But, Rejoice....

yesterday p.hodges preached a great message called, "but, rejoice". basically it was saying how we should praise god in the situation. that's how we're going to get out of it. i noticed another sister already commented on her blog on the message...but i just wanted to say what it meant to me. i must say that i have trouble rejoicing for the things that dont seem to be as they should. i mean i can thank him that things aren't worse, or thank him for things that i DO have. but it's a hard to practice thanking him for those things that hurt or seem to say that life's getting worse at every turn. i dunno if i've figured it out yet. but i do want too. so, im praying that he teaches me. now, we all know that if we ask God for more of anything that usually means he's going to take us through something to teach us. well this morning God, seemed to put me to the test. you know the Maintenance light in your car? well, it doesnt really mean anything except to say that it's time for your routine maintenance. things you do to keep your car running so that you dont have to have MAJOR work done later on. well, sometimes those "routine maintenance's" can be quite expensive. and i have a feeling this one is going to be. now, i dont have a problem getting it done, it just seems that every time i get a bonus or every time i get my savings back to the figure i like..something with my car comes along. (and my car is fairly "new" still. it's a 6 year old Honda..so, it's good.) to say the least, i was a bit distraught on my way to work. however, i was determined not to cry or complain or murmur (although the devil did present himself). or start thinking about all of my other problems and how things seemed to be getting worse. and since yesterday's message was still clearly ringing in my head, i was like, "okay." God, you take care of this some how someway. i know i have to go. i know i have to pay. but you take care of the finances part, so that i don't feel like im always making the car dealers richer. just take care of the situation. i can't shelve out another big figure right now. well, that was this morning. and i was able to not think about it for the rest of the day. even as i type this im not as distraught as i was this morning. i dont know what's going to happen. i know i need God to "smile" on me, though. and im hoping that if i do my part (take no thought for today) he'll bless this situation. and not only this one, but the other ones as well. especially that BIG one most of us are still praying and hoping for. pray for me. :)