God's Timing

Regardless of how I would like to view myself sometimes, I am not a patient person.  One of my biggest pet peeves are long, and unnecessary lines.  They always seem to be the worst when you are in the biggest hurry as well.  For example, I walked into the local Wal-Mart last week to pick up two or three items.  (Yes, I made it in and out without anything extra)  It took me maybe four minutes total to find what I needed, and I thought to myself, this is going to be a quick trip.  Boy was I wrong.  Out of over 20 registers at the front of the store, only four were open and checking out customers.  FOUR!  The lines were long, and I waited almost half an hour before I got out of the store.  I am proud to say that I kept my cool, because I did realize that it was not the poor girl's fault who checked me out, and she did not deserve some of the comments that she was receiving about the lines.  But, it was still ridiculous.  Then, on the way home I pulled up to a red light, when it turned green five cars got through before it changed back to red.  And guess who was the first one to have to stop, THIS GUY.  I did not think it would ever turn green.  I especially got fed up when there was at least a full minute and a half when no traffic was coming through the green light!

I wonder sometimes if we have this same attitude towards God as we experience things in our lives.  It seems like we are always in a hurry to be in a relationship, to get that new job, or buy a new home.  And when it does not happen, we either try to force the issue or question God as to why.  Not only this, but we tend to demand answers of Him.

Psalm 46:10
"Cease striving and know that I am God;"

Some translations also use the phrase "Be still."  We can also look at a point of being patient.  We should not put so much in making things try to happen the way we want, and just be patient.  And what should we do while being patient.  Know that He is God.  Know that He knows what He is doing.  Trust in the fact that He is sovereign over all things.  Have faith in His will for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

We must seek His will in our lives, and trust that He knows exactly what to do in our best interest.  Through this, we draw closer to Him.  What do we do in the time being, we serve.  We stay faithful in the areas in which we currently find ourselves, and we work hard until He is ready to move us where He wants us to be.

Thanks for reading, and I pray that God will continue to bless you all!

Work in Progress

What a wild ride life has become.  Life is full of twists, turns, and curve balls that we must navigate through.  I can see where many people struggle through this life in the midst of all of these changes and challenges.  With all of the new developments in my life, this is the first opportunity that I have had to write again.  However, I have felt great encouragement these last few months in the direction God is taking me in life.

In this busy life, numerous things can cause us to lower our dependency on our Creator, and hence drive a wedge between us.  Sometimes we develop a sense of self reliance to where we try to make God fit into a neat little box that suits our own purpose.  On the other hand, we sometimes can doubt our own worth when faced with adversity.

Instead of looking at life through what we see, maybe we should look at ourselves as God sees us.  We are His creation, and we were created for His purpose.  No matter how low we are, He loves us.  I stumbled onto a video that I felt was an incredible depiction of how God sees us.  Are we perfect?  No...definitely not.  However, we are a work in progress.  We just have to allow God to finish His work in us.  Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading/watching, and may God bless you all!

Getting Older

WOW!  Time sure does seem to fly by.  There are so many things going on in our lives that we sometimes forget to stop and look at what is going on around us.  Two weeks ago, I hit a milestone in my life.  I graduated into a new decade in my life.  I finally turned 30.  I will be honest, it was not something that I was looking forward to at first.  But, then I realized that it was just another marker in my life.  Something that I could definitely use as sort of a window to my past and to my future.  So what I am going to do in this post is to examine the decades in which I have lived, and then, look to the future as to where God would have me go.

0-10 years

Luke 18:15-17
"And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

These were the great years.  These are the days that we all as adults wish that we could go back to sometimes, because life was simply and easy compared to what we go through today.  There was no worry on bills to pay, no job to rush to, no "responsibility" whatsoever.  I had a pretty good childhood.  I did not have as much as everyone else did.  But, my parents worked hard to provide a good life for us.  There was never a time that I had to wonder whether I was loved or not.  I also did not have an understanding of the world that my parents had.  Everything seemed so simple and easy to me.  Much the same as a new believer.  The concept of faith in Christ is not truly a hard concept to understand from a child's perspective.  Many times you can tell a child that something is true and they will just blindly trust you.  We need to be the same in our walk with Christ.  We need to be at a point that we put our full faith and trust in Christ, and all that He teaches.  And we cannot try to put our own spin on our salvation.

11-20 years

Psalms 25:6-8

"Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.  Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.  Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way."

These were the hard years.  This is the time in my life where I truly started to question God and His promise.  No longer was I satisfied with the "just because it says so" answer.  I lost my childhood faith as I grew.  I found that this was a time of many mistakes and repentance.  I rebelled against what I was taught, and surly gave my family some sleepless nights.  But such is true of all those that are of the world.  It wasn't until I was 14 when God truly opened my eyes to who He was.  And how bad that I needed Him.  And I gave my life to Him.  And it was at this time that I failed the most.  I was pulled by the things and temptations of the world.  Much is the same for a new believer.  There are going to be many trials in the beginning.  Temptations seem to be stronger as we begin our faith.  But, those mistakes are not necessarily a bad thing.

21-30 years

Philippians 1:6
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." 

This was a time of growth for me.  I had matured out of the foolishness of my thoughts and actions.  I moved to a point that I knew that I was responsible for my faith, and I knew that I had to act on it.  Did I still make mistakes?  Yes, numerous.  However, I found that my mistakes were important to me.  They showed me where my sins were.  They showed me the way in which I needed to turn.  It is much like the Old Testament Law.  It is not there to condemn us, but to show our sins to us.  I saw the sins of my youth, and I worked hard in these years to learn and increase in my faith.  My mistakes were also a way to show that God was still there.  Because no matter the sin I committed, God was right there with me.  I felt conviction from the Spirit inside of me to repent.  With all this in mind, I began to grow.  I began to study more to seek out God's will in my life.  I also looked to find where my shortcomings were, based on past experience, so that I could make the necessary changes.  This represents the time in a believer's life where they begin to need the meat of understanding.  They have moved on from the milk as described in 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5.

30+ years

Philippians 1:9-11
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

And I still have a lot to learn.  I find that there are new ways that I can grow everyday.  Our journey never ends while we are here on this earth.  What does the rest of my life hold?  I have no idea.  But one thing that I am certain in is that I will never be alone.  God has brought me this far, and no matter what, He will always be there for me.  Why?  Because I have put all my faith and hope in Him, and not in anything else.  I depend on Him for everything.  I need His guidance, and His forgiveness.  And my job is to keep on serving to the best of my ability until it is time for me to go home.  As I look to the future now, it is not in fear, but in hope, and anticipation.  What is God going to show me?  What is He going to help me through?  When I look back on these years, what will I have learned?  It is rather kind of exciting now.

Never again will I look at aging as something to be afraid of.  Yet, more of an adventure that is continuing in my life.  My story is not over.  Now, I do know how the story ends, and I take comfort in that.  What is exciting now is what is going to take place between here and then.  Because nothing is more important than my relationship with my Lord.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week.