Thru Trials to Peace: A Series of Meditations on the Ways in Which God Uses Us in Life.

By Rae Fraser

Thru Trials to Peace is a book of 50 meditations about the ways in which God purposefully uses all of His people to further His kingdom work, even when they are struggling with chronic diseases or disabilities. The meditations were written by Rae Fraser while she contended with Parkinson's Disease and wide-spread, severely painful muscle cramps (a rare drug side-effect), for 26 years.

The meditations are based on insights Rae received from God's Word as she worked her way through the " Why me?" and "How can I bear it"? questions to reach the hardest one of all - "What use am I to You or anyone else now?" As she persevered in questioning God, she learned that He had her where he wanted her - in a special field of service where she could meaningfully extend His love and His Good News to other sufferers because she really understood their problems. It is Rae's experience that while the circumstances in which He has placed us may not be the ones we would choose, He has put us where we are for His own reasons, and. . . He will use us, and provide joy, as we make ourselves available to Him.

These Scripturally-based meditations are personal, sympathetic, and direct. Hard questions are not avoided, but neither are the "tough love" calls to recognize that, as Christians, we are in God's army and need to obey His commands even when it is hard. At the same time, the meditations encourage us because they reflect Rae's own inner joy and eternal certainty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667850412

Book preview

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Copyright © 1991, 2022 Rae Fraser

Print ISBN: 978-1-66785-040-5

E-book ISBN: 978-1-66785-041-2

Second edition editor Terrill Wade (nee Fraser)

Contact information [e-mail]

Profits from the sale of this book will be directed

to Aboriginal Christian organisations in Western Australia

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

FIRST EDITION PREFACE

SECOND EDITION PREFACE

FIRST EDITION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

SECOND EDITION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION TO RAE

MEDITATIONS

1. THE SHOCK OF THE DIAGNOSIS

2. GOD’S PROMISE HOLDS FOR TODAY

3. WHY ME?

4. PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING

5. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

6. TODAY’S SUFFERING TRANSFORMED INTO THE JOY OF THE AFTERLIFE.

7. REJOICING IN HIS GUIDANCE

8. THE PROBLEM OF ‘CARERS’(CAREGIVERS)

9. DIVINE COMFORT

10. TUNNEL VISION

11. HEALING

12. HEALED OR NOT HEALED, GOD’S GOAL FOR YOU IS THE SAME

13. GOD’S WILL FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

14. A MISSIONARY - WHO ME?

15. CAN YOU TELL SOMEONE THE GOSPEL?

16. ARE YOU AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST?

17. DISCIPLES

18. SPIRITUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

19. THE CHOICE

20. FACING FACTS IN YOUR LIFE

21. WEARY? HEAVY LADEN?

22. A REFUGE PREPARED FOR US

23. DO NOT TREMBLE OR BE DISMAYED

24. A HEALTHY MIND GIVES SERENITY

25. HAVE YOU RECOGNISED YOUR SECOND CHANCE?

26. HOW ARE YOU?

27. FORSAKEN

28. GOD’S PLAN - FOR THIS THING HAS COME FROM ME

29. LORD, HOW SHOULD I PRAY?

30. PRAYER WARRIORS

31. PRAYER AND CRICKET

32. PRAYER BATTLES

33. FAILURE

34. DOWN IN THE DUMPS

35. IN THE WILDERNESS

36. AN ANTIDOTE FOR DEPRESSION

37. ATTITUDINAL LIVING

38. RAINBOW OF PROMISE

39. ONE DAY AT A TIME

40. DO YOU HAVE PEACE IN YOUR HEART?

41. PEACE

42. DISCIPLINED LOVE

43. LIVING AND EXIST RESTING

44. THANKFULNESS

45. THANKLESSNESS

46. AVAILABILITY

46. EUTHANASIA AND SUICIDE

48. DEATH

49. THE BIRTHDAY OF CHRIST

50. A CHRISTMAS GIFT

FIRST EDITION

PREFACE

I have written this book using the word disabled in a wide sense to cover spiritual, mental and physical injuries in people. The word disabled seems to be the nearest common word for the Biblical term afflicted. I also realise that many outwardly normal people are living bravely and quietly with hidden thorns in their lives. I have found many of these people to be inwardly rebelling against their situation and asking themselves why me? I have been astounded when talking to carers over the years in clinics, hospital waiting rooms and wards to find that they too are wrestling with changes in their own lives. Illness is a very common factor.

Hepatitis [1962], my father’s second and fatal heart attack [1967], my Parkinson’s disease [l970], my brother’s death in an aircraft crash [1973], severe and painful complications to my Parkinson’s [1979], bowel cancer [1982], tinnitis [1983], our daughter’s car crashes and our son’s aircraft crash (none fatal) [1988], all sent me again and again to my Bible to try and find peace of mind.

When I first became disabled (back trouble) I was young and not a Christian, and I rebelled strongly against the idea of there being a God. I believed that I could run my own life. But one day I amazed myself by yelling at the ceiling

Alright, if You are a God - show me!

Nothing happened immediately. However, as time went by, I could feel that I was becoming a different person, and I found I was enjoying reading the Bible and telling others about God.

Over the years I have written 50 short meditations on the subject of disablement which I hope will encourage other disableds and their carers and friends. I have altered the names of those I have written about to preserve their privacy, but all the events I have described have actually happened.

All quotations from the Bible (except where stated) are from the New American Standard Version because this has been my study Bible for many years.

Rae Fraser 1991

SECOND EDITION

PREFACE

My mother completed this book 20 years ago (1991) and for a number of years she and my father self-printed the book locally, mailing out copies as orders came in. Any profit from the sales was directed to the Aboriginal Bible College, a cause that was dear to their hearts. When they both died, Mum in 1996, and Dad in 1998, the printing of the book ceased.

Meantime my siblings and I were raising families, and although we all sort of knew we should do something about this valuable book nothing happened until now. In God’s providence, this year my continued isolation due to the Covid-19 virus coincided with my oldest daughter’s inspiration to scan Mum’s book online as a birthday gift for me, (thanks Alison), which gave me the opportunity to work on it.

I had planned to simply revitalize the book’s appearance and printing, and to make the second edition of "Thru Trials to Peace" more extensively available online and through print-on-demand. It turned out that some changes in the writing format were also necessary but I have kept the subject matter of the devotions intact and retained the flavor of Mum’s writing. However, I’ve also had to make decisions about a couple of particular issues.

The first issue relates to my mother’s use of the word Disableds for the people she felt so much a part of, and for whom she was so strongly concerned. As she states in her preface, she felt that the word disabled was the term closest to the biblical word afflicted, and the use of the term Disableds also provided her a concise way to refer to her group. Twenty years later, I know that some people may have negative feelings about the term disabled but Mum felt no such negativity or judgement when using the word. I hope you are able to appreciate the love and empathy with which she used it. For this edition, however, I have tried to replace the term if it did not seem essential to the context, retaining its use when she was specifically describing or addressing her group.

The other issue relates to the lack of information within the book about Rae herself. In her meditations my mother made only fragmentary references to her life and the various circumstances of her Parkinson’s disease and chronic health problems because she did not want to get in the way of readers seeing God’s work and greatness. Over the years, however, I have received many questions about how her illness affected her life and family and so a brief introduction to her life has been added to the second edition. I hope that knowing more about Rae as a person will deepen your appreciation of the interactions with God which underlie her meditations.

My main aim in putting out this second edition of Thru Trials to Peace is to restore a valuable encouragement to all who are pondering the ways in which God uses us to further his kingdom, regardless of our life situation.

May these meditations richly bless you,

Terrill Wade (nee Fraser) 2021.

FIRST EDITION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My first acknowledgement is to God, with whom I spent many wakeful hours seeking His guidance and without His continual prompting this book would not be written.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16: 7,8

All my love and appreciation belong to my husband, who has for so long been such a wonderful ‘Carer’. He and my daughter, Mrs. Ngaire Jeffery, have been very assiduous in the proof reading.

In my early, tentative days, Mrs. Margaret Johnson volunteered many hours of typing, and built up my self-confidence - until we transferred to a distant suburb.

I am also grateful to the Rev. Robert Thomas, now of New Life, who read some early meditations and encouraged me with helpful advice and to Mrs. Julie Wall whose encouragement and help has brought this manuscript to completion.

Finally, Mrs. Sue Allen, my typist, was ever helpful and cheerful.

Thank you all, Rae Fraser

SECOND EDITION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Like my mother, my first acknowledgement is to God, who has grown my love for His Word enormously over the last few years. He presented this opportunity at the right time, opened my eyes to the revision needs in a logical order, and kept returning me to the computer when I distracted myself.

Many thanks are due to my Australian family, especially to Ngaire Jeffery (my older sister) who knew my mother best, supported her through all her years of illness, and encouraged her in the original writing of the book. Thank you for all your help with the details, Ngaire.

My American family also deserve many thanks. While my three daughters have given me continual encouragement to persist in this work, I especially want to thank my husband Lamont who understood my desire to complete this family task, helped me through numerous computer frustrations, and generously allowed me the time to huddle over my computer for long periods.

And finally, I’m most grateful for my good friends and prayer partners of more than thirty years, without whom I would never have completed the task. My heartfelt thanks go to Carolyn Gile, a physical therapist with a compassionate servant heart who contributed much from her experience; to Rebecca Waddill, an English major and lover of God’s Word who reviewed my work and constantly challenged me to write well; and to Edith Shelburne, a long-time homeschooling friend and strong believer in prayer. You each expected I could do it, and you held me to it.

Thank you all, Terrill Wade (nee Fraser)

INTRODUCTION

TO RAE

Many people who received benefit from the first edition of Thru Trials to Peace have wanted to know more about the person behind those meditations, asking such questions as: what was Rae Fraser like as a person, what was her life like before she became ill, what experiences did she have with God before the onset of her Parkinson’s Disease, and how did she cope with her painful disease on a day-to-day level? For this second edition it seemed that adding a short introduction to Rae might increase the value of