SOMETIMES IT’S “BETTER OUT, THAN “IN!”

'SusieSaint' is a wonderful friend, who has invited me to write a blog, which she said she would post. My first reaction was, “Me? Write a Blog? You must be kidding?!”  I’ve never done anything like this in my life! 
My only option was to test this with our Heavenly Father, because I knew that this was something I couldn’t do in my own strength.🙏

You will notice that it has been almost a year since 'SusieSaint’s last blog.  She will need to share that with you, but suffice to say that I was sensing that this is a message for her, as well as perhaps to others?  
So often what happens in the physical, God does in the Spiritual, doesn’t He? He can also be full of surprises, even in everyday circumstances!
I awoke in the wee hours with the words, “Better Out than In,” repeating themselves over and over, so I began to meditate on them. God will often use daily situations to speak to us, so here is how I feel these words came.
  
I have just had an arthroscopy in my knee, as I had torn the outer cartilage in a fall. This is the third operation on my right knee  and hopefully the last! 

The surgeon and anaesthetist were the same as in 2013, when I had a successful half knee replacement. They are a great team, so I went into the day, looking forward to the operation, with a sense of great optimism and Peace, as there had been much prayer beforehand and I knew that many lovely Life Group friends, were praying for me too.
  
My husband and I had just returned from staying with our family over Christmas and the New Year in California, so I was joking with Anne, the anaesthetist, that I wanted her to put me “under” long enough to get over my jet lag!  We then started to talk about Santa Barbara, which she and her husband had loved.  As I went “under,” I said we were fortunate enough to visit the Old Spanish Mission in Santa Barbara between the narrow window of the “Thomas fire,” now the worst in Californian history, and the deadly mud slides, when at both times, the coast road from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara had been closed

.  It seemed no time until I was in recovery and back in my room.  The operation had gone well and I was even shown a DVD of the procedure!  Later a pharmacist arrived to offer me advice on post op medecines.  She was a young Nigerian woman and our conversation turned to God.  She was a Christian of about four years and was looking for a Spirit filled church in Reading.  I knew the perfect contact for her, so she gave me her details and, with her permission, I put her in touch with Tim, who had received the vision for the recent “Ten Days of Prayer,” in Reading.  To me that’s so like God, with the timing and that particular pharmacist, as He knew her needs too!  What Joy for both of us, with that

unexpected, “Divine-appointed encounter” in a hospital room!

I had two stitches, which needed to be removed by a nurse at our local GP’s practice, ten days later. On arriving home, I noticed that my leg was wet, right down to my sock and shoe, so we called the practice and were given another appointment that afternoon. Apparently, it’s not uncommon to have a saline leak, so there was nothing sinister. I actually began to praise God saying, “It’s better out than in, so thank you Lord, as my body won’t have to absorb this stuff!”
When I returned a few days later to have the dressing replaced, the collected saline again poured down my leg, so once again, I was thanking the Lord for my healing.…His Way…and not the expected way!
As Christians, don’t you find that it so much better to share the problems and hurts we may be carrying IN-side us and letting them OUT, with a trusted brother or sister-in-Christ, so that we can give them to God in prayer? Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 Msg, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you will recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me -- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I wont lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Do we instead, try to hold on to things on our IN-side, dealing with them in our own strength?  An old saying is: “The Jesus in me, greets the Jesus in thee.”  How wonderful it is then, to have a brother or sister-in-Christ to walk with us through the tough times in Life.
  

So this blog-thought is: When we turn to Christ with the tears that are building on the IN-side and choose to let them OUT by offering our weeping to Him, then and only then will we find His wonderful Love, Peace and healing.  May we all find that in knowing and trusting JESUS, we can experience His TRUE REST; Rest that He alone can give.  
                               

Thanks to Barbara Neely who has encouraged me to get back to Blogging and did this one to help me, Blessings.