Martha Bush grew up on a farm in Donalsonville, Georgia. She graduated from Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Georgia, with a BS degree in Business Education. After graduating from college, Martha began her teaching career that spanned grades 5-12 in both public and Christian schools. She also taught adult vocational courses in the Atlanta school system. Her love for teaching led her into areas outside the school system as she began teaching Bible study courses in jails, prisons, and at her local church. She also writes a monthly inspirational post at Created Woman and is a contributing editor for Created Woman Magazine. In addition, Martha is a contributor to Girlfriends Coffee Hour and a member of the Orange County Christian Writers Guild. Through her years of teaching, as well as being an avid reader of human behavior and grief counseling from noted Christian psychologists, she recognized how a team effort can help build a foundation in children at an early age that will enable them to cope with the losses in their lives. She believes this team, made of up parents, grandparents, educators, and spiritual leaders, can guide a child to healing from losses he or she might experience. They can do this simply by recognizing his pain, listening to his pain and then teaching the child how to apply the principles of God’s Word to his hurting heart. This led her to write Helping Hurting Children: A Journey of Healing. Martha resides in Orange, Texas, with her husband, Glen. They are the parents of two grown daughters who have blessed them with three beautiful grandchildren.

SUMite, Martha Bush, wrote to me privately and I asked her to share her story. I wept with hope upon reading her anointed words. I love you Martha! Hugs, Lynn 

“Better get your praying done, because we are moving from this house December 15!”  And with those piercing words to me, my husband started packing.

Did you ever just feel in your bones that something is just not right, that what is happening is not a God thing? No, the feeling goes deeper than the bones; you feel it way down deep in your spirit.

That’s the way I felt about this move.  It was just not the right thing to do, nor was it the right time.  Even my pre-believer husband, who had been so adamant about this move, had said to me, “I don’t understand you; you have never been a materialistic person, why is this move from your large beautiful home into a smaller one bothering you so much?” 

As you know, you just don’t say to your pre-believer, “Sweetheart, I just don’t feel the peace of God about this; can we pray about it more?”  Coupled with that, I felt as though he was mocking God and my faith by saying, “you had better get your praying done, because come the morning of December 15 at 9:00 A.M, the moving van is coming.”

And so, I put on the whole armour of God, and I rebuked, commanded, spoke the word over it, and exercised all the Biblical calisthenics that I knew to do.   But, alas, December 15 came, and right on cue at 9 o’clock, the moving van pulled into my driveway.  

And that’s when I pulled the Joshua thing.

“Sun stand still!

God is about to place himself in front of that moving van

and turn it around; there ain’t no move taking place here today.”

But, to my dismay, the sun went down and the thing I had believed in my spirit was wrong, happened.

As the moving van was pulling out of my driveway hauling my cherished belongings to another house, I stood on the driveway saying, “Where were you, God; what didn’t you arrive before the sun went down?”  Prior to this day, I had prayed for many things, and saw God move in miraculous ways, but the day I prayed for the sun to stand still, I felt that I was at the height of my spiritual growth and faith level, but it didn’t happen.

I could just hear the old devil laughing and saying, “Commanding the sun to stand still?  Really, Martha, who do you think you are? It only happened one time in the Bible.  Did you think you were going to make it happen a second time?”

Let me hasten to say that moving to another house is nothing compared to what some of you are going through.  

• Some of you have had to face separation and divorce from your spouse, and yet you have faithfully been the believing spouse who has honored your marriage vows. 
• Some of you have struggled financially.  You may even faithfully pay your tithes, do the Bill Ramsey book on----and got your cards all lined up..Yet, you barely can live from pay check to pay check.
• Some live with addictions, devastating health problems, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, fear, and rejection.
• My own beloved pastor, David Berkeheimer, preached Luke 4:18 for over 30 years.  Upon his retirement, he made many trips to California to consult with Bill Johnson and was in the process of establishing a school of supernatural ministries in Jasper, Texas, modeled after Bethel.  Yet, cancer invaded his body, and he died, leaving his life savings tied up in a healing ministry that never came to pass.  (Say what?)

Why, why, why???? Why did God not arrive before the sun went down for me, as well as for you?

My Dear Sumite friends, please spare me your Chrisitnese answers.

• It must not have been God’s will.  (But, it says so right here in the Bible; look let me show you!)
• If you had had faith.  (Oh, please, give me a break.  It only takes a grain of mustard seed, surely we have that.)
• You should have spoken the word every day.  (Holy cow, I spoke it and I spoke it, and I spoke it.  How many times to you want me to speak it.  I spoke it until I am blue in the face.  Come on)

I am a former school teacher.  I stood in front of my classes many times and spouted off to students:  “If you had done steps #1, #2, #3 like I told you to, you wouldn’t have missed the problem.  You are goofing off and just not using the “right steps.” I then laid a guilt trip on them for not paying attention and focusing.  (Please tell me we don’t preach the “step plan” to our friends when things seem to follow apart in their lives?)

Can we just sometimes get real and answer the “why” question simply by saying “I don’t know why,” as Robert Koke, pastor of Shoreline Church, Austin, Texas, did when his 17 year old son was killed in an automobile accident.

In working through his grief, Pastor Koke tells the story of how he kept asking “Why, God.You could have spared his life.  I don’t understand why you didn’t.” 

Finally, he tells of the day, he came to the conclusion that helped him start moving forward:  “I don’t know why.  But, I wouldn’t exchange the things I do know about God for the things I don’t know about Him.”

• I know He died on the cross for my salvation.
• I know He was resurrected and rose from the grave.
• I know I have a home in heaven and will see Him one day.
• I know, if I allow Him, He will still give me the peace that surpasses all understanding in the midst of my trials.

Well, Pastor Koke’s answer is good enough for me, but I have to confess. I’ve got this little mischievous thing about me.  When I get to heaven, I still may just sneak up to God and try to kid with Him a little bit and say:  “By the way, God.  Not that it makes any difference now, (ha, ha, ha) but I was just wondering why didn’t the sun stand still for me like it did for Joshua.”

On second thought, I got a feeling that all my why’s will vanish and there will be only one thing I want to do.

Please take a few minutes and listen to the words of this song.