It didn't come to stay, it came to pass!

My family had quite a week last week. I've wanted to write about it, but was unsure of how much I wanted to tell & how much I could emotionally handle saying right now. Instead of writing anything myself, I want to share a letter that my daddy has written that says it all very well.

My daddy is a pastor, but he also has a ministry called Morning Meditations. He writes daily devotionals & sends them to several different people. Those people send them to other people, then those people send them...you get the idea (the man needs a blog). He hears wonderful responses from brothers & sisters all over the place that he doesn't know from Adam's housecat. It is a great ministry that God has truly blessed. To tell our happenings from last week, I will start by posting last Tuesday's Morning Meditation, then a note from me written last Wednesday to Morning Meditation readers, & then my daddy's letter to Morning Meditation readers.

Here goes:



MORNING MEDITATIONS
October 7, 2008
The Despair of Depression
1 Kings 19:3-5

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

This event in the life of Elijah convinces me that anyone can become depressed. If this great prophet of the Lord who faced down 450 Baal prophets could give way to depression I am certain that depression can bring any of us to our knees which might not be a bad place to be. When I was younger I was quick to point out how sinful it was to be depressed and it was a sure sign of sin. I assure you that I am not so quick to jump to that conclusion today. I do believe that there is no reason for any true child of God to ever be depressed. The problem is that we get our eyes off the Lord and we cannot see clearly so we fall into the despair of depression. Just because good old Elijah fell into its deadly snare does not make me any happier to slip into its clutches. Let me say this powerfully and plainly that it was as wrong for Elijah as it is for you or me to slip into this despair of depression. We must not excuse it. If I am in depression I am outside the perfect will of God. I can be as moral as ever and still be out of the will of God. You need to take note that God did not excuse Elijah’s bout with depression, but neither did He condemn him. He came to him and ministered to him to lead him out of this sad state. It took some work to accomplish this. The key was that God drew him back to truth. He let him see that God was still God. He had not changed and He was still at His work. No matter how bad things appeared to be, God’s plan was right on schedule. No devil or demon of hell can stop the plan of God. There may be some rough road to travel but it will come out exactly as God says. Don’t look at just where you are but look at where God says we are going. Wow! I am beginning to get a little homesick for that beautiful land of eternity. I don’t have any time for depression. Get behind me Satan. I see a brighter day just over the horizon.

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Missing MORNING MEDITATIONS?
October 8, 2008

Hey y'all, I'm Preacher Hart's daughter & I wanted to let you all know why you didn't receive a Morning Meditation today. Daddy had a stroke last night & was taken to the ER via ambulance. It was a long night with some nervous, uncertain moments, but one thing that remained certain was the faithfulness & sovereignty of our God. He was the very present Prince of Peace! He also showed Himself to us as the Great Physician. Today, Daddy has been in Neuro/Trauma ICU under the close eye of doctors, nurses, & El Roi, the God who sees. Tonight, he is being moved to a regular room where he will await more tests & then hopefully be coming home before the weekend. He's doing great! Praise God!!

Please keep Daddy & Mama in your prayers & be sure to give God the glory for what He's already done. Thanks so much!

By HIS grace & for HIS glory,
Tonya

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Thank You from MORNING MEDITATIONS
October 14, 2008

Greetings to you in the Name of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ:

For you to be receiving this email means that you have at sometime or another been acquainted with the morning devotions called MORNING MEDITATIONS. It has been my privilege for several years, in obedience to God, to send out these morning devotions. Last week there was an interruption in the sending out of these devotions. I had Wednesday morning’s devotion loaded in my mailbox to send out but on Tuesday night my life was changed. I suffered a stroke just before bedtime on Tuesday evening. I am doing fine now and am glad to begin again to send out MORNING MEDITATIONS with the prayer that God may use them to encourage the body and bring glory to Himself.

First, let me express my utmost gratitude to those of you who heard of my sickness and lifted me to the Lord in prayer. Never in my lifetime have I appreciated prayer as much as in this day. I assure you that I believe with my whole heart that God definitely and powerfully answered prayers on my behalf and I am extremely thankful.

Last Tuesday evening after a busy day I had come in from my evening prayer time and was sitting talking with my wife about our day. Suddenly without warning something happened to my vision. I could not focus. I thought it would pass but within seconds I could not speak clearly and then I tried to get up and found I could not balance myself. This began an evening of intense emotional stress for my family. I was conscious of things but was as though in another world. I felt no pain or anxiety. It was my wife and daughter who were faced with the decision of giving me a shot that could help but could cause severe hemorrhaging. I was given the shot and amazingly in minutes I was able to talk clearly and move my right side which had been paralyzed. Doctors and nurses flowed into my room excited and praising this new drug. I am indeed thankful for medicine and doctors but I know where my help comes from.

Ps 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes to the hills —
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

I will not bore you with the details of the rest of my hospital stay. I am at that place where I am attempting to process what has happened. A stroke was the last thing I would have expected to happen to me. My blood pressure is good and is usually low. The only thing that the doctor asked me to deal with is my diet since my triglycerides are high. I am a believer that God has purpose in all things. I was continually told by doctors, nurses, therapists and others that I was a lucky man. I assure you that it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with grace. I am not attempting to be spiritual or naïve. I just want to be honest. I have not been able to get far in my comprehending of these events but I do know that my life is in the hands of God almighty. He allowed this in my life. He allowed me to get better with no visible side effects. He is at work in my life and has an eternal purpose for me. By the way, all the therapists that have worked with me say they would never know I had a stroke if they did not have the record of it.

I would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for me. I want, not only to have a complete recovery from the stroke, but I desire to live closer to my Lord than ever. When you face something of this magnitude, life has a different meaning than before. I always wanted my life to count but today I want that more than I want anything. I want to share a couple of Scripture verses that are on my heart and I pray that what God is working in my heart may show itself in future Morning Meditations. The present ones were written on Tuesday before the stroke. I will begin with my first attempt at writing on Friday. I pray I will have His special anointing to write.

Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Phil 3:13-14 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Again, thank you for your prayers and concerns for me and my family. I have heard from many of you that I have never met and do not know personally. I look forward to one day meeting each of you, if not here, there in eternity where we will have plenty of time to get acquainted. For now I pray that you will be encouraged and will draw just a little closer to God. God bless and keep you.

L. Hart