Well, it happened. I didn't think it would, but it did. I had been afraid it would and my fear came true. 

For several weeks, I had been suffering with a strained muscle in my hip.  I did something to cause the strain, but don't remember what it was.

I looked on the internet to see what to do about strained muscles.  There was a list of things to help.  The first of which was 'Rest.  Stop doing what caused the strain in the first place'  DUH! There were other suggestions which I did follow.  I experienced minimal relief.  The pain was still hanging on, but it was no longer excruciating. 

Just as I think everything is going to be alright, I caught my shoe in a piece of trim on the floor.  I knew I was going to fall.  Since I was in the entrance hall, there was nothing to grab for support.  Every piece of furniture was too far away.  I hit the floor hard.  The muscle that was already strained pulled even tighter and burned.  My precious dog was all over me with hugs and kisses.  Then when I tried to get up, she tried to help.  After several attempts, I was able to get up.  I went straight to my bed and cried.  More out of frustration than pain. The rest of the day was miserable.  I dreaded getting up the next morning.  I knew the pain would be worse the second day.  Surprise!!

I got out of bed the next morning and my leg didn't hurt.  I didn't have the pain running down my hip and into my thigh. I felt better.  I had been in pain, fell down, got up in worse pain, and woke up in no pain.

Sometimes we fall in our spiritual life also.  God lets us fall so that he can heal our broken spirit. One character in the bible that illustrates this is the Samaritan woman at the well.  The fourth chapter of John tells the story.  

The Fallen
Jesus sat at the well while the disciples went to buy food.  A Samaritan woman came to the well alone.  The reason she was alone was because she was what used to be called 'a fallen woman'.  She had been married five times and was at that time living in adultery.  She wasn't a person with whom the community socialized. She was ostracized by the women and well respected men didn't want to be seen talking to her. So she went to the well when no one else was there.  She had truly fallen. 

Standing
She had tried to 'get up' with each husband, but once a person has fallen it is very difficult to get up again.  Especially when they are reminded that they have fallen. If someone is able to find any success, the world is suspicious of the accomplishment.  It is as if once a person falls, the world expects them to stay down forever.

Healed
When Jesus spoke to her, she was the one who was suspicious.  She was not only a fallen woman, but a Samaritan. She was considered lower than low.  She asked why He was speaking to her.  He told her that she should ask him for a drink.  She asked how He could draw living water.  He told her that everyone who drank from that well would thirst again. Not one time did Jesus answer her questions.  He told her what she need to hear.  

When she ask for the living water, He told her to go get her husband.  She informed him that she had no husband. He revealed her life and life style. 

She went to the well fallen and left healed. She ran to town and told the men about Jesus.  Why didn't she tell the women?? Because the women probably wouldn't have listened to her.  John 4:39 says, Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman's word when she testified, "He told me everything I've ever done."

When we've been healed, we should tell the world. We were in sin, tried to stand on own, were lifted by the cross, and rose healed. We need to tell the world that we are no longer fallen or trying to stand on our own. We are standing by the power of Jesus and healed from our sinful nature. We have been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The ability to make choices is a crucial life skill.  People who are unable to choose something, actually are making a choice to not choose.  That probably sounds contradictory, but God placed in us the desire and ability to choose our behavior.  

When I taught the College and Career Class at church, the students often told me what they HAD to do that week.  They always seemed to sum it up with "I had no choice."  Yes, they did. We always have a choice. The only time you don't get to decide the action is at your birth and death.  In between those two, you make every decision for your life.  No, I didn't.  My parents made the decisions for me. Yes, I understand that.  But you had the choice to obey or not. No, if I didn't obey, I received severe punishment. So you chose to obey rather than receive the punishment.

What we fail to calculate is the consequence of our choice.  Every decision has a consequence.  We tend to think of consequence as the negative result of something.  Actually, the word consequence means the result or effect of an action or event. It doesn't matter whether it is positive or negative. If I earn money, the positive consequence is that I can afford the things I want. The negative consequence is that I have to pay the government their share. I can choose not to earn the amount of money so that I don't owe the government.  However, then I would miss a lot of blessings.

God gives us choices.  Sometimes we make them with little thought to the consequences.  Our spiritual walk with him is our choice.  I hope you make a decision today. 

Sunday we will look at the choices David and Rahab made and the consequences that resulted.

I watched her through the glass doors of the office. She had a look of determination on her face.  Not exactly angry, but certainly not happy.  It had been a miserable day since about 9:00 that morning.  It was a stormy day with winds howling and blowing rain.  It was the kind of rain that makes an umbrella useless.   I watched as she literally jerked her jacket off.  I wondered why, until I saw her place it over her child's head.  She had come to the school to take her child home. I don't know who she was, but I know that her first priority was protecting her child. It didn't matter to her that she would get wet.  Her child would be safe.

  She never saw me watching. It wasn't necessary.  I pictured God's protection as I watched the scene. Depending on the Bible translation, there are between 45 and 189 verses  about God's protection. 

Who is our protector?
Psalm 121:5
The Lord is your protector; the Lord is your shade right beside you.
Have you ever wanted shade?  It is very hot where I live and when working outdoors we long for a bit of shade.  It is not only comfortable, but reviving.  It allows us to restore our energy and continue with our work. 
Sometimes we get weary in the Lord's work.  When we call upon His name, he will restore our energy and allow us to continue working for His kingdom.

At times there is no shade to comfort us, but our Heavenly Father is always standing by to give us the rest we need.

One of my children had asthma as a young child.  Many were the nights I sat beside his bed and watched him breathe. I didn't fall asleep, out of fear that he would stop breathing. Our Heavenly Father doesn't sleep either.  He watches over us as a parent watching a sick child. 
Psalm 121:3 tells us God won’t let your foot slip. Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job. And again in  Psalm 121:4 No! Israel’s protector never sleeps or rests!

​Many have heard the story of the hen who protected her chicks when there was a fire in the barnyard. After the fire was contained, the farmer went out to dispose of the rubbish.  He picked up the charred, lifeless hen and found all the chicks alive and unharmed.  The mother hen had protected them with her wings, even unto death. That is the way God protects us when we call out to him.Psalm 17:8 Watch me with the very pupil of your eye! Hide me in the protection of your wings.  And then in Deuteronomy 32:11 Like an eagle protecting its nest, hovering over its young, God spread out his wings, took hold of Israel, carried him on his back. The psalmist praised God for His protection.  Psalm 63:7
because you’ve been a help to me and I shout for joy in the protection of your wings.

Can we trust Him?
The psalmist testified.  Psalm 118:14
The Lord was my strength and protection: he was my saving help!

As women we look to our husbands for protection.  Yet Abraham removed that protection from Sarah.  Instead, he asked her to protect him by telling everyone that she was his sister.  There was a very real threat of men being killed so rulers could take the wives.  Rather than trust God, Abraham chose to put the responsibility on Sarah. 

Genesis 20 tells one of the stories of Abraham's deception. Abraham tells Abimelech that Sarah is his sister. Sarah is taken to Abimelech's palace. Can you imagine what she was thinking?  Did she lie awake thinking that at any minute the king would send for her, forcing her to be intimate with him?  How did Abraham sleep that night?  Did he lie awake worrying about his beautiful wife? 

However, God protected Sarah.  He prevented Abimelech from touching her.  Then God came to him in a dream.  Abimelech was told that Sarah was married and touching her would result in death.  He pleaded for his life.  The next day, he returned Sarah and rebuked Abraham for being deceptive.  What would have happened to Sarah if God hadn't intervened? 
From what does He protect us?
He protects us from our enemies. Psalm 143:9
Deliver me from my enemies, Lord! I seek  protection from you.

God protects us from physical harm. Deuteronomy 32:10 God found Israel in a wild land— in a howling desert wasteland— he protected him, cared for him, watched over him with his very own eye.
 Joshua 24:17
The Lord is our God. He is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. He has done these mighty signs in our sight. He has  protected us the whole way we’ve gone and in all the nations through which we’ve passed.

Further examples and discussion will be heard in class Sunday morning.