God's timing

I was reminded of something this morning. God's timing is perfect in everything. When he puts things in motion nothing can stop it not even us. We may try to speed up the process because we don't understand the order of events, but whenever we rush things, whenever we try to do things our way or out of order, things go awry. 

Have you ever noticed that when God's hands aren't on something it is the hardest thing to get done? You drag your feet. You can't get to it. No, I'm not talking about the everyday stuff, I mean the things that are supposed to be these life changing, life altering things. Nothing works right. We end up placing time and emotion into things that are not for us.

We have to learn to trust in God's timing. There are things he may be saying we are not ready for. He could be telling us no because if he gave us what we were asking for we would destroy not only it but ourselves as well.  He also might be saying no because he has something better for us. He could also be saying yes, but.... The yes but is the story of King David, of Moses, of us. He tells each of us Yes, but.... 

My challenge to you today is to remember that To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1.)

My prayer for you today is: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he always talk to you and keep you on track. May you always trust in his timing. May you have the strength to not move without confirmation from God that this is a Yes, because you are ready. - Amen.

Encouragement

Life as we know it has changed dramatically. Normal will never be normal again. How do you not feel like you're drowning? How do you not feel overwhelmed with everything that is going on? How do you not feel like screaming? 

I think of the events leading up to the crucifixion. It makes me chuckle a bit because you know Jesus had to be looking at the crowd like "You praise me now, but you will crucify me soon." He couldn't voice these thoughts out loud. He was the one who had to be strong through everything and continue to carry on. He was expected to make sure that the mission was accomplished regardless of how he might have felt.

 I think we get the clearest picture of what he was feeling in the Garden. This is where the burden has gotten so heavy that he finally breaks down and admits to what is going on and asks God for strength to keep moving. He asks for help with his burden. He finally is in a position to let his guard down and vent his frustrations without worry about who would/could understand. He was finally able to admit that he couldn't handle it any longer and that he needed help.

With the world the way it is today, I think this is our breaking point. This is the moment where we have to ask for strength. We have kept going for so long, to make sure that the mission gets carried out that we have been afraid to break. We have been afraid to take a moment and get ourselves together. We have spent so much time walking around as broken people not asking for help.

Sometimes it takes the world being turned on its head for us to start putting the pieces together. Actually, that's what it takes. It takes a complete shakeup of the status quo for us to even reevaluate who we are, what we've become, and if we are moving in the right direction. Do you think that if their world had been turned on its head, the Disciples wouldn't have continued in their way of thinking, that they wouldn't have gone through a rebirth?

My prayer for you comes out of Isaiah 41. I pray that in times of topsy turvy, in times of chaos, when the world and yourself has gotten weary, that you are reminded the Lord never gets weary. I pray that you find strength in God. I pray that you surrender your burdens and let him carry them for you cause we cannot do this alone. We will ultimately fail, but when we trust in the Lord.... He will renew us and mount us on wings like Eagles. Let him be who and what we need always... And I pray that when things seem the darkest we remeber that rebirth and renewal are on their way. AMEN.

Timing

I used to think that a year was a long time.  I mean when you have only been on the earth for 9 years, your sense of time is arbitrary. I was thinking of a comment one of the little ones made and I realized that to them there's all the time in the world to get things done and accomplished. 

It's as we get older that we start to panic about getting things accomplished in a certain amount of time. It's when we become "adults" that now there are certain milestones that we feel have to be accomplished by a certain age. People spend so much time rushing to get things accomplished that they forget there are things that aren't in their control. They forget that God ultimately has the final say in when we do things. We forget that there is a season for everything. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven". The chapter goes on to talk about all the things we go through in life. It let's us know that everything happens is in his timing. We just have to trust and have faith even more so when we don't understand everything that is going on around us.

My challenge to you is that when you find yourself getting caught up in the why that you pray. You ask God to remind you that while you may not know why things are happening they are happening in his timing.

Regrouping after the battle

It's been a rough few days. A really rough few days. I have had my faith tested and tried. I have had my spirit shaken to its core and decided to just keep going.

While this is the right thing to do conventionally, it really wasn't the right thing to do. I say this because when things happen we need time to lick our wounds. We need time to stop and assess the situation. We need time to build back up our defenses to prepare us for the next battle.

The amazing thing about this is that it is not only a principle to adopt in times of trouble, but it is also for times of joy. If we don't take the time to stop and revel in our joy, we don't have anything to pull from when times get hard. Battles are not only fought in bad times but in good times also.

My challenge to you is to pay attention to when you need to take time off. I understand that in the everyday grind that is life we may feel as if we can't take time off for reflection, but this is where we pray. We pray to the Father for guidance. We pray to the Father to help us find a way to regroup after the battle.

My prayer for you today and every day is

"Dear Lord, in the midst of it all you give us battles, trials. Sometimes to remind us of who you are, other times to remind us of who we are in you. After each battle, please help to make time. Time to regroup; time to reassess and time to celebrate. Help us to see in our lives where we don't enough of either and meet us accordingly. Amen".

Sufficient for Today

I prayed today. I prayed that the Lord grant me the energy sufficient enough for today. This is something that I've been wrestling with for weeks now and even he hasn't let me let it go. We run through life. Some of us literally run. I don't know about you but for me it's gotten to a point where if I am not running I don't know what to do with myself. We rush to get out the door; We rush to get to the door.. lol... It's just a consistent, constant, stream of moving. Funny thing is, we push ourselves until we can't go anymore. I've done it. I've pushed so hard that I got sick and had to sit down for a bit.

Thinking back over my life though, I've only ever been forced to sit down when the Lord has something he's prepping me for where I will need not only the energy I have but the energy that has been stored up in my down time. But only he knew that I'd be praying for and trusting in him to give me the energy I need to get everything thing done.... I.e. Energy enough for the day.

My challenge to you is that when you feel like you can't go on much longer that you stop and pray. Pray for those around you that everyone is fulfilling their God given assignment for the day and pray that God is giving them(and you) enough energy for the day.

Love

It's funny the things that cross your mind when you are not really thinking of anything. I was watching a tv show. The premise is all the crazy things people do for Love. This got me thinking. We as humans will do some really crazy things in the name of love. We'll lie, steal, cheat etc... We will do all types of things in the name of love. The crazy things is is that these are all destructive. These are all the types of ways not to show love, yet, these as crazy as it sounds, are the ways in which we are the most comfortable with. I heard someone once say that they would rather be lied to by their partner than for their partner to tell them the truth - Especially if that means it will spare their feelings.

The thing is though why do we still want the negative expression of love when we have the most perfect form of love that could ever have been given. For God so loved.... We have an entity that loves us so much that he knew us from before we knew ourselves. He loved us so much that he guides and directs us. That he gave.... He loves us so much that he gave. He gave of himself so that we could be saved. God does not want us to perish. He wants us to live and have everlasting life. He sacrificed the thing that he cherished most so that we could know what love is and how love should be. Whosoever believes.....  He loves us so much that he has given us all of him, he just asks that we trust him. He asks that we believe him. He asks that we believe that he is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will. This is the type of love that we should be searching for.

My challenge to you today and all days is to seek out the type of love that God has given us. His love flows freely without expecting anything in return. What he asks of us to trust that he is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do. My challenge to you is to no longer look at all the negative ways people show love, but to search the Word to find all of the positive ways we are to be loved.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Strength

Isaiah 40:31 says: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

It's hard to remember this when you are drowning in your own to do list or when you are working so hard that you forget to take time for yourself. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and he tells me he is slowing down a bit. I was shocked because that was not the man I have gotten to know. His reasoning for slowing down was that he was afraid that he wouldn't see tomorrow. He has some other things going on where he is questioning what the Lord has for him or where the Lord has him going and his mind is all crazy. The conversation ended with me telling him that it is when we finally stand still the Lord can speak to us. It is when we finally stop moving that he can show us where to go and when to go there. 

I wonder why we spend so much time being busy and trying to figure things out on our own when we already have someone who has everything figured out for us. Why do we spend so much time not waiting on the Lord to direct us, not giving the Lord a chance to be our all in all. Why do we have to be reminded that it is in him where we find our strength?

My challenge to you today and everyday moving forward to remember to take time to rest in the Lord and use him to find your direction and strength.