When God Says Wait

Just yesterday I overheard someone saying  "It's really hard to wait".

I know that's a fact. Waiting is just not one of those things that we humans come by easily.

{Even in ancient times}

Faith

You must be wondering, Joi, whatever happened to the rest of “God’s Love Shines” from last week? I know, I’m wondering the same thing myself. I’m sorry. Too caught up with other activities… again! Maybe I haven’t yet sufficiently learned that last lesson yet…

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On the road once more.  That seems to be my life right now. My family and I often drive this route, ever since I was small. I see the same scenery I've always seen. The teeming highways of the same ever congested big city, the familiar golden arches of the same McDonald's where we stop for bathroom breaks, the quaint hamlets nestled on on the mountainside. Even the dips and curves on the roads are familiar to me. Above that, I've become accustomed to a rickety, old bridge that gives the appearance of collapsing -any moment now. (In my opinion, this bridge has not been fit for vehicles in the last 20+ years. But, what do I know about that kind of stuff, anyway?) I used to be pretty anxious to cross it, but now, even though it doesn't look like it’s getting any stronger, I’m fairly comfortable traveling it.

Faith.

Sometimes I wonder, why am I more willing to trust an old rusty bridge, built by who knows who, and not a God who I know loves me and cares for me. Have you ever considered that? How much easier we place  faith in man made things and the unknown people who made them. 

Really? How silly is that...

God's Love Shines: Day 1

  God's Love shines: { This week's post agenda:  Capture moments of God's love shining on me}

The past few weeks = a whirlwind. In and out of town every weekend, studying for classes, music obligations to fulfill, birthdays among family, preparations for another move... Busy: an understatement.

Just too busy to stop, take time, and show a friend that I care. I don't get back with her for weeks. I've been ignoring her.

 Last night I make an effort show her that I'm still here and do care; I let her know that she's not been forgotten (though she'd never guess by my actions). Yet, she replies and says," I have not forgotten about you..."

 All the time I'd been too busy for her, caught up in the activities and hassles of my own life, she hadn't forgotten me.

Neither does Jesus.

First snapshot captured: Jesus never forgets.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you... I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Jesus wants to talk to me, spend time with me, get to know me.  No matter how preoccupied I might be, He never, ever forgets me.

 But, will I forget Him?


*Isaiah 49:15,16

He Cares

 

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin...

..If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you..?

Your heavenly Father knows that you need these things...

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.

{Matthew 6:25,26,28,30,32,33}

Saved by Prayer

She quietly enters the room. By the bedside she finds me kneeling in prayer to God. She hesitates in the doorway, then mutters under her breath something like, " Saved by prayer. You better be glad you're praying". I raise my head to see my mom positioned, ready to smack me with a snowball!

You must be wondering, a snowball fight in the house, really? I must let you in on the background.

Yesterday evening, my mom and I engaged each other in an intense combat of the snowball. You know how it is... The game never really ends (until there's no more snow). You always want to be the last one to pellet the other with a snowball. I had had the last word. That's why this morning, she had a plan to "fix me".

The phrase "saved by prayer" continues to roll around in my head. 

"Saved by prayer." There must be a great lesson to learn from this...

I was engaged in war. There was not much I could really do to protect myself from the "missiles" that were flung at me. No matter how many times I ducked, no matter if I tried to hide behind something, no matter if I was inside or outside, I was always at risk of being hit.

We're all engaged in a similar, but more fierce battle. Satan throws at us his complete arsenal of temptations (I don't mean to compare my mom's attacks with those of Satan). He wants to win this war for our lives and he plays for keeps.

The only safe place in this war of good against evil is spending time with God in prayer.

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

abides under the shadow of the Almighty... He will rescue you from every trap

and protect you from deadly disease. You shall not be afraid ...of the arrow that flies by day...If you make the LORD your refuge,

if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may ... find grace to help in time of need."

Photo Courtesy of Paige H.

*Scriptures taken from Psalms 91 and Hebrews 4:16. 

Life on Loan

The view was picturesque. The fields livening the wintered countryside with young green wheat. Stately pines standing like centuries. Rolling hills. Not a cloud in the blue sky. The sun spreading its late afternoon beams before the close of the day.


As I took in the beauty of the moment, the words of this majestic hymn began to play through my mind.

" I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise; 

That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies...

As I reached the last verse of this song, the words struck me in a way that they had never before.

 "Creatures that borrow life from Thee are subject to Thy care..."

Creatures borrowing life? I had never even considered that my life is borrowed from God.

When God created man, He breathed His own breath into him, supplying him with life. So, our breath, which is our life, comes from God.

Every- breath- I take, comes from God.

Imagine.

God gave me life. I take the breath that He has so graciously given me, and use it to dishonor Him. Oh, the horror...

"How?" you might ask. How many times have I wasted borrowed breath to satisfy selfish desires, speak thoughtless or senseless words that I would give anything to take back... Oh, how many precious moments have been frittered away with the inconsequential... How many times emotions have been wasted over trivial matters... It seems that I, or might I dare say, we completely miss the reason why our lives have been loaned to us...

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Father, please let me not waste the precious life that you've loaned me. Let my life, my every breath, give honor to You.

Don't Look Back

I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes gets tempted to think that following Christ isn't really worth it.   I mean, is it really worth the time, effort, and sacrifice? Life appeared easier when I did whatever I wanted, said whatever came to my mind, acted anyway I felt. You know how thoughts can go, if life was only as it used to be... 

Often in life, when things aren't going as we might like, isn't it tempting to look back? Ah, peeking back at the past when things seemed easier...

~

Hungry, tired and wondering what they had gotten themselves into.  Israel was following God who was leading them from being slaves to... where again?

The Tempter comes and whispers,
" Remember how life was before you decided to  follow God? Life was great!  Where do you think you are going anyway? Why trust God and waste time thinking He is going to care for you? Imagine how much easier things would be if you just went back home..."

They fall for the temptation and now long for the life they left behind. They complain, they regret. They become sick and dissatisfied of following God in faith. They cry for what they were used to, earthly sustenance.  Looking back, they lose trust.

~

Satan has extreme pleasure when he can get us to look back to our old ways of living before we knew God. Yes, life may have seemed easier. Satan always wants to make it seem that following God is tedious, sad and worthless compared to his deception that his own ways are bright, happy and easy.  It may even appear this way at first glance. But following God is worth it! He is always beside His followers, giving us real happiness, strength to not fall to temptations, love for Him and for others. There are sometimes challenges, but He is right beside us to give strength. He really does change lives.

Don't look back.


Image from Freefoto.com