But just now God showed me a different side of the story! Had these three men not been willing to go into the fire, they wouldn't have experienced God's manifest presence! They would've missed out on probably the most amazing experience of their lives! To have God himself come and physically walk with them in that furnace! I felt like He asked me, "Are you willing to go into the fire to experience more of Me? How badly do you want all that I have for you?" Wow! So, I ask you the same question. Are you willing to go into the fire and be taken to a deeper level in your walk with Him? I will tell you right now, it's going to hurt at times, it takes a lot of risk, but I believe that what God has for us in that fire is so worth it!
Friday, September 21, 2012
Are You Willing to Go Into the Fire?
Just now I thought of the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. All of us who have grown up in the church know the story inside and out as it's one we've heard since we started going to Sunday School! It's an amazing story of three godly men who would not compromise their beliefs no matter what! Even to death! If you aren't familiar with this story read Daniel 3.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Control......Letting Go!
Well, last week was one of those weeks that I had to learn to roll with the punches!
On Monday I woke up and got the kids ready for school and decided I would take a much needed trip to the local bent and dent store! I had my day planned out and got my stuff together and went to the care and the battery was dead! At first I began to get frustrated and then I decided God must have a reason! Brian was going to be able to come give me a jump a little after lunch time. So, I decided for whatever reason God wants me home this morning and I'll go this afternoon!
Tuesday I had plans to meet a friend in the morning to walk and to meet another friend for lunch. I had errands to run in between! It was going to be a productive day! Dropping things off at the consignment shop (which can only be done certain days!), getting groceries etc! Well, I woke up Tuesday morning dizzy and extremely nauseous! So, I thought I better let my friends know that I may not be able to meet them if I don't start feeling better! Well, I ended up getting a message from my one friend that she had to cancel anyway because things weren't going the way she planned either! As it turned out there was no way I was meeting my friend for lunch because I couldn't move off the couch all day! When I let her know, she said God has a purpose! So, I thought okay, she's right. So, she texted me later that day and said that God was able to do some really neat things in her life that day because we didn't have lunch! So, I responded to her that I was glad I was able to be sick so that those things were able to work out. If that's what it took for God to have the opportunity to do those things in her life, then I was willing to take one for the team! Her response to me was that usually when it affects two people God has something for both of them! She asked what God was maybe doing in me that day! And, then it hit me! CONTROL! God was seeing if I was willing to give up control!
But, I like control! I like knowing how things are going to go! I don't mind rearranging things if it's because I want to! So, I said yes God, I will give up control! So, I was determined! I knew if I made that decision that it was going to be tested! And, the rest of my week seemed to follow the same fashion! Multiple times I had to go with the flow as things couldn't work out the way I originally planned them out to be! I usually get a little stressed and slightly over dramatic when there's a wrench is thrown into my plans! (I know for those of you who know me well, you are completely shocked, me over dramatic, never!) But, I will have to say over all I thought I handled it pretty well! Only through God's strength!
Yesterday I was spraying some flea spray on my cat and he wanted to bolt! He was not happy with me! I kept saying, "I know Lucky that you don't like this, but you need to trust me it's for your good! It will make you feel much better in the long run! I'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to help you!" Then it hit me! That's what last week was like for me! I needed to trust God that what felt temporarily uncomfortable and inconvenient was meant to accomplish something good in me! It was going to help strip away something that wasn't good for me! How often do I not like what is happening in my life and wonder why God is allowing it but really He's saying, you need to trust me! I know this doesn't feel nice right now, but in the long run it is going to be so much better for you because I am doing this in your life! I am doing it because I love you and it's for your good! I could let you alone and not work and you might temporarily be happy, but in the long run you are going to be miserable!
It's amazing how God takes the simple daily routine things we do and speaks through them! I don't know about you, but He does that to me all the time! I will be thinking something about a situation and have a random aha moment! Things in relation to my children, my pets, my house etc! God is so good and if you allow Him to, He'll speak to you through any situation! God is so good!
On Monday I woke up and got the kids ready for school and decided I would take a much needed trip to the local bent and dent store! I had my day planned out and got my stuff together and went to the care and the battery was dead! At first I began to get frustrated and then I decided God must have a reason! Brian was going to be able to come give me a jump a little after lunch time. So, I decided for whatever reason God wants me home this morning and I'll go this afternoon!
Tuesday I had plans to meet a friend in the morning to walk and to meet another friend for lunch. I had errands to run in between! It was going to be a productive day! Dropping things off at the consignment shop (which can only be done certain days!), getting groceries etc! Well, I woke up Tuesday morning dizzy and extremely nauseous! So, I thought I better let my friends know that I may not be able to meet them if I don't start feeling better! Well, I ended up getting a message from my one friend that she had to cancel anyway because things weren't going the way she planned either! As it turned out there was no way I was meeting my friend for lunch because I couldn't move off the couch all day! When I let her know, she said God has a purpose! So, I thought okay, she's right. So, she texted me later that day and said that God was able to do some really neat things in her life that day because we didn't have lunch! So, I responded to her that I was glad I was able to be sick so that those things were able to work out. If that's what it took for God to have the opportunity to do those things in her life, then I was willing to take one for the team! Her response to me was that usually when it affects two people God has something for both of them! She asked what God was maybe doing in me that day! And, then it hit me! CONTROL! God was seeing if I was willing to give up control!
But, I like control! I like knowing how things are going to go! I don't mind rearranging things if it's because I want to! So, I said yes God, I will give up control! So, I was determined! I knew if I made that decision that it was going to be tested! And, the rest of my week seemed to follow the same fashion! Multiple times I had to go with the flow as things couldn't work out the way I originally planned them out to be! I usually get a little stressed and slightly over dramatic when there's a wrench is thrown into my plans! (I know for those of you who know me well, you are completely shocked, me over dramatic, never!) But, I will have to say over all I thought I handled it pretty well! Only through God's strength!
Yesterday I was spraying some flea spray on my cat and he wanted to bolt! He was not happy with me! I kept saying, "I know Lucky that you don't like this, but you need to trust me it's for your good! It will make you feel much better in the long run! I'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to help you!" Then it hit me! That's what last week was like for me! I needed to trust God that what felt temporarily uncomfortable and inconvenient was meant to accomplish something good in me! It was going to help strip away something that wasn't good for me! How often do I not like what is happening in my life and wonder why God is allowing it but really He's saying, you need to trust me! I know this doesn't feel nice right now, but in the long run it is going to be so much better for you because I am doing this in your life! I am doing it because I love you and it's for your good! I could let you alone and not work and you might temporarily be happy, but in the long run you are going to be miserable!
It's amazing how God takes the simple daily routine things we do and speaks through them! I don't know about you, but He does that to me all the time! I will be thinking something about a situation and have a random aha moment! Things in relation to my children, my pets, my house etc! God is so good and if you allow Him to, He'll speak to you through any situation! God is so good!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Don't Miss the Miracle!
I am a person who all too often misses out on what is right in front of me because I am looking for the grandiose display that is sure to be coming! Well, I feel like the Lord has been to saying to me, "Don't miss the miracles that are all around you!"
There are many times that God gives me a promise of something that is to come and I am looking for it and expecting it to look a certain way and often times when I am in tune with Him I realize that He is bringing that promise to fruition in a completely different way! Many times through the seemingly "little" things around me! Things that would be easy to miss if I wasn't paying attention! I wonder how often did I miss it because I was too caught up in looking for the "Big" thing!
This isn't really where I saw this post going, but as I am typing this it hit me, that's how the Jews were with Jesus! If I would've been there, would I have missed Him like many of them did! He didn't come the way they expected! They expected a "King" who would come in a royal fashion not a child born in a stable to a poor family, much less a mother who was pregnant before she was married! Not a simple carpenter who had followers who were fishermen and tax collectors! Someone who wandered around the country side and talked about love! They were expecting someone to ride in on a white horse and save the day! Someone who would overthrow their enemies and establish an earthly kingdom that gave the Jews the freedoms they longed for!
I think many times I am looking for that writing on the wall or the parting of the sea that I miss His small whisper! The reflection of Christ in my children's eyes, the beauty of His creation, the seemingly "small" answers to our prayers! Don't get me wrong I'm not saying God doesn't want to do miracles that completely blow our minds, but He doesn't want us to depend on them! He wants us to see Him in every single moment of our day! He wants us to draw close to Him and be intimate with Him so we can hear His whisper in the middle of the chaos of this world! And, honestly in those moments when we get that, it is huge! And I believe it actually opens the door to see those "bigger" things happen!
It's like when God told Elijah that He was going to come to Him! Elijah had to be paying attention or he could've easily missed Him! God chose to come at that moment in the still small whisper! Not a great display!
There are many times that God gives me a promise of something that is to come and I am looking for it and expecting it to look a certain way and often times when I am in tune with Him I realize that He is bringing that promise to fruition in a completely different way! Many times through the seemingly "little" things around me! Things that would be easy to miss if I wasn't paying attention! I wonder how often did I miss it because I was too caught up in looking for the "Big" thing!
This isn't really where I saw this post going, but as I am typing this it hit me, that's how the Jews were with Jesus! If I would've been there, would I have missed Him like many of them did! He didn't come the way they expected! They expected a "King" who would come in a royal fashion not a child born in a stable to a poor family, much less a mother who was pregnant before she was married! Not a simple carpenter who had followers who were fishermen and tax collectors! Someone who wandered around the country side and talked about love! They were expecting someone to ride in on a white horse and save the day! Someone who would overthrow their enemies and establish an earthly kingdom that gave the Jews the freedoms they longed for!
I think many times I am looking for that writing on the wall or the parting of the sea that I miss His small whisper! The reflection of Christ in my children's eyes, the beauty of His creation, the seemingly "small" answers to our prayers! Don't get me wrong I'm not saying God doesn't want to do miracles that completely blow our minds, but He doesn't want us to depend on them! He wants us to see Him in every single moment of our day! He wants us to draw close to Him and be intimate with Him so we can hear His whisper in the middle of the chaos of this world! And, honestly in those moments when we get that, it is huge! And I believe it actually opens the door to see those "bigger" things happen!
It's like when God told Elijah that He was going to come to Him! Elijah had to be paying attention or he could've easily missed Him! God chose to come at that moment in the still small whisper! Not a great display!
1 Kings 19:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Are you too busy looking for something that you are missing what is already in front of you? Take today and ask God to show you what's already there! Ask Him to reveal Himself to you today in the mundane tasks of your day! Ask Him to make you more alert to hear His whisper in your ear!
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