When I was a child I used to wear glasses. I didn't like wearing them but I had to in order to see clearly. Eventually I got contacts and that was better but I still wished that I could see without any extra help. Eventually I had surgery on my eyes and that was such a blessing because after that I nearly had 20/20 vision...and yet. At times I still felt like my vision was a little blurry....until one day. I was in the hospital with Tina and because of everything that had been going on my emotions were high and my heart was heavy with sadness. As I sat in the silence staring out the window tears started to fill my eyes. I didn't try to hold back any of the tears or wipe them away and so they flowed freely...and then I noticed something. All of a sudden I could see clearer than ever before. Everything was so sharp and crisp and clear. I realized that the tears apparently caused some sort of refraction in how the light entered my eyes (similar to glasses or contacts). It was in that moment that I felt like God spoke to my heart and I realized that so many times in life our "vision" in clouded by things that really don't matter... and then pain enters our life and brings clarity to that which is most important....those we love and He who loves us more than we could ever imagine...our Heavenly Father.
Update: All of our prayers have been answered! Tina is finally Healed! This morning Tina took her last breath and is now dancing, running, laughing and smiling. I can just picture her running into the arms of Jesus. He runs towards her and lifts her up into the air and then spins her around and around like a little girl. Her hair is blowing, her eyes are glistening with joy, her smile is brighter and more vibrant than ever before. There are no more tears...no more pain...no more sickness. I can only imagine the wonders that she is seeing right now! Oh how I miss her already and yet my heart is at peace knowing that my Tina, my beautiful wife, the loving mother of Katie, my best friend is finally home in Heaven. I am assured of that fact because many years ago Tina gave her life to Jesus Christ and ever since then she has been a shining reflection of His love. Tina leaves behind her a LEGACY of this love that will last forever and so this is not the end...it is a NEW BEGINNING.
I believe with all my heart that if Tina could speak to you one last time from this blog this is what she would say..."Give your heart to Jesus and He will give you life. Do it today. He will heal you like He healed me :)" Love, Tina
Praise be to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
- a messenger of God, a servant of Jesus Christ and the most blessed husband and father in the world:
Aaron martin (husband of Tina Lin Martin and father to Katie Lin Martin).
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Trusting God
Today I had the chance to talk to the youth group at my church and it was such an honor. The message that God put on my heart to share with them for awhile now was about TRUST. Here are the highlights of that message:
WHO should we trust?
- We can trust others in our life that we are close to, but our greatest trust should be in God (Proverbs 3:5-6)
WHAT is trust?
- Trust is accepting God's will for our life, NO MATTER WHAT! (Luke 22:42 and Daniel 3:17-18)
- Trust is not based on how we feel (our feelings are unreliable and too changeable)
- Trust is not based on the "results" of what we pray for (God is not our ATM machine or a genie in a bottle to grant our every wish)
- Trust is not about pretending like we are fine when we are not (we need to be genuine with others and with God)
WHEN should we trust?
- Even when life doesn't make sense (Isaiah 55:8-9)
- Even when life hurts (Hebrews 11:35-39)
WHY should we trust?
- Because God loves His children (Romans 8:8-39)
HOW should we trust?
- Trust is action based and involves taking a step of faith (Saying that we trust but not acting on it is not trust at all). (Philippians 4:4-6)
RESULTS of not trusting God
- We might have false beliefs about God when He doesn't answer our prayers the way we want Him to (e.g. We falsely believe that He doesn't love us, He didn't answer our prayer because we didn't have enough faith or even that He doesn't exist)
- We become isolated from God (e.g. we get angry with Him and blame Him for our pain)
- We hold onto these false beliefs and the lies of Satan about who God is (John 8:44)
RESULTS of trusting God
- We have God's supernatural peace and security (Philippians 4:7)
Update on Tina:
- On October 9, 2012 (my 40th birthday) Tina and I went to her doctor and found out that her cancer was returning despite her treatments. Her doctors told us that she probably had 3-4 months to live
- We cried, prayed, cried out to God, fasted, kept praying and God gave us His peace
- On November 27th Tina started Hospice care here at the house
- On November 29th we were informed that Tina would probably die within the next week
- Today, December 2nd, my faith and trust in God was put to the test as I left Tina at the house to go to my church to talk to the youth group about Trusting God. The nurses could give me no guarantee that Tina would be alive when I got home.
- Although we continue to pray for a miracle, we cry out "Father not my will but Yours be done" and we pray that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would get all the glory in this situation whether Tina lives or dies.
- In the end....in spite of all the pain...we continue to trust God and accept His will for our life... NO MATTER WHAT!
- aaron
WHO should we trust?
- We can trust others in our life that we are close to, but our greatest trust should be in God (Proverbs 3:5-6)
WHAT is trust?
- Trust is accepting God's will for our life, NO MATTER WHAT! (Luke 22:42 and Daniel 3:17-18)
- Trust is not based on how we feel (our feelings are unreliable and too changeable)
- Trust is not based on the "results" of what we pray for (God is not our ATM machine or a genie in a bottle to grant our every wish)
- Trust is not about pretending like we are fine when we are not (we need to be genuine with others and with God)
WHEN should we trust?
- Even when life doesn't make sense (Isaiah 55:8-9)
- Even when life hurts (Hebrews 11:35-39)
WHY should we trust?
- Because God loves His children (Romans 8:8-39)
HOW should we trust?
- Trust is action based and involves taking a step of faith (Saying that we trust but not acting on it is not trust at all). (Philippians 4:4-6)
RESULTS of not trusting God
- We might have false beliefs about God when He doesn't answer our prayers the way we want Him to (e.g. We falsely believe that He doesn't love us, He didn't answer our prayer because we didn't have enough faith or even that He doesn't exist)
- We become isolated from God (e.g. we get angry with Him and blame Him for our pain)
- We hold onto these false beliefs and the lies of Satan about who God is (John 8:44)
RESULTS of trusting God
- We have God's supernatural peace and security (Philippians 4:7)
Update on Tina:
- On October 9, 2012 (my 40th birthday) Tina and I went to her doctor and found out that her cancer was returning despite her treatments. Her doctors told us that she probably had 3-4 months to live
- We cried, prayed, cried out to God, fasted, kept praying and God gave us His peace
- On November 27th Tina started Hospice care here at the house
- On November 29th we were informed that Tina would probably die within the next week
- Today, December 2nd, my faith and trust in God was put to the test as I left Tina at the house to go to my church to talk to the youth group about Trusting God. The nurses could give me no guarantee that Tina would be alive when I got home.
- Although we continue to pray for a miracle, we cry out "Father not my will but Yours be done" and we pray that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would get all the glory in this situation whether Tina lives or dies.
- In the end....in spite of all the pain...we continue to trust God and accept His will for our life... NO MATTER WHAT!
- aaron
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)