That is the phrase that has been circling around in my head.  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Our family traveled to Baltimore to play in the snow I will be sharing some photos here soon.

At the beginning of any new year people become contemplative, wondering what the new year will bring.  Wondering what lies ahead.  Well lately life has been handing people in my family some lemons.  I begin this new year with more questions then I do excitement, but that tells me God is going to move in mighty unseen ways.

As I was driving home God said, “Lori what can you do with lemons?” Lemons are tart, most people don’t eat them just as they are, for many people they by themselves are undesirable.  That is like some of the trails and questions we face, they by themselves are undesirable.   But what happens to lemons if you add some water and some sweetener with a tall glass of ice, you have a nice drink of lemonade.  Something that is very desirable on a hot summer day.  What if God takes your trials, your questions, adds a little more “through” kind of  faith, grace and mercy into the mix?  Then you have something that was undesirable, now bringing Glory to Him.

What I do know to be true is that if God is calling you to go through something, he will provide the means necessary to do so.  Sure life may not go as planned, look at Matt Chandler who ended his year with brain cancer, but I do see how many people he has touched and I know of at least one who has become a Christian because of it.  Life may become unpleasant, our natural desire is to live a relatively easy life, but one thing I have learned is that God’s power is shown brighter through our weakness.  When trials come, and life changes, God is calling you worthy.  He is holding your hand through everything, asking you to be a vessel for His power.  I guess the question remains, how will each of us respond? Because we have free will, God will allow us to fall into the pit of despair, he will allow us to become angry and bitter, but that is not his desire.

So I sit here looking at what is to come, asking God to remove some thorns, but knowing in my heart God is going to ask me to have some “through” kind of faith.  God is asking me if he can take my lemons and walk me through the process in making some sweet lemonade in the New Year.

Is your future uncertain, are you still dealing with job loss or health issues?  Has life given you some lemons and you look into 2010 with hesitation? Be encouraged God’s power is stronger in your weakness and he can take the undesirable and use it to bring Glory to Him.  Right now for me, I take my Saviors hand and ask him to show me how to make sweet lemonade in the new year.   How about you?