God's Got It

Sometimes I worry about stuff as if God isn’t mighty, as if He doesn’t have everything under control, as if He isn’t sovereign, or He won’t perfect everything that concerns me. As if I’m not His and can’t call on Him. Do you ever do that?

But…

God is mighty.

God is sovereign and has everything under control (no matter how we perceive things; He knows what He’s doing).

He promises that He will perfect that which concerns us. (see Psalm 138)

I love this passage from Matthew:

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (Matt. 6:30-34 MSG)

Let’s remember to always live like we’re children of God, and trust He will meet our needs. He will minister to us, guide us, provide for us.We can rely on Him.

Whatever you’re facing, dear child of God, He’s got you and He’s got the situation. It won’t worsen beyond His control. Cling to Him. He’s got this, and even when He’s all you’ve got, He will never let you down.

Summer

Looks like summer is finally here in the Northwest. Sunny days. Warmer temps. Just in time for school to start.

We visited family in another state recently and their temps were much warmer than what we're used to. Made me grateful for our cooler weather. And while I bemoaned the air conditioner not being set cool enough, I realized I'd been complaining too much about the summer-less weather back home. 

Sometimes it takes a change to see our behavior for what it is. I'm actually very comfortable this year with the high temperature rising to about 73. I love it. A few years ago we had 100+ temps, a very rare occurence here, for a week. We about melted into puddles. *grin* So, this has actually been a preferred way to spend summer. 

I'm sure there are other areas in my life that need work, and I can count on God to keep showing me. He's great about that. He shows us how we need to change and then He gets us there. 

Are you willing to change? 

Too Busy?

My schedule’s been very hectic lately. I’m buried under a gargantuan workload which I’m trying to cram between family obligations (some of them very fun), especially during this season. Sound familiar? And I don’t always give myself permission to spend time praying and reading the Word every morning.

Lately I’ve been wondering why I don’t. Am I just so trusting of God and that He’s got everything that I’m finally no longer trying to micromanage Him? (ouch) Or am I that nonchalant about my life’s issues right now? (Uh… no. I certainly spend enough time worrying about them.)

Or, have I lost sight of the fact that spending time with God will not, does not put me behind on my goals for the day, does not/will not sabotage my crazy busy workday. In fact, the opposite is true. If I can keep Him first, even tithe my time, I will have victories, productivity. Breakthroughs. It’s in worship we have breakthroughs, so in reality when I neglect my time with God, I’m sabotaging my daily schedule. (This is starting to hurt.)

But I used to feel that by spending my time with God I was earning His favor. What’s more, if I didn’t, I felt condemned and fearful that things would fall apart. That’s just as much bondage.

So, why do we pray? Why do we worship, get to the secret place, and commune with our Creator?

Because we love Him.

So let love woo you back to that special place with Him. After this past busy couple of weeks, that’s exactly what I intend to do. Now, where is my Bible and journal…? Crank up the worship music, Jesus is here.

Are Our Ears Open?

Just finished reading a life-changing book for a church class. It’s called The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley. He addresses living a life of wisdom. Read it, if you haven’t. It’ll change your life too.

The chapters got me to thinking: why do we avoid living wisely? Sometimes we don’t want to live what we know because we’re lazy or afraid or stuck.

When we get stuck, we ask God for direction. What if He tells us something we don’t want to hear?

Have you ever disregarded something a friend said simply because you disagreed or thought the advice was unfitting to your circumstances? Have you ever ruled something out because it scared you (i.e. they told you to do something you’d rather not face)? Guess what? Sometimes our friends are right, we’re just not ready to hear what they have to say.

So, how often have we asked God for direction, heard a response, and disregarded it? Thought it was our own inner voice? Or too obvious to come from our Almighty God? Or too challenging—we’ve already decided we’re not going to “do that” whatever that is?

What keeps us from living in wisdom? What keeps us from hearing what we don’t want to hear? Why won’t we let it in, follow through? Even consider it?

Pride. Or fear. But rather than being so quick to disregard something a friend says, or even that God says, we should stop and consider their words. Who knows, if we follow through, we might just have the breakthrough we’ve been praying for for years.