The Fourth Man In

I looked tonight to see what the quote was going to be come Tuesday morning but I didn't see anything. In the morning at the crack of dawn my husband and I will be getting the grandkids ready for the county fair, five to be exact! We have chickens to catch and rabbits to cage up so we can get them to the fair by 7:00am. Its going to be a long day tomorrow, I can only hope for a long night's worth of sleep. Especially since those five kids are spending the night here. Ha Ha.


If I could type on something this Tuesday it would be on the love and support of family when the boat in life starts to rock and take on water. There are those who bail out the water trying to save the boat and those who jump overboard at the first sign of trouble. May we all do our part in holding together in the love God gives us to endure till the end. Trust is a major tool followed by the patience it takes to wait for the answers we all need and desire.


As I feel like life has me hanging upside down with my long hair almost touching the floor it seems like satan is shaking me to see if he can get anything more to fall out of the pockets of my life to steal. The choice is mine on whether I will allow him to play his games or not. I have to remind myself as well as him that my family and I have the God factor on our side.


What I have and what I am belongs to Jesus. It is through Him that victory will come. The most difficult part I play is being patient in the time being. Patient enough to step back and allow that to happen without holding a calendar in God’s face or a stop watch in my hand attached to my front pocket while my toe impatiently taps on the ground for every calendar day and second that passes by and answers are still pending.


It’s important to remember that although we go into the fire of life bound up we can come out with a friend. Something we didn’t even know we had, the fourth man in like Shadrach and his friends did in Daniel 3:25. Jesus is our fourth man in, the friend who is there when life’s trials heat up. He is the one who takes our mess and turns it into a message. He takes our manure and uses it to mature us.


What Satan finds in the pocket of our heart is exactly what we put there. The choice is ours.


Lord God, to You I give my family. Be the fourth man in. The one who will see us through no matter how rough the ride, no matter how long the road.

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing