Yesterday morning, during my prayer time, I was struck by the wonderful fact that God is always listening to me. It seems like such a elementary fact, but I sat in awe of it. I did not have an eloquent prayer. In fact, I was sort of at a lose for words, knowing that I should be praising and praying for others and so on and so forth.....At that moment, I was feeling a need for His strength for the day. And that is when it hit me, in the middle of my rambling words and my prayer for strength, He was listening in spite of it all. How wonderful is this! Do you know why this is so wonderful to me? It is because I don't listen very well. I often have a response ready before someone speaking to me is even done with their sentence. Or, if I am busy and the children or Rob want to say something to me, I often only listen with one ear. When they get done talking, I realize I have no idea what they just said and I have to ask them to repeat it. Even worse, I have been known to say to my children, "don't talk to me right now" because I feel overwhelmed at that moment and I do not feel capable of holding onto anymore information. I have even shoo-ed them away from me if I am busy or talking to someone else. Here is a common one, "can't you see I'm talking on the phone! What have I told you about talking to me when I am on the phone?!"
God is not that way though. When I come to Him, He is all ears. If I am rambling and not making sense, He still patiently listens to me. If I am angry, ranting, and screaming out about how unfair something is or how I don't understand what He is up too.... He listens. He never only listens with one ear and asks me to repeat it. He never says, "don't talk to me right now, I am too busy. Don't you know there is a crisis I am dealing with?!" He has never said, "I can't talk to you right now, because I am talking to Georgette in Alabama. Take a number, and I'll get to you when I can." No, the God of the universe who holds the whole world in His hands, listens EVERY time I come to Him. He never pushes me away. He always embraces me. He always lets me climb up into His lap. He is the perfect Father!
Not only did this thought encourage my heart yesterday morning, it challenged me. It challenged me to be more like my Daddy. To never be too busy to listen. To remember, the responsibilities and the cares of this world are not more important than my children telling me about their day..... even when they don't make sense or talk reeeaaaaally slow, or repeat the same sentence several times or interrupt a phone conversation. To embrace them and allow them to climb up into my lap. To remember the needs of those around me are MORE important than my own needs and THEY ARE WORTH THE TIME to drop everything I am doing and listen, serve, pray with, cry with, laugh with.......because that is what my Daddy does for me. It is the example He has set for me.
Father, How I long to be more like you. You are always listening and always near to me. I never have to search you out or hope that you are not busy and have a few minutes to listen. You are always faithful, always good, and always patient with me. You love me just the way I am, no matter what I am going through, or how I act. You never push me away. You always embrace me. Thank you Daddy for being a wonderful Father! Thank you for your kindness, your goodness, and your love. Thank you for your example. You are always leading me and teaching me with your example. Thank you for always encouraging me and always ministering to me. You are so good and faithful! Give me the strength and continue to teach me to follow your example. Speak to me and prompt me when I begin to get impatient, push others away, and allow the business of life to take over the needs of my family and those around me. Speak to me Holy Spirit and remind me to listen the way you listen to me. I love you heavenly Father! Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving me!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The No Good Grumpy Morning: A Lesson in God's Faithfulness
Yesterday morning I woke up grumpy. I grumpily got up out of bed. I grumpily grabbed my Bible and journal and grumpily walk downstairs to the living room where I grumpily started to tell God all about my sleepless night and all the other grumpy things that I could think up at that moment. After a bit, I grumpily opened up my Bible and was annoyed to find out that I was going to be reading about Jonah. I felt my first twinge of reproof for my attitude and my heart softened a bit as I thought, "sure God, have me read about Jonah. My problems pale in comparison to what he went through." As I began to read, God popped a section of scripture out to me I had never noticed before. It made me stop and think. Honestly, up to this point of reading, I had just been skimming because I know this story by heart .... and I was still a bit grumpy. (Please don't judge me.) Jonah 1:14-16 says:
Then they (the sailors) called on the Lord and said, "We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for Thou, O Lord, hast done as Thou has pleased." So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
I have never thought about the sailors before in the story of Jonah. But Jonah had a big impact on them. I am sure they did not wake up that morning anticipating a storm or that they would be throwing a man over board in order to stop the storm. This day turned out waaaay different than any other day they had every had on the ship. On this day, the sailors were given the opportunity to see the power of God and it changed their lives. They were not saved when they got on the boat that morning and did not worship the one true and living God. The Bible says that when the storm began the sailors cried out to their gods. However, before they threw Jonah over the side of the ship, they cried out to God. When they saw the sea cease from raging; the Bible says, they feared God, made sacrifices to Him, and made vows. The thing that struck me was that God is forever in control. Jonah was not supposed to be on that boat. He was supposed to be in Nineveh. However, because of his presence on that boat that day, 3 men were able to witness the power of God and their lives were changed. They had a personal encounter with God and it spoke to me in a couple different ways.
1. It reminded me of how in control God is and that we cannot change the plan of God. He knew before time began that Jonah would fight Him about going to Nineveh. But that did not change God's plan. He was still in control of the situation even when Jonah tried to take control, by doing things his own way.
2. It reminded me of how God uses evil for good. He took Jonah's disobedient act and used it to impact the lives of three sailors. We focus on the lives of the Ninevites that were spared, but I wonder about these three sailors......their lives were changed also.
It is just awesome to me that in spite of what seemed like a calamity and in spite of the disobedience of a prophet, God worked miracles and brought His plan to completion. His name was glorified through it all. What a great reminder to me on my grumpy, grumpy morning. God is in control. God is always faithful. God always has a perfect plan.....no matter how grumpy I am, and no matter what I am facing. I can rest knowing things will be ok because He is faithful to do His perfect will and He is ALWAYS in control.
Then they (the sailors) called on the Lord and said, "We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for Thou, O Lord, hast done as Thou has pleased." So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
I have never thought about the sailors before in the story of Jonah. But Jonah had a big impact on them. I am sure they did not wake up that morning anticipating a storm or that they would be throwing a man over board in order to stop the storm. This day turned out waaaay different than any other day they had every had on the ship. On this day, the sailors were given the opportunity to see the power of God and it changed their lives. They were not saved when they got on the boat that morning and did not worship the one true and living God. The Bible says that when the storm began the sailors cried out to their gods. However, before they threw Jonah over the side of the ship, they cried out to God. When they saw the sea cease from raging; the Bible says, they feared God, made sacrifices to Him, and made vows. The thing that struck me was that God is forever in control. Jonah was not supposed to be on that boat. He was supposed to be in Nineveh. However, because of his presence on that boat that day, 3 men were able to witness the power of God and their lives were changed. They had a personal encounter with God and it spoke to me in a couple different ways.
1. It reminded me of how in control God is and that we cannot change the plan of God. He knew before time began that Jonah would fight Him about going to Nineveh. But that did not change God's plan. He was still in control of the situation even when Jonah tried to take control, by doing things his own way.
2. It reminded me of how God uses evil for good. He took Jonah's disobedient act and used it to impact the lives of three sailors. We focus on the lives of the Ninevites that were spared, but I wonder about these three sailors......their lives were changed also.
It is just awesome to me that in spite of what seemed like a calamity and in spite of the disobedience of a prophet, God worked miracles and brought His plan to completion. His name was glorified through it all. What a great reminder to me on my grumpy, grumpy morning. God is in control. God is always faithful. God always has a perfect plan.....no matter how grumpy I am, and no matter what I am facing. I can rest knowing things will be ok because He is faithful to do His perfect will and He is ALWAYS in control.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Faith Building Moments
Over the last week or so, I have had some moments of quietness that I do not relish. Quietness might sound appealing to some :) however, I am talking about a quietness in my spiritual life where God has felt distant. I do not like these times, but they come anyway. Sometimes lasting a couple of weeks and other times a couple of months. I have not understood why they come and often have been afraid that maybe I have done something to cause Him to withdraw from me. This did not settle with me this time though, because I know He has promised to never leave me and never forsake me. I know He has promised me unconditional love. So, why? Why do these times come? I did not get an immediate answer, but God is always faithful and He gave me the answer a couple of days later.
The times when God feels distant and quiet are faith building moments. It is easy to believe when we feel a strong emotional sense that God is near. However, when we don't feel Him, well let me at least speak for myself, when I don't feel Him it is easy to begin to question His love and loyalty or whether He even exists at all. Isn't that what faith is though? Faith is believeing without seeing or feeling or hearing. It is a declaration in which I say, I may not see you, feel you, hear you or sense your presence right now, but I KNOW you are here and that you will NEVER leave me. The Bible says, if we have even just a teeny tiny bit of faith, we can move mountains. It is not because of us that the mountians move, but because of the power of faith in God. It is because we believe in the One that can move those mountains even when we sometimes cannot physically feel His presence.
Unwavering faith says, it doesn't matter what I can see, feel, or hear in this physical world. What matters, is what I know is true in the spiritual and unseen realm. The love of Christ, who will never leave me and never forsake me. The physical world, our body, and our senses cannot be trusted. We can't base our faith off of it. Our faith must be based on what is unseen.
These moments of quietness are not something to be afraid of. They should be embraced, because in these moments our faith builds and grows in our Heavenly Father. You know, it just hit me, that having the faith of a mustard seed may not so much be speaking about the amount of faith you have, but possibly more about how strong that faith is. A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a huge plant. You don't hear the mustard seed saying," it is impossible for me to grow that big." It simply does what it was created to do and it grows and grows and grows. It is the kind of faith I desire. A faith not based on what I can see or feel or hear, but a faith deeply rooted in Jesus Christ that nothing and nobody can shake.
The times when God feels distant and quiet are faith building moments. It is easy to believe when we feel a strong emotional sense that God is near. However, when we don't feel Him, well let me at least speak for myself, when I don't feel Him it is easy to begin to question His love and loyalty or whether He even exists at all. Isn't that what faith is though? Faith is believeing without seeing or feeling or hearing. It is a declaration in which I say, I may not see you, feel you, hear you or sense your presence right now, but I KNOW you are here and that you will NEVER leave me. The Bible says, if we have even just a teeny tiny bit of faith, we can move mountains. It is not because of us that the mountians move, but because of the power of faith in God. It is because we believe in the One that can move those mountains even when we sometimes cannot physically feel His presence.
Unwavering faith says, it doesn't matter what I can see, feel, or hear in this physical world. What matters, is what I know is true in the spiritual and unseen realm. The love of Christ, who will never leave me and never forsake me. The physical world, our body, and our senses cannot be trusted. We can't base our faith off of it. Our faith must be based on what is unseen.
These moments of quietness are not something to be afraid of. They should be embraced, because in these moments our faith builds and grows in our Heavenly Father. You know, it just hit me, that having the faith of a mustard seed may not so much be speaking about the amount of faith you have, but possibly more about how strong that faith is. A mustard seed is very small, but it grows into a huge plant. You don't hear the mustard seed saying," it is impossible for me to grow that big." It simply does what it was created to do and it grows and grows and grows. It is the kind of faith I desire. A faith not based on what I can see or feel or hear, but a faith deeply rooted in Jesus Christ that nothing and nobody can shake.
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