, encouraged me to share this song and participate in Then Sing My Souls Saturday as it really suits the encouragement from God's Words above. Thanks, Peggy, for telling me about this song!

Praise You In This Storm

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

May God enable us to cling unto Him in difficult times and Praise Him in the Storms because He loves us and will see us safely through.

May you continue to know God's love and care in very special ways today and everyday!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a blessed weekends!

For more participants of Fearfully Fabulous Friday, do Jill.

For more participants of Then Sing My Souls Saturday, do visit Amy.

Thankful Thursday : Trust His Heart

And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose
... in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us.
(Romans 8:28, 37)

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for your prayers and encouragements.

♥ Today I am thankful to God as I reflect once again on His love and sovereignty throughout my life. I am thankful to God for His love for me and the way He has sustained and led me through the years ever since I know Him about 18 years ago.

♥ There have been many great challenges in my life in terms of my health, family, church, work, relationships. I am thankful to God for the assurance that He loves me and He is working all things for His glory and my good (Romans 8:28). Though I may not always understand why He allows certain things in my life, I can always trust in His love and sovereignty.

♥ Over the last 2 days I have been sharing about Emily and requested for prayers for her and family. Thanks for praying for Emily and her family.

I just read the latest update on Praying For Emily as at Wednesday 3rd Sept. There is an URGENT prayer request for Emily. Please join me in prayers, if you can. Earlier in the morning, Emily's sodium level was dropping and the doctors said this is critical. Please pray that the sodium level goes up, goes to normal level, and stabilize.

Thank God that by late morning at 11.54am 3rd Sept, Emily's sodium level went up a little bit. Please continue to pray that it consistently go up to the normal level and stabilize. The doctors (or nurses) now describe her condition as "holding" or "maintaining". That is good. Pray that the holding will move to improving and complete recovery. Thank you for praying with me for Emily and her family. Thank God for His goodness and mercies to them and all that love them.

Latest Updates:
Thank God for this latest update by Liza at 6:21pm 3rd September 2008:
1) Latest CT scan shows very slight reduction in swelling. That's good.
2) Sodium level is slowly going up. That's good.
Thank you for continuing to pray for complete healing and recovery.

♥ I am thankful to God that while visiting Praying For Emily, I saw this very encouraging video for the song "Trust His heart" which Liza posted on the website. This is the first time I heard the song and I was greatly uplifted. It ministered to me as I battle with a persistent chronic illness that threatens my life at times. During time of illness and struggles sometimes I question why I have to go through them. The longing to be with the Lord where there is no more suffering is so great. But after each of my recovery from my illness, I realized afresh that God has His purposes in my sufferings. He draws me closer to Him to know His love and mercies. He sanctifies me as He purges away the dross in my life so that I can grow in Him. I saw His mercies in using my suffering to give me a more compassionate heart and to feel for others who are suffering in one way or another. I became a partaker of their sufferings and it enables me to love them and pray for them, that being the least I can do.

♥ I am thankful to God that through my sufferings with my illness, He led me to start this blog to share with other sufferers and their loved ones the goodness of God and the resources made available for our help and recovery. Thank God that providentially through this blog He has led me to know so many of you at Word-Filled Wednesday(WFW), Thankful Thursday (TT) and now the new Mission 4 Monday which Peggy just started on Monday. I am greatly blessed by God's goodness to you as you shared them with me. My life has never been more rich and blessed than this very moment! All praise and glory be to God! Thanks for sharing your friendship with me. Your prayers and encouragements are tokens of God's love for me and I greatly value it.

♥ I am thankful to God once again for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways.

♥ May this video encourages your heart too in remembrance of God's love and sovereignty. In the afflictions and trials of your life, may you cling unto His love and mercies, even if you can't understand many things. God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, when we cannot trace His hand, we can always trust His heart.

Trust His Heart
Written by: Babbie Mason and Eddie Carswell

All things work for our good
though sometimes we can't see how they could
struggles that break our hearts in two
sometimes blinds us to the truth

Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim, and you just can't see Him
Remember you're never alone

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

He sees the master plan
And He holds our future in His hands
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him

We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me to someday be just like Him

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand trust His heart

This video of "Trust His Heart" is posted on Youtube:


May you know God's love and care in very special ways today and everyday!

How about you? How has the Lord blessed you through the past week?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a blessed and thankful day!

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris at Sting My Heart. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!




(I took this photo at Hort Park, Singapore)