So Many Things

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  Romans 8:28

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:10

The Lord has been teaching me so many things recently.  In these lessons He has strengthened me, sheltered me, sustained me, led me, taught me and so many other things.  However, my big “aha” moment came the other day when He took me to the Bible study I am doing right now and revealed a new understanding to me.  

For a long time I have understood that God is sovereign, in control and works everything that happens for good.  Jeremiah 29:11 has been a key verse in my life.  Knowing that God has a plan has given me peace and comfort in many difficult circumstances.  That verse has kept me going so many times.  No matter what happens, the Lord knows about it and I can go forward because I know that He is in control.  

The other day the Lord blew me away when He showed me that He has a personal and individual plan for my own life, not just an overall plan for the world.  The words of Jeremiah 29:11 took on a deeper meaning in my life.  Now I can read Jeremiah 29:11 like this...

       

        “For I know the plans I have for Carolyn,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper Carolyn 

        and not to harm Carolyn, plans to give Carolyn hope and a future.” 

While I realize that this is not a new revelation to many Christians, it was for me.  I now understand that He has an individual plan for me and my life.  I guess I had never thought about that before.  God loves me so much that He has an intimate plan for my life.  He prepared “in advance” the things that He wants me to do.  Pre-destination?  No.  But incredible guidance and direction in my life as I follow Him wholeheartedly.  I can’t wait to see where He leads me next.  “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  Yes, He does.  I love Him too.  

God's Deliverance... Again

The past two weeks have been hard.  Really hard.  Dealing with continuing headaches and with discouragement about our house still not selling so we can move to Arkansas to help care for my Daddy overwhelmed me.  I began to wonder if I would ever be without a headache again and if our house would ever sell.  I just couldn’t seem to shake the feelings.  Once again I began to look at the circumstances and not to my God Who does the impossible.  This time it all seemed to loom so much darker over me.  Though I still believed that the Lord would overcome the world in His perfect timing, I was so tired and frustrated because His perfect timing seemed so far away.  Like the psalmist I asked the Lord “How long, O Lord?” (Ps. 13:1)  Everything just seemed so endless.  It was just so hard.

Today the Lord brought me to a place of deliverance again as He showered me with His Word and His music.  Through worship and praise and by His grace He lovingly assured me that He has heard my cries and is taking care of me as I wait.  I was broken before Him as I again surrendered these things to Him and found healing in Him.  I received His peace and have been enabled once again to live in His Light.  How precious He is to show His great love for me in this way.  Although I still don’t know when He will do these things, I do know that He WILL do them.  He has already given me scriptures to assure me of His faithfulness in these matters.  By His grace I again will wait upon Him.  I am always humbled by His mercy in my life.  Thank You, Lord...

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  John 14:27

“And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

Headaches

Lately I’ve been very distracted.  I’ve had a continuing daily headache since the middle of January.  They are beginning to drag me down... more.  Although I know that the Lord has a purpose for these headaches, I’m certainly wondering what that purpose is.  To make me more like Jesus?  Of course.  To increase my dependence on Him?  Definitely.  To deepen my faith in His perfect protection and provision?  Certainly.  However, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all if the Lord decided to make known the cause of these headaches.  Yes, I’ve been to the doctor, they’ve done tests and tomorrow I’ll return to the doctor to find out the results.  Unless the Lord shows me otherwise, I’ll be “stuck” with a diagnosis of migraine headaches.  I’ve just never known someone who has had migraine headaches ALL the time.  May His will be done. 

This is definitely an “unfamiliar path” that the Lord has me on.  Headaches have never been a part of my life before.  There was the time that I got a headache from having a myelogram, but that was not unexpected.  Then I’ve had some tension headaches along the way.  However, I’ve never had anything like this.  Like I said, this is getting old.  

Lord, please keep my eyes on You in the midst of all of this.  Please do with me what You want.  I really will follow You wherever You lead me.  I truly and wholeheartedly surrender all of this to You and will praise You in this storm.  May Your will be done, not mine.  

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.”  Habakkuk 3:17-19

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  Isaiah 43:2

Inspiring

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  John 12:24

I love to read autobiographies or biographies of spiritual giants.  They encourage me and spring me forward in my walk with the Lord.  They show me that, though the walk can be challenging, the walk with Him is worth it all.  They show me the lives of those who have been mightily used by the Lord.  They are.... inspiring.  

Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas is one of those biographies that is showing me so much... the cost of discipleship and of following the Lord wherever He leads.  As I read it I am amazed at the hardships Dietrich Bonhoeffer faced as he fought to stand firm in the Truth and resist Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich. Though I am only one-third of the way through this book, I find myself engrossed in his life and battle to preserve the Truth in the church in Germany and in the rest of Europe.  I am learning more of the atrocities perpetrated by Hitler and his regime.  What grace, strength and focus the Lord gave Bonhoeffer to face and resist such evil.  

“No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted and obedient to Him”  (D.L. Moody)  May I (and all who have confessed Jesus as their Savior and Lord) be that kernel that dies and produces many seeds.  May we be wholly yielded and obedient to our God and Savior.  May we continually surrender all to Him and follow wherever He leads.  To Him be all praise, honor and glory!  

“He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:30

But God...

I’ve been reading in the Psalms this week and two particular psalms intrigue me.  Psalms 105 and 106 enumerate the mighty works of the Lord in the lives of the Hebrews as He set them free from Egypt and carried them through the desert for 40 years before delivering them into the Promised Land.  I kept reading about their sufferings and trials through it all and about how the Lord worked miracles during those times, making it possible for the Hebrews to finally arrive in the land of milk and honey that the Lord had promised them.  As I ponder it all, I am struck by the Lord’s faithfulness to take care of His own.  He never left them, even in their rebellion, and worked on their behalf until His promises had been fulfilled.  That increases my faith and gives me hope for the troubled times in my own life.  God has taken care of me in the past and He will lead, guide and carry me through now.  I know that, but somehow these scriptures just emphasized His love, mercy and faithfulness.  No matter what goes on in my life, God is there and He is working.  Doing what?  I don’t often know, but I do know that, apart from Him, there is no hope and there would be no deliverance.  There would be no Promised Land to go to.   But for God and His work in my life and circumstances, the impossible would remain impossible, the hardships and challenges would never be resolved, and I would never know of His immeasurable love for me.  But God.... some of His sweetest words to me these days.  Isn’t He good?  YES is my resounding answer.  How I love Him and thank Him for His mercy, grace and sanctification in my life.  May He always increase and I decrease.  

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known among the nations what He has done.”  Psalms 105:1

“Praise the Lord.  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.  Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise?... He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy He redeemed them.”  Psalms 106:1-2, 10

Words

“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

“For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”  

Matthew 12:37

Words matter.  Encouraging words build up and critical words tear down.  I’ve received both and, unfortunately, I’ve given both.  I just wasn’t paying attention to what I was speaking to myself or to others.  Many times I was just talking for the sake of saying something.  A foolish thing to do. I just wasn’t thinking.  Thankfully, through my years of walking with the Lord, He has put a guard over my mouth and has answered my daily prayer. “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.  Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 13:11)  I realized that speaking His words given to me by the Holy Spirit or remaining silent when no words were given was always right.  They were life-giving words or silence.  Christ was heard and seen, not me.  Talking to myself and others became much more positive, Truth-filled and encouraging as Christ was lifted up, not me.  Now that is what I was striving for!  Gotta love the lessons of the Lord and the wonderful changes He makes in a willing heart!  Though I still have much to learn about speaking and silence, I’m not who I was in this area and that makes me smile.  Thank You, Lord!

“And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.”  Psalm 12:6

“The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”  Psalm 119:130

Living By Faith

“We live by faith, not by sight.”  2 Corinthians 5:7

“Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”  Luke 1:45

I do believe... I really do.  By His grace I live by faith.  Lately though I’ve been tempted to pay attention to the “circumstances” around me rather than to keep my eyes on the One and Only God Who overcomes all those “circumstances”.  I don’t mean to pay attention to them, but sometimes the heat of the “circumstances” seems to demand my attention.  It is at that point that I can take my eyes off of the Lord and place them on the things that are going on around me.  I temporarily forget that He is the Sovereign God and Lord of all.  My mind goes to the place of wondering how things will ever be changed.  Thankfully, at that point I am called back by His Holy Spirit to the place of faith. I can again see that He is in complete control over all and that nothing is too hard for Him.  I can trust Him in everything.  HE, not I, will change the situations that weigh so heavily on my heart.  I remember His Word....

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’”  (Mark 10:27)

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27)

“For nothing is impossible with God.”  (Luke 1:37)

I am so thankful for the Lord’s mercy in returning me to the place of faith.  He is so good to me.  And so we continue to walk together along this path lived out in faith.  All praise, honor and glory be unto Him!

“‘No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.”  (Isaiah 54:17)