Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Up and Down (04/02/09)
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TITLE: EVERGREEN EASTER | Previous Challenge Entry
By esther robinson
04/08/09 -
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His wife Emily who gauged his mind like a thermometer questioned, “You’re dull, what is the matter?”
After hesitating a while, he spurted out, “Honey! This time, it’s going to be a poor Easter for us.”
“Oh no! Easter is always rich!” Emily hugged him.
“There’s recession! No business orders. Payments are pending and money is blocked. My head is reeling.”
Emily knew that something was seriously wrong because Elvis normally never had such a disposition.
“We have an incomparable God who will never let His children down.”
“Honey! It’s nice to hear that.”
“Do you mean that practically it’s impossible?”
“I guess it is so.”
“Christ’s tomb is empty – an infallible proof that those who trust Him can never be empty in their lives.” Emily exercised her faith.
People generally reveal a ‘down’ condition which they experience when they are in the ‘up’ state and reminisce without trumpeting on an ‘up’ position while traveling through a ‘down’ phase. Given this fact with both extremes being unstable, an axiom says that rough times do not last but tough people who cling to Christ come out unscathed through any situation be it a fiery furnace or a den of lions.
Contrary to the faith of Emily, matters were turning worse for Elvis. With hardly three days left for Easter, Emily stood firm on the pinnacle of faith. What if your faith did not align with God’s purpose? It could be rejected isn’t it? Instead of ‘down’ becoming ‘up’ if it were to go ‘deep down’ what would be the consequences? Trials, temptations, tribulations and patience are some of the major ingredients that go towards making a reward. Yet the process definitely is painful.
Whilst acting on faith, Emily was certainly forced to cut down those expenses that she felt could fetch some more happiness for the family both short and long term decisions. Emily increased her quiet time with the Lord but there was Elvis shut down in his private room unwilling to talk to anyone coiled up in his cot like a snail fearing to come out of his shell to face the future.
Satan and his cohorts are clever in sapping your strength. They exactly attack the target whereby you are pulled down. However, Emily understood the tricks of the tempter and literally dragged Elvis and their children to church for the Good Friday Service.
The second saying of Jesus Christ on the cross was meditated upon in detail. “The convict never thought of his bitter past. Perhaps it carried cartons of curses let loose by people whose homes he had burgled. Neither did he think about the anxious future ahead of him. He was in his final moments when his precious soul would break free from its mud vessel. However, while experiencing excruciating agony within, his talk with Jesus became an epoch making one which earned him a place in paradise. Today, speak to Christ in the present. Then your bitter past and anxious future will dissolve in His spotless blood to enable you to enter paradise.”
A smile blossomed on Elvis’s face. Even without his volition, he began to thank God. Mind you nothing had changed so far but Easter became all the more exuberant for Elvis. Situations stood still with grim faces but an indescribable peace flowed into his heart making him say, “Easter will always be rich.”
Saturday moved like a missile. With hardly ten hours for Easter day to break forth, Elvis received two big orders one after another that he and his workers had to work around the clock to complete. He had received a handsome amount as an advance. In the split of a second happiness replaced heaviness as Emily had confessed in faith.
Ups and downs are fleeting moments in life but the trust we place in God is all that matters.
“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6:17) Who remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever; (Psalm 136:23).
“Indeed we had a memorable Easter that year. God helped us brighten the lives of four shut-in members and also provide breakfast for about two hundred orphan children.” The faith of Emily rewarded her with these words.
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This almost felt like two pieces in one--the devotional paragraphs interspersed with the story line. It felt a bit unusual to me; I wasn't sure which I was reading. I wonder if it'd work as well to have your characters speak the lessons, or to trust your readers to learn the lessons through the actions and emotions of your characters.
So many pieces this week are full of hope, and yours is definitely one of them!