Honduras and Thankful Thursdays

I am going to combine my Thankful Thursday post with a request today. I am asking anyone who stops by my blog to please pray for the people of Belize and Honduras. A 7.1 earthquake, eminating from only 6 miles below the surface, struck along the coast at 2:24 AM this morning. So far it's been reported that two dozen homes collapsed, killing two children and injuring 40 more.

A friend's parents are missionaries at Hospital Loma de Luz, located on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. The earthquake was centered on the Caribbean side of the country. At this point, we have no news from them directly and assume it could take some time to hear from them. Power is spotty at best there, anyhow.

For more information on the Hopital Loma de Luz, check out the Cornerstone Foundation website. For more information on the earthquake, read here.

Please pray for safety and comfort for both the Honduran people and the people of Belize. They are poor countries and the average person doesn't have a lot of resources. As I mentioned before, their power is spotty at best and that's just one example of what they are lacking. Medical care is scarce and difficult to get to, services are few and far between.

With that said, I'll keep my Thankful Thursday part of this post short. Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage is hosting again this week and for the topic this week she talks about hearing - and obeying - the voice of God. My struggle is always in the obeying. I often hear God and then...the arguments settle in. "Really? You want me to do...? Really? Do I have to?" On and on my whining goes until I either obey or the opportunity passes and I have chosen to ignore God. Usually in fear - the fear of being rejected, embarrassed or hurt and then I beat myself up. It is an almost never ending cycle. When I choose to obey, though, the reaction is exactly the opposite. There is peace, there is joy and there is the knowing God has nodded His head and said "Well done, good and faithful servant."

As I write that - why am I thankful? Because even when I fail to obey, God loves me. Because even when I miss His voice, He doesn't consider me useless. I get another chance. And another. He pushes me - sometimes harder than I might like but He doesn't stop. God has never given up on me. In my "rebellion years" (from 16 to 35 I totally rejected God), He was there for me. I can see it now and I have fallen on my knees a few times, as memories hit, to thank Him for His grace and mercy. The tears that have flowed over realizations I've had at just how much I must have hurt Him... Yet Christ covers me and I am forgiven.

Today, as I think of all of those times I have heard the voice of God and chosen not to obey, I request His forgiveness and am overwhelmed that it is granted.

Oh Lord, my prayer today, is that as I hear your voice, that I will obey. I will not turn from you in fear - your Word promises me a spirit of power, not of timidity. May that spirit overwhelm me - no matter what you ask of me. May today be the day I set aside anything that is keeping me from You, from hearing You, from seeing You. May today be the day that I walk anew, scales fallen from my eyes, plugs removed from my ears and may I always be known to You as Your good and faithful servant. In the powerful name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, I ask these things. Amen.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

~Psalm 29:3-5

Blessings.