Help Me Find It

It's Thanksgiving morning and while I'm preparing food to share with friends and family, I am listening to some of my favorite songs saved on a YouTube channel several years ago. Listening to these songs brings back memories, but one in particular just reminded me of God's sovereignty, His loyal love, and infinite kindness to me.

Help Me Find It is a song by a group called Sidewalk Prophets.When this song was first released on the radio, I remember listening to the lyrics and identifying with its message. Perhaps you've been there, too. You're on a path and suddenly the path is closed off and you're not sure where to turn or even why the path was blocked off. Questions abound: What happened? Why? Where do I go now? Lord, was this your plan?

When I found myself in that very position, this song ministered to my soul. I deferred to God and asked Him to show me the path to take.  

Help me find it.

I will trust in You.

Give me peace for the moment.

I will wait for You.

Those days were not easy, living in the unknown. But, leaning on God during those times did help. Each time this song came on the radio, it was another opportunity for me to renew my commitment to wait on God and His plan.

I can now look back on those times and know that God is faithful to His promises. I am ever so thankful that I yielded to God's plan, even in those moments of hurt.

On this day of Thanksgiving, I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for His blessings that often come through those hard times.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; 

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. - Psalm 32:8

Pray that the LORD your God will tell us 

where we should go and what we should do. - Jeremiah 42:3

Grateful that God helped me find the right path. 

Consult Your GPS

I was driving to work one morning when traffic suddenly came to a grinding halt. Road delays are not all that unusual, but the location of this particular stop was unusual. 

This traffic standstill was on a two-lane road with forest on either side. Ahead of me I saw several vehicles turning around to find another route. Ugh! How long would this delay be? Should I find another route? Which route would be faster? All of these questions were running through my mind as I looked ahead as far as my eye could see. Unfortunately, I could not see the cause of the problem.

So, while I was sitting still in traffic (not while I was moving), I consulted my GPS. According to GPS, there was indeed a backup on the road I was on (duh) and a wreck ahead. Okay, that's what's going on. Unfortunately, GPS didn’t tell me important things like how long this delay would be or whether I should find another route. 

The questions continued to swirl through my mind, but this time I decided the best course of action would be to wait and see. Many times the detours don't end up saving me time! I decided not to panic and turn around. 

After I made that decision, traffic began to slowly move and I noticed cars coming from the other direction. That’s a good sign! This was a short-lived delay! Traffic continued to move forward and before long I saw the reason for our slow-down. Two vehicles who had bumped into each other pulled their vehicles to the side of the road so that traffic could continue to flow.

Thankful that I was finally on my journey again, I suddenly realized I had a response to a prayer I asked of God five minutes earlier! 

Minutes before this traffic delay, I was thinking about circumstances in my life that left me feeling discouraged about the future. I breathed a quick prayer and asked the Lord for some encouragement.

I remembered a Bible verse that I'd read earlier that morning. God could make water come out of a rock, so I knew the Lord could handle the details of my life. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me.

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

 it flowed like a river in the desert. 

Psalm 105:41

I continued on my journey and a new song began to play on the radio. The words to this song reminded me that God's will was more important than mine. Okay, point taken.

As I was pondering these thoughts, that's when I ran into the traffic delay mentioned previously. After I was back on my journey I suddenly realized God had been trying to show me something. Aha! 

God sees me. (Genesis 16:13)

God hears me. (1 John 5:14)

God has a plan for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11) 

God reminded me that there will be delays in life and sometimes He asks me to wait. How long? Hmmmm... I wish I could consult my other GPS (God Positioning System), but that app has not been invented. Sometimes the delay is long and sometimes it’s brief. I do need to trust Him, though. God may detour me or ask me to be patient till He clears the way ahead.

Yes, that encouragement I prayed for had come. I only needed to pay attention and expect an answer. God is faithful!

Hide Our Lights Under a Bushel? No.

It's been almost exactly six months since I've posted anything new on this blog. Life has been keeping me pretty busy. I'm going to do a little stream of consciousness writing.

As we get older, there's this notion that things will get easier and slow down. I guess that can be true, but almost no one I know is experiencing a slow down. Instead, life seems to get busier. Of course, there are ways to say no to those optional events. That helps.

On the other hand, there are other events in life that come around the corner, face us square in the eye, and require our complete and immediate attention. Never mind that we'd already made plans to do something else. This new thing takes priority over everything.

The last six months of my life has been filled with the unexpected. I had to take care of my precious feline companion till his final days on earth. Saying goodbye to this friend of 14 years was difficult, but I knew that whatever was wrong with him was draining his quality of life.

Also during this time I had to closely oversee the needs of my elderly mother. After having lived apart from her for 28 years, I was given several months to visit with her a couple of times a week and make new memories. One of those memories was getting on an airplane together--including the aggravation of TSA delays (grrr)--and flying to Texas where she now lives.

And the best part of the past six, busy, months has been because of a wonderful man who has become such a blessing to me and my family. When I was not tending to the aforementioned priorities, I was spending time getting to know this precious man and making memories with him. He was there for me when I had to say goodbye to my kitty companion and he was there when I needed to move my mother to Texas. He makes me laugh, we have wonderfully deep conversations, and he makes me feel completely safe. He even stretches me out of my favorite comfort zone, encouraging me to try something new. I've tried foods I never would have before and I've even sung in Italian, in public! I've also made him sing karaoke with me in public! I'm so happy that God has blessed me with this man!

Today I had some extra time on my hands so I began thinking about life and how fleeting it can be. This morning I heard the news of how a young woman, a wonderful singer, had been gunned down by some man while she was signing autographs. It's just tragic to see a life taken so quickly. The headlines in the past few days seem to echo this sentiment. A young boy of 7 was killed while sitting in the safety of the back of his family's mini-van. A driver behind him was distracted and couldn't stop in time. Now this family has to deal with the loss of a young life. More tragedy.

I guess if I had to sum up the point of this blog post is that we do not know how much time we have on this earth and what it holds for us while we're here. I suppose it would be cliche to say that we should make the most of our life here on earth. It reads very much like a bumper sticker or a beer commercial. I suppose it is true, however cliche it may sound. I've lived life in the background. It's a somewhat safe place, but often lonely. I'm pretty certain God had bigger plans for me than that. My purpose on this earth is not to try to preserve myself, but to spread myself around and by doing so I'm spreading Jesus around. Since His love resides inside of me, it needs to come out and see daylight. I don't need to hide it in my heart.

All of this reminds me of a childhood song:

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.

I'm reminded of my theme verse for this blog, Jeremiah 29:11. I want to change it up a bit and look at the verse in a different paraphrase. When we memorize it or hear it the same way all the time, there's a tendency to gloss over it. Here's verses 10 & 11 from The Message:

This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s 

seventy years are up and not a day before, 

I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and 

bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. 

I have it all planned out—plans to 

take care of you, not abandon you, 

plans to give you the future you hope for.

Just as a reminder, this promise was given to the Israelites from God. God had a plan for His people. During those 70 years they would have to endure a lot. I'm sure they wanted to hide out and wait for someone to tell them when it was time to come out of hiding. Yet, God had a plan. It's an individual plan for each and every one of His own. And it's a plan for His collective people. He wasn't going to abandon His own. He also had a future planned for them. And these promises apply to us. Next time we're ready to give up or hide out, we need to remember God's words. "I know what I'm doing." Even when it looks like the world is going nuts and the election news is worse than the day before, God knows what He is doing. Just hang on and trust Him.

Keep reading this chapter on your own. The words are comforting:

¹² “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.

^13-14 “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

What Are You Waiting For?

It's been quite a while since I've updated this blog. It's been a busy season and it has been challenging to stay focused on any one particular task. So, I do just what I must do to keep going and let extra things like reading for pleasure or writing fall by the wayside. I often use quiet moments in the car or early mornings to think about things, though.

I was reminded this morning about the subject of waiting on God. The song by John Waller called While I'm Waiting from the movie Fireproof came to mind. A few years ago that song and the movie helped me to turn my focus back to waiting quietly on God and to keep moving forward, trusting God to work out his plans for my life (Jer. 29:11). As I reflected on these things, I went back to read a blog post that I first shared three years ago. I think this one is a timeless message worth a repeat. Enjoy!

The Waiting Game

Have you ever played the "waiting game?" Probably a silly question since we spend our entire lives waiting. When we're children, we wait for our birthdays, Christmas, summer vacation. We pestered our parents with that age-old question, "Are we there yet?"

Then as adults we wait for that first job offer, we wait in grocery lines, we wait at the traffic light. I could go on and on. It seems we spend our whole life waiting on something or someone. We get impatient waiting for that light to turn green or for the microwave to ding. I can't imagine a life without a microwave, yet I did live in a time without a microwave and I managed just fine. It seems our society has groomed us to expect everything to happen quickly.

God doesn't work the way the world does. He took seven days to create the world. That seems pretty quick to me since it takes the government two years to finish a short interstate construction project. Nevertheless, God could have created the entire world in an instant if He wanted to. Perhaps there is something to be learned from that? Time means nothing to God. He sees time in a completely different way than we do. We see it in our clocks and calendars. But He knows that we have that limitation to understand time. Maybe that's why God paced himself by creating the earth in the span of seven days. Perhaps He was giving us an example. . . .  Click HERE to read the rest of this blog post.

Life Has No Movie Soundtrack

The scenario: Someone is on a stroll through the woods. The scenery is beautiful, in the background you can hear the padding of footsteps in the quiet peacefulness. Slowly the background music creeps into the scene signaling something is about to change. Suddenly the eerie sounds of music grows louder and a stranger runs onto the path. For those of us watching the movie, we anticipated something was coming because the music in the background prepared us for it. If only life was like that. The problem is. . .

Life has no movie soundtrack!

If life was more like a movie, we would know that something was going to happen because of the music or sounds playing in the background. For example, you are sitting in a restaurant having a quiet dinner and some comedic music begins to play nearby. You feel rather lighthearted for some reason and a moment later the waiter drops an entire tray on the floor. Ripples of quiet laughter erupt in the restaurant.

Or let's use that same setting and play the sounds of the dun-Dun-DUN near the handsome couple having dinner together. A sense of dread comes over the restaurant and everyone braces for what happens next: The woman tells her significant other that she wants to break up. She stands up and throws a ring in his lap while he sits with mouth agape. Cue the sad violin music.

You get the picture. Movies or television programs give us hints about what's going to happen by the music and sounds being played. This music actually manipulates us into feeling a certain way to help propel the storyline.

Real life is so much different. You suddenly find out someone wants to have a discussion with no clue about what's going to be discussed. Since the meeting was not planned, you immediately begin to anticipate the worst and pour over anything that could be wrong. It's so easy to imagine the worst rather than the best. If only there was a movie soundtrack to give you a clue!

I don't have any great revelations to share about this. It's really just a thought that occurred to me recently as I have watched life unfold all around me. Surprises--good and bad--come with nary a clue and definitely no soundtrack hints. Sometimes the blessing is in the surprise otherwise knowing the future would not be good.

I guess as believers in Jesus the best thing to do is to be prepared by staying close to God because nothing surprises Him. We have to keep our eyes on Him. He knows what is coming long before I do and the the Bible is full of examples like: Joseph, Sarah, Job, David, Peter, John, and Paul. Hebrews 11 is a list of people who trusted God when they weren't sure what was going on and God honored that faith.

I may not know what's going to happen in the next minute, the next hour, the next month, or the next year. However, I do know the Lord promises to be with me no matter what--even without the background music!

I know the Lord is always with me.    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. - Psalm 16:8

The End of Another Year

This final week of December is filled with reflection on the past year and anticipation of a new year. The Christmas season is behind us and celebration plans for the new year are in full-swing. Facebook feeds are sprinkled with remembrances of the year. Television programs are doing year-end reviews and reminding us of the top stories of 2014.

photo courtesy of www.incourage.me

Reflection on the past is a good thing. During this past week I was reminded not of something that happened this year, but something that happened exactly three years ago on the 26th of December. In an effort to maintain some privacy I won't share the event on this blog, but I will say that a God-timed moment reminded me of how good He is.

Three years ago I made a decision to take a step out of my comfort zone. What happened after that decision set off a chain of events that, had I known what was coming, I might have opted to hibernate and leave well-enough alone! However, what happened was both wonderful and downright painful. For the record, my decision was morally neutral--neither right or wrong. But it did open me up to some new experiences which grew me up spiritually and emotionally.

This blog was birthed during those difficult days and I chronicled some of the ups and downs right here. Someone once asked me if I could go back and change things, would I do it? My answer then (in the midst of the difficulty) was no. And my answer now is still a resounding NO!


This God-timed moment a few days ago reminded me...

of my FREE WILL, given by God. God doesn't sit up in the sky moving me around like some chess piece on a game board. Sometimes my life would be easier for Him to make those moves for me, but He gives me a sound mind and sense to seek His will and make my own decisions. Whether my choices are good or bad, He still uses my choices to accomplish His will for my life. It's amazing what He can do! 
Genesis 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."


that God has a PLAN for me and it's a good one. I've written about this many times on this blog. Going back to the first point: no matter what I do it's not going to "mess up" my future because God already knows before I do what my choices will be. So even when my life looks messed up beyond belief, I can trust that God has everything all figured out. Will He "fix it" for me? Uh... well, not necessarily. It depends on the situation. I need to take responsibility for my choices and pay the price for whatever my part is in my current situation. But He will be there to walk through it with me. Anyway, God can redeem ANY situation if I seek Him.   
Jeremiah 29:11-14 "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. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’"


of God's merciful LOVE. Like any parent who loves a child regardless of their behavior, God loves me even more than that. His forgiveness is there when I seek it. God's mercy and blessings are there for me when I run to Him. 
Lamentations 3:22-23 "The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

WAITING on the Lord is never a waste of time. This is a big one! As someone who likes to keep busy, waiting on someone else is not easy for me! But, this is a lesson that the Lord wanted to teach me during this period. Over and over again God reminded me to Be Still and Know that He is God (Ps. 46:10). He wanted me to cease striving and stop trying to be independent. God wanted me to stop trying to be my own god. (gulp) Instead, God kept hammering home this point of "get to know ME and trust ME." It took a lot of time, but that lesson finally took hold. I finally learned to Be Still and to wait and to trust Him. I learned, as Psalm 37:4 said, to delight myself in the Lord and trust Him for the desires of my heart.

Psalm 37:4-7a "Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him."

There were many, many lessons learned during these past three years. Waiting on God and trusting Him has been worth it. I've seen God do some amazing things! I expect there to be many new lessons to learn in the coming year as I continue to be His student, the daughter of a King, and His beloved. Here's a toast to the past and to the coming new year! 

 

Absence and Disappointments

I haven't done a lot of writing lately. The last time I posted on this blog (about six weeks ago) I alluded to some things going on in my life that kept me busy, but also some things that were testing my faith.


I have written only a little in my personal journal. Friends on Facebook may have noticed that I don't write/post as often there either. The easy answer is to say that I have gotten out of the habit of writing. Truth. But I've also been struggling to put words to what's been going on inside of me lately.

Each time I think to myself that I should write, I procrastinate and avoid thinking about it. I busy myself with anything else. I suppose avoidance is the main reason I haven't been writing. 


Today I decided to go back to the beginning of this blog and read the first post. It reminded me why I started this blog. I felt as if God was leading me to share things that I was learning as I journeyed through my life. Writing was as much for my own benefit (therapy) as it was for anyone else. I had no idea whether anyone would ever read my blog anyway.

You see, when I started this blog I was recovering from a broken heart over a failed relationship. To maintain some privacy, I have never mentioned that fact before on this blog. I also didn't want my blog to be all about that. I chose to write in general enough terms so that anyone going through difficult circumstances could relate.

The broken heart from two years ago has healed--mostly. I still struggle at times. I won't go into what's happened in the past two years because you can read previous posts on this blog and figure that out. To sum it up it has been a time of waiting, of learning, of praying, of more waiting, and this cycle has continued. 

During these past two years my relationship with Jesus has grown exponentially. I once had a spiritual mentor ask me if I had known what was going to happen before I met this guy, would I still have gone through with it? The answer then was yes. The answer now is still yes. Pain and all, Jesus is still worth it and He's made use of everything I went through.

Two months ago marked the two year anniversary of when that relationship officially ended. Something else changed about that time. This guy, who I still considered a friend, completely disappeared from my life. I had limited contact with him and we did not live in the same city so we never saw each other. However, without any explanation, he suddenly cut off all contact with me. 

Why should I care? Trust me. This doesn't make any sense without all the back story. But, having that door finally and completely closed like that was like a mild earthquake in my life. Yes, earth-shattering describes it. You see, I did not get the closure that I desired, that I had sincerely hoped and prayed for.

Yes, I had fervently prayed for some closure with this man--to clear the air--and had hoped to see that come to fruition. We had been good friends and I wanted to see that friendship return. When that door closed--and God allowed it to be closed--it was upsetting. After pondering my feelings of why I was so upset, I finally came to realize that my feelings were hurt. Not just by this guy, but by God. The truth was that I was disappointed in God.

This disappointment caused me to emotionally shut down in God's presence. Oh, I still read my Bible, I continued to read devotionals and attend church. I even prayed...some. Frankly, I was demoralized. I had lost some confidence and hope in God. When I was believing in Him for something I thought was a good thing and the answer I wanted did not materialize, it shook my faith. 

When it came to praying and asking God for anything I had come to a place of thinking to myself, What's the point? Why should I pray? He'll just say no again.
It reminded me of the time I asked a simple favor of a supervisor and I fully expected a yes based on our relationship and the fact that I rarely asked for favors like this. However, this one time I got a no. It was surprising and disappointing. It made me rethink my relationship with that supervisor and fearful of asking for favors ever again.

Where this situation with God was concerned, in my head I knew that I wasn't thinking correctly. But, my heart was disappointed and confused. My relationship with Jesus had grown to a point of knowing what to expect of Him. So when I didn't get the answer I expected, it was very confusing. I began to question everything that I had been through the past two years and I questioned my intimate relationship with Jesus. It really has been a time of soul-searching.

Then one day a few weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook and happened to see a quote from an author that I follow. It said, "…the miracles in the authentic Gospels are about love, not power...Although Jesus’ miracles were far too selective to solve every human disappointment, they served as signs of his mission, previews of what God would someday do for all creation." The quote came from a book titled Disappointment With God by Philip Yancy. 

That was it! Seeing that quote and book title helped define what I'd been feeling for several weeks. I bought the e-book and have been reading it. I have found myself nodding in agreement over some of the things I'm reading. I've also found myself very convicted as I realize that this whole life isn't all about me. This has forced me to look at this world from God's perspective and imagine His disappointment with these people He created and how we always fall short. Imagine His disappointment with me! Wow. Talk about turning the tables on the situation!

I won't pretend that everything is "all better now." I am still working through all of these issues with God. I am still healing and learning and processing. And I have to remember to keep my hope in Christ and not in the outcome of a particular request. 

Keeping it real...

Expectations vs. Reality

"I've done everything you've asked. So you can give me what I want now."

Have you ever said anything like that to God? My guess is probably not in so many words. Naturally, we know better than to be demanding in that way. Right? (You're nodding your head right now, I hope.) But, maybe we secretly do expect God to respond that way.


This past weekend I watched a livestream of a singles conference from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. They had several good speakers, but one in particular said some things that resonated with me. She talked about life plans. As a young adult, she'd mapped out her life, but it seems as if her expectations did not meet her reality. She was still single when she'd planned to be married with children by now.

Imagine these scenarios:

• You studied for a career, but ended up in a different profession. 
• You had intentions of moving to a particular house/neighborhood/city, but ended up in your 3rd or 4th choice.
• You were sure you would be married by a certain age, but find yourself still single.
• You would have 2 or 3 children by the age of 35, but your house is still empty.
• You planned to travel abroad or be a missionary, but somewhere along the way those dreams are still unfulfilled.

You get the picture. If you haven't imagined your own scenario by now, take a few minutes to think about it. We all have these great plans, but sometimes life doesn't align itself to match our plans. Sometimes these plans are really good things, yet hopes and desires remain unfulfilled.

The thing that really struck a chord with me was when the speaker talked about bargaining with God. It's easy to fall into this perception that if I'm doing all the right things--pursuing God, putting God first, reading my Bible regularly, praying--that it's a given that these expectations would be finally be fulfilled. You know, Do this + this = That. That's the way life works. We have a sense of entitlement after we've done "all the right things" so we think to ourselves, surely now that I've done these things, God will finally give me my heart's desires.

Another week goes by...
           Another month goes by...
                      Another year goes by...

and that desire still hasn't been fulfilled. Then what? We start to question God. We start to question ourselves. We compare our lives to others. We may even try to manipulate circumstances, make changes, or simply take over and do it ourselves.

The speaker shared this quote from John Newton:

"Everything is necessary that God sends our way.

Nothing can be necessary that He withholds."

This quote is profound, yet makes me uncomfortable. These things that I find "necessary" may not be necessary in God's design. I'm still processing that thought. But what all of this reminds me of is a simple Bible verse that God continues to put in my path, and has done so quite a lot lately.

For I know
the plans
that I have for you.
They are plans for good
and not for disaster
to give you a future 
and a hope. - Jer. 29:11


(I broke up the verse this way to cause the reader to stop and consider each of these phrases. I recommend reading it several times this way.)

Most of the time I've stopped reading right there at the end of verse 11. But last week Im my devotional reading the next two verses were tacked onto this. They really stood out to me:

In those days when you pray, I will listen.
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. - Jer. 29:12-13



Yes, God has plans for me. He knows the plans and they are good plans. He knows exactly when to unfold these plans for me. In the meantime, I need to keep working on really knowing the One who is in charge of those plans, praying to Him. God is listening even when it seems He isn't. I just need to keep looking to Him. It's there that I will find my Hope. My hope is not in the outcome, it's in the One who is in charge of the outcome.

Linking up with TheBarnPrincess.com:

Jigsaw Puzzles: God Sees the Big Picture

God is always working behind the scenes.

More often than not, we can't see what God is doing all around us. Sometimes we can't see it because we aren't looking. Other times we can't see it because we aren't meant to see it. Often, it's only much later that we can see what God was doing--how all the pieces of that mixed-up puzzle went together.

My family loved to put together jigsaw puzzles when I was growing up. That activity was an indoor winter sport for us. Someone would pull out a 500 or 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, place all the pieces on the dining room table, and begin working on it. It was not unusual for a puzzle to sit on the table for days. Frankly, I can't even remember how that impacted dinner! It didn't matter, though. Every member of the family participated in one way or another--even the occasional guest who dropped by. Sometimes we would walk by the puzzle on our way to do something else and be so drawn in that we couldn't walk away until a puzzle piece was picked up and put in the exact spot it was meant to go. Other times, several of us would sit around the table and chat as we searched for the missing pieces. Oh, how the pace picked up when the end was in sight! Did you ever know someone who hid the last piece just so they could be the one to finish the puzzle!!!

I was reflecting on circumstances this week that just didn't seem to have an end in sight or make a lot of sense. The Lord brought to mind events in my past and how He brought things together--little by little--until the puzzle was complete. Prayers were answered, sometimes above and beyond what I imagined and in ways I would not have expected. And many times God had to take me through some frustration in order to get me to and through those times so that He could answer my prayers and accomplish His plan.

Yes, I was able to clearly go back in time (15-20 years) and see how my life was a lot like those family jigsaw puzzle sessions. Little by little, He was (and still is) putting each piece in place. Once in a while it looked like He had forgotten or stopped working on the puzzle. No, He hadn't forgotten. God was faithful to complete that puzzle. It encouraged my heart as I remembered these things and applied them to my current circumstances.

Each phase of life seems to be a puzzle and I'm anxious to see what the big picture will look like when I'm finished. God's not in a hurry, though. It reminds me of Habbakuk who was frustrated that it seemed like God wasn't doing anything. But the Lord replied to him:

"If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, 

for it will surely take place. 

It will not be delayed (Habakkuk 2:3)."

And Paul reminds us that:

"...we know that God causes everything to work together 

for the good of those who love God and are called 

according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28)."

Giving Thanks

On that day David gave to Asaph and his fellow Levites this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
    Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
    Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name;
    rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
    continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed,
    his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
you children of his servant Israel,
    you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

(1 Chronicles 16:8-13)

This small portion of a song of thanksgiving to the Lord was sung after King David had the Ark of the Covenant brought back to Jerusalem. It was a time of great rejoicing for all of Israel.

I may not be celebrating the return of something precious. And, if I look at my life through the world's eyes, I might actually feel sorry for myself. Life hasn't worked out the way I envisioned when I was a teenager. I never had specific goals in mind for my life, but I had envisioned something much different than what I'm living right now. 

I can still be grateful because God accomplishes His purposes and His plans for my life. 

      Even when I step off the path. 

            Even when I grumble or complain. 

                  Even when I compare my life with someone else's.

Just like the children of Israel, I can continually seek Him, I can remember His signs and wonders and miracles, and I can know that before I was even formed that God thought so highly of me that He had a grand plan in mind.

I was reminded yesterday about God's timing in all things. He can be trusted. Just as surely as the sun will rise in the morning, I cannot rush it to rise sooner nor can I delay it. The sun will rise at its appointed time. 

So, I can be thankful that God is in control of it all. He only has eyes for me and is so focused totally on what I need and care about, yet amazingly God is also focused totally on you and your needs. That's something I cannot fully wrap my brain around. 

This was sort of a stream of consciousness writing this morning as I process some of the things the Lord has been teaching me lately. He keeps reminding me to LOOK UP! To sing my praises to Him! Be thankful. 

Keeping Our Eyes on God

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Wax On, Wax Off which was inspired by the original Karate Kid movie. As I was watching this movie, I discovered some interesting spiritual applications and wrote a post about it.

I didn't have time to watch the entire movie that night, but I recorded it on my DVR to watch later. I finally watched the rest of the movie, and was once again inspired by the words of Miyagi.

You see, Daniel was in training. Whether he realized it or not, all the hard work he was doing was giving him endurance and teaching him skills. Evenso, Miyagi had to continue to correct Daniel.

At this point in the movie, Miyagi finally shows Daniel how all the hard work he has done prepared him for what will come next.  Each chore--waxing the car, sanding the floor, and painting the fence--taught Daniel basic karate moves.

Then at the end of the first real karate lesson, Miyagi bowed. A stunned Daniel mirrored his teacher's move and bowed, however he looked down at the floor. Miyagi quickly grabbed Daniel's face, he pointed to his own eyes and said, "Always look eye."

This isn't a perfect analogy, however it did bring to mind that I should always keep my eye on my Teacher (God) and His path for me. It also reminds me of Solomon's wise advice to his son in Proverbs 4:25-27...

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Wax On, Wax Off

I was watching the 1984 version of The Karate Kid and a spiritual analogy came to mind. Daniel wants to learn to defend himself so he asks Mr. Miyagi to train him in karate. Miyagi finally agrees as long as Daniel agrees not to ask any questions. "No questions," says Miyagi.

"Wax on, wax off" Karate Kid 1984.

Daniel shows up ready for his first karate training session and ends up washing cars instead. This is where that famous "wax on, wax off" scene happens. Daniel is a bit confused, but follows orders. He's trusting Miyagi will get around to the real karate training eventually.

The next day Daniel shows up and is shown how to "sand the floor" which he proceeds to spend the entire day doing. This process continues day after day with similar chores of "paint the fence" and "paint the house." By this time, a very patient Daniel is finally getting worn out, frustrated, feeling used, and is ready to go back on his promise of "no questions."

Daniel gets angry with Miyagi and is ready to give up and walk away. Miyagi says, "Ah, not everything is as seems."

What Daniel did not understand was that all the chores he was doing which seemed like busywork, was really his training. During this time Daniel was learning to trust his teacher, he was learning to focus, he was building up strength and skills in his arms. Miyagi's method of teaching was vastly different than the training the other boys at the dojo were getting.

Have you picked up on the spiritual analogy already? Sometimes we ask God for something--a ministry, a new job, a family--and then we find ourselves a million miles away from what we had in mind. Now, we'll assume that whatever we've prayed for is something good, legal, moral, and fits in God's overall plan for our lives. If that's true then it's entirely possible that God will give us that ministry, job, family at some point in the future. However, while we may think we're ready to tackle that dream now, God knows better so He puts us through some training.

In this training time God asks us to trust Him implicitly. We must rest our faith in whatever God is asking us to do right now. And, unlike Miyagi, God doesn't mind if we ask questions (and He's patient when we do!).

We may be waxing cars or painting fences and somehow all of that just may translate into an answer to our prayers later. Ah, not everything is as seems.

Hmmm. Just something to ponder next time we feel as if what we're doing now doesn't really matter.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. ~ 2 Corinthians 5.7

Washed Up on Gilligan's Island?

Okay, so life is not exactly going the way you planned it. You're not in that career you want, you're not living in that house you'd rather be living in, or maybe you're still looking for Mister or Miss Right.

Sometimes it feels as if you're just being pulled along by the currents of life and you've washed ashore on Gilligan's Island. You set up a hut on the island and keep looking for a way to get off--a way of escape. Now what? What's the purpose of this island experience? I mean, seriously, what good is a formal gown and a suitcase full of money on a deserted island? (That was a Gilligan's Island reference in case that one zipped by you.)


Suppose, just suppose, that where you are right now is part of God's calling--or ministry--for your life? (Say what???)

Yes, that dead-end job or unemployment may be part of God's plan. That neighborhood you're living in or your singleness may very well be part of your present ministry. None of these situations are necessarily permanent. Like any other calling or ministry, it's for a season. Some seasons are just a little longer than others. For example, I could borrow the book title for my singleness season from Laura Ingalls Wilder and call it The Long Winter. Yeah, it's been one very long season. But it is just that--a season. It's not necessarily forever.

However, I do know that in my season--or whatever season you find yourself in--there is purpose. I was listening to a message by Tony Evans recently and he made a few suggestions:

•  Ask God how He wants to use me in this present state that I am in.
•  Suppose God wants to use me in this present circumstance, but I might be so distracted by my circumstances that I am not ready or available to be used.
• Use this time to prepare for what lies ahead. (If you want a better job, train for it or study. If you want a mate, become a student of godly marriages and make sure you're ready to be a mate. If you want a better home, start saving up for it.)

In this season I need to be available for God to use. If I'm spending all of my free time chasing after what I want, I may miss those opportunities of ministry. It could be some of those opportunities are part of God's plan to prepare me for what's coming later. All of it becomes part of God's plan. And that circles back around to the theme verse I have chosen for this blog...

For I know the plans I have 

for you,” says the Lord. 

“They are plans for good 

and not for disaster, to give you

a future and a hope.  

~ Jeremiah 29:11