Parker Inspirations

There is an old adage that time heals old wounds. I have been looking at a lot of different things in my life. I have found that God heals wounds, but the devil knows where the scar is and sometimes reopens it.

Opening my heart and letting you see some of those scars is a balm that heals deeply. You see I know what my weaknesses are just at much as the devil does. The difference is my knowledge of God’s power. I have learned that we all handle adversity different. I can not expect others to handle things the way I do.

At the same time, I do not need others to compare me to themselves. We are to help each other in difficult times. Praying for one another and seeking God’s wisdom on how to really help each other. When we go to someone with out considering God we allow our own emotions and knowledge to interfere. We are not all knowing. What others are going through, no matter how similar they may be to something we have gone through, it is not the same.

As a child I was more of a Bus kid going to Church. My family went to Church, but not the way they should have. There was verbal abuse with yelling and fighting. I grew up angry. It was not until my teens years when Bro. Jeff Carr was my youth director did I begin to let go of that anger. He told me that God chips away all the imperfections in our life to make a Diamond out of us. With encouragement and love from Church leaders my life began to change.

I would like to say that after 40+ years of being saved I have overcome all of that. Sadly I still struggle when people are critical or accusatory. That is what I meant by the devil knows where the scars are and reopens them. I have a few friends that are very loving and gentle when they come to me. They don’t know anything about my past. I believe they just have a different spirit. They always approach things with prayer and gentleness.

When I am feeling low and my vision is blurry I repeat Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” This verse reminds me that God thinks good things of me and he has an expected end. It is with this reminder that I pull out of those low times. Sometimes I am stubborn and it take longer for me to crawl out. God is always there ready to take my hand and lift me up.