It's boring to share my same old bowel movement and nausea/vomiting problems…. So I’ve decided to share an excerpt from a book I’m currently reading – A Bend in the Road by David Jeremiah, an excerpt I find particularly encouraging, sorry this is long… …:
Gary had been invited to a zoo where a captive giraffe was about to give birth. He said, “The moment we had anticipated was not a disappointment. A calf, a plucky male, hurled forth, falling ten feet and landing on his back. The mother giraffe gives birth to its young standing up, and the distance from the birth canal to the ground is about ten feet. Think of this – ten feet is approx. the height for dunking a basketball, plus about 4 extra inches.
So the calf fell out of its mother ten feet above ground, and landed on its back. It lay there for a few moments, and then it scrambled over to get its legs underneath it so that it could take a look around and check out the world it had just entered. The mother lowered her head to see the baby, then she moved until she was towering directly above the calf. About a minute passed, then came the shocking surprise. The mother giraffe swung her great, long leg outward and booted her baby through the air. The calf sprawled head over heels across the ground, puzzled and protesting. The mother giraffe wants him to get up – and if he doesn’t, she’s going to do it again. Sure enough, the process was repeated again and again. And the struggle to rise was momentous, and as the baby grew tired of trying, the mother would again stimulate its effort with a hearty kick. Amidst the cheers of the animal care staff, the calf stood up for the first time. Wobbly, for sure, but there it stood on its little spindly legs. Then we were struck silent when the mother kicked it off its feet again. Gary’s zoologist friend was the only person present who wasn’t astonished by the mother’s brutal treatment of her newborn calf. “She wants it to remember how it got up,” he explained. “That’s why she knocked it down again.”
To remember how it got up. Doesn’t God nurture us in just the same rough way sometimes? And if we’re ignorant as to His methods and purposes, the actions can seem cold and even cruel. We finally struggled to our feet, and it seems as if we’re kicked again. But our Heavenly Father knows that love must be tough and it must take the long view. God knows the road will bend, and we must be sturdy traveler to stay on our feet. We must not forget how we got to where we are.
One of the reasons for some of the challenges in our lives is that God is toughening us up, preparing us for warfare against forces intent on destroying us. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t admit to feeling kicked and abused at times, all the while hearing the voice that says, “Get up. Get moving. Get with it! And don’t forget how you got up.”
Our God created the principle of rigorous discipline. I hope that by now you can understand why it’s necessary. I hope you will face your next great disappointment with a new perspective – that the next time things look down, you’ll look up. I hope you’ll gird up your heart, reach for renewed strength, and say “Lord, I’ve been taken by surprise. Life has thrown me a curve, and it’s a hard thing for me to cope with. Even so, I praise Your blessed name. Whatever comes my way, joy or sorrow, I will stubbornly and confidently praise Your name. No matter how circumstances may appear, I will praise Your name. For I know You are wise and loving, and that no mere circumstance can change that. Whether this current road leads to exhilarating peaks or gloomy canyons, I praise You and I thank You. You are my God, You love me enough to train me and remake me, and only You can turn my mourning into dancing.”
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