First and foremost I feel like I started the year 2010 off the right way. I have not only been in church REGULARLY but in the Word regularly as well. My very good friend Kristin, gave me a devotional book to start for the new year and I must say, I have read it everyday (almost everyday) and it has had really good tid-bits of inspiration.
I think it's so neat when I have moments where I just happen to be flipping through my Bible and something happens to jump off the page at me. It may be a verse or something that I've written down from a sermon etc. But that's when I KNOW it's something God wanted me to hear in that moment. It's something I obviously NEEDED to hear. I pray for those moments all the time because I sometimes wonder if I am actually hearing Him and getting what I need, but those moments are just reassurance from my Heavenly Father above saying "Here my darling, this is something specific I want to tell you today". It's so awesome when that happens! Something I came across a few weeks ago that literally jumped off the page at me was something I had written down from a sermon of Brother Steve's at church over a year ago. It boldly stated, "Sin gives you FUN at FIRST and makes life HARD LATER.
God's way is HARD at FIRST and BETTER LATER.
God saves the BEST for LAST."--Bro. Steve
I LOVE the way Bro. Steve put this because it's SO true. So many times we just give into sin or to what WE want because it's the easiest or the most "fun". But if you think about it, it really does make life harder later. It's kind of like the law of the harvest. Not only do you reap what you sow, but you reap later than you sow and more than you sow. God's way is usually hard at first because normally it's us having to WAIT for something/someone. Believe me, I am the world's worst at waiting (I'm getting better, God is definitely working with me on this one), but most of us today are all about instant gratification. We want what we want, when we want it and how we want it. We don't care about the outcome, we just know that we want it NOW. I'm quickly learning that I HAVE GOT to start trusting God more because He sees the BIG picture. He sees everything, while I'm only seeing what's going on right now simply because I'm living right now. When something doesn't work out or go the way I want them to, I usually get down and wonder what I did wrong or why it didn't work, but truth is, (as brought to my attention by a very dear friend) that instead of seeing it as a bad thing, I need to see it as a RESCUE. I'm being rescued by my Father from something that He could see was totally wrong for me when I thought it was so right. When I start to think of it that way, it starts to make me feel better...starts making me feel like even though it's something that seems so good and so right, RIGHT NOW; God is saving the BEST for LAST.
Another point when it comes to waiting that I came across in my bible is that,
"God's delays aren't necessarily denials."--Karen Scoggins
Mrs. Karen said that during one of our sunday school lessons and that really hit home with me. God is constantly preparing us. Just because He doesn't give us something or something we want right when we want it, doesn't mean He is saying "no", He may just be telling us to "wait". There's that ugly word that starts with a "W" again! But it's the truth! Often times we THINK we are ready for something and we really AREN'T.
"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
--Romans 8:25
A couple of weeks ago in sunday school, we had a time of sharing our testimonies. I was not one of the ones that shared (I didn't feel led to at the time), but the ones who did share, gave some awesome testimonies and shared some very good points with the class. One point that someone shared that really hit home with me was,
"I wanted God in my life, but I didn't want Him in my business."
How true and convicting is that statement?! That person hit the nail on the head! So many times I think we want God to be in our lives and we want Him to be apart of our daily living, but there are certain things that we DON'T want Him to be a part of. There may be certain areas of our lives that we have totally surrendered to Him and other areas that we continue to hold on to. Those are the very areas that God himself is trying to get you to let go of. Just like in the story of Abraham and Sarah, where God wanted Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son that they had prayed and waited for, for so long. The minute Abraham finally decided to give his son over to God, God saw what faith and trust Abraham had and said to him, "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Gen. 22:12). This is exactly the place God wants us sometimes. He wants to bring us to the place of total surrender where we say, "Ok, God, it's yours." What would you do if the thing you're waiting on, God says, "Place it on the alter"? Could you without hesitation?
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's
purpose that prevails."--Proverbs 19:21
I was reading through Proverbs the other day and came across this one and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites because it is SO true in my life right now. Lots of times we make our own plans or decisions without even considering what God wants, but truth is, God's plan will always prevail. Just like the verse I've shared before from Job says, "I know you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." (42:2). We can try everything in the book to make things go our way, but God is WAY bigger than us, so we really need not even try.
"Never underestimate God. He works in mysterious ways. Keep
believing He can instead of He can't. You'll see. I've seen
Him do so much and He's always there."
"Nothing happens by "chance", but God is always behind the scenes, working
all things together for the good of His people (Rom. 8:28). There is no
such thing as "luck" or "fate" for believers." --John MacArthur
That last quote came from a book I recently read called, "Twelve Extraordinary Women" by John MacArthur. It was a really great book about 12 women in the bible and what God did with and through their lives.
Enjoyed reading this post! The contentment quote you put on facebook a while back has helped me so much! I have a copy of it on the fridge and a copy of it at my computer! :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Crystal!! It's really encouraging to know that people read and actually get something out of the stuff that I write!! :)
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