Keep Trusting

Posted November 26, 2013

So what do you do when you have done everything that you thought you were supposed to do, and you still don’t have success?

What do you do if you have burned all of your bridges and you can’t go back, but you have had a setback and disappointment, and it feels as if everything might just fall apart around you?

You keep trusting God!!!

If you know that God has spoken something to you, than hold on to it. Do not let go of it for nothing!! God does not abandon his own.

The bible says:

“If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?” (Matthew 7:9–11, The Message)

I am no stranger to setbacks, in fact I have recently had one of my own.

I stepped out, doing what I wholeheartedly believe that God called me to do, but I was rejected. It was a kind rejection, yet a rejection non-the-less.

So what am I, a person that has burned all her bridges, supposed to do with the fact that from the outside it looks like God has led me astray (or at the very least, he allowed me to lead myself astray)?

I hold on to that verse and so many, many more that speak of God’s love and heart toward me.

I hold on and believe the God did not lead me all this way to drop kick me to the curb.

I hold on and remind myself that God did not “call” me to England for no reason.

AND

Most Importantly

I hold on to the promise knowing that God did not change His mind!!!!

His promises are sure and trustworthy!!

I can trust Him!!!

And you can trust Him too!!

Credits

Photo: © creative soul – Fotolia.com

Right where I need to be!

Posted November 22, 2013

Filed under Thoughts on Trusting God

Every time I think I should have been born in the forties, so that I may have had a chance to dance with Astaire, or cuddle with Cary, or even shoot the writing bull with Hemingway, I remember that they did not have the technology that we have today. Yes Authors did have typewriters. But if they wanted to “cut and paste” they would have to bring out the scissors and glue. I remember that God made me exactly how I am and most importantly I am right where I need to be.

That helps when I take a look at my current crazy life. I think “if only I know exactly what my future holds,” or “if only I know exactly how I am going to manage getting ready for the move,” or “if only I know where the money is coming from.” Those dratted “if onlies!”

I have a long history with them. Our relationship started when I was young. The questions came like rain falling down upon my head night and day. “If only my dad was around.” and “If only I was popular like my siblings.” and “If only I was pretty like my friend.” And it continued to be my constant companion through my teenage years. “If only that boy liked me.” and “If only I wouldn’t of made that choice.” and “If only I had what they had.” Our friendship was cemented in my adult years “If only I could have more money.” and “If only I was skinny.” and “If only my husband wouldn’t of died and my kids had a father to embrace them the way that one does theirs.”

They say depth in relationships is a good thing but not where they are concerned. You see, I thought they were my closest ally but really they have been my biggest enemy. For all this time all the years when I was focusing inwardly on them, I was missing what was all around me.

Yes my dad wasn’t around me. But my mom was and she was great!! She baked cookies, talked with me, held down a full time job, made dinner from scratch every night, and even was my campfire leader. I have no idea where she found the time to do it all.

OK, so I was not as pretty as my friend, I was missing the fact that I had a friend that was my closest confidant for many, many years.

OK so I made some choices that I shouldn’t have. But I also made some great ones. Like choosing to walk down that church isle and give my life to Jesus at 9 and 1/2.

And finally, Yes it more than stinks that my husband died of cancer at 49. And yes it sometimes hurts to see fathers leading and guiding their children and embracing them when there are no physical father arms to embrace my own.

BUT

Although they are not all as close to God as I would like, looking back over these last 5 and 1/2 years I realize that He has always been close to them, leading and guiding them with an unseen hand.

And not only them but my as well. I have seen him do amazing things in my life and now to put the cherry on the top of it He is sending me to England, a place I have wanted to go to since I was a small child.

While I am wishing and hoping that it will all work out OK and that there are just way to many things that must come together in a very short time, and while I am reminding God of all those things and more, I am reminded by Him if I had everything figured out and no miracles were required then my move to England would not be much of a testimony.

So instead of wasting my days wishing and hoping for this or that. I am going to spend these last few months in America and look around me and enjoy everything as it unfolds and know that I am exactly where I need to be.

For I am in the center of His will.

And if you are following after Him so are you.

If Not why wait!

Go for it!

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. Psalm 37:5

This old thing!

Posted November 20, 2013

Filed under Story

So the first story that I felt I needed to share was not about how God came through for me, but how God used me to come through for someone else. I was wondering why He wanted me to start my story telling in such a way when He responded to me that “Learning to listen to my still small voice is what it is all about.”

Listening to God’s voice takes practice. The more that we think we hear Him and respond by doing what He is calling us to do, the easier it gets to distinguish His voice from the noise of the worlds, or even our own thoughts.

So I share this story not because of what I did, but because of what I learned…

Once about 7 years or so ago, when I was working at J.C.Penny (oops can I say that) …when I was working at a major retail outlet (btw they are awesome to work for), I was approached by a little old lady. Now when I say “little old lady” I mean a very, very small woman (made smaller by the fact that she was hunched over holding a cane) who was not long for this world.

Anyways, she came up to me wanting to know the final price of a shirt for sale. I was about to send her over to the cash register when God told me “you do it.” So I grabbed the shirt (actually it was more of a long-sleeved comfort shirt) and found out that it was not marked off anymore then the tag price.

When I returned and told her she said, “Oh darn, I can’t afford it then.” She looked so sad that my heart broke for her.

I returned the shirt to the rack and told a co-worker about it saying, “How sad. I wish I could do something.”

God responded instantly in that still small voice “You can.”

“How I am working?” I asked…not keep in mind this convo was going on with no spoken words. Which is a good thing or I would have looked a lot more kooky than I already am.

“You are going to be off in a half an hour for lunch. Tell her to meet you here and you will buy it for her.”

“But she is gone by now. I will never find her in this packed mall.”

“You remember how slow she walked right? You know she hasn’t made it out of the store yet.”

“But I have no money. How can I pay for it?”

Note that often when God speaks to us we have a list of excuses why we can’t do what He is calling us to do.

“You just got a J.C. Penny credit card remember. Use that and I will make sure you have the money to pay the bill when it comes.”

Right then and there I had a decision to make. I could think of a million more excuses, until it really was too late to do anything. Or I could TRUST GOD and do what He called me to do.

I am so very glad that I listened to him. Because the result brought me to tears.

It did not take me long to find the woman and I told her my plan. She was a little late meeting me (I almost gave up and went to eat my lunch…I am glad I didn’t).

I bought her the shirt and she gave me a hug that seemed to last a lifetime. Then she, with tears streaming down her face, did something I will never forget.

She looked down, grabbed her worn shirt that she was wearing and said with joy, “Now I can finally change out of this old thing.”

I will leave you to decide what that meant, but it left me breathless.

Trusting God means to be his hands and feet in a world that sorely needs them.

P.S. that credit card did indeed get paid. Yet the amount spent cannot compare to the lesson I learned.

What an honor it is that God allowed me the privilege of such an experience.

Why we need to Remember

Posted November 11, 2013

Filed under Foundation for this Blog

“Hey just what kind of blog is this?” I hear the stone throwers demanding to know. “Who in the heck puts trusting God and getting stoned in the same sentence?” They ask some more.

I have an answer for that, but first I need to tell you a little story.

Once upon a time there was a people. Let’s call them…oh I don’t know…how about let’s call them the Israelites. Now they were not just any people. They were Gods Chosen People (don’t take my word for it, take a look at Deuteronomy 7:6).

They were, as most people tend to be, a people who people who followed God… half the time, and the other half (I am probably being generous here) of the time they tended to think their way was the best.

And complainers! Well let’s just say they were a whiny people. Instead of trusting God and letting Him lead them from a life of servitude and bondage into a place flowing with milk and honey. Into a place that was the land in which He had PROMISED to bring them to, they whined and complained.

Let’s not lose the significance here. God, the creator of the entire universe, made a PROMISE to them about a wonderful land that He would bring them to. God the one who word is sure and true, who says something and you can not only bet it will come true you can BELIEVE it!!! Made a promise to them, to bring them through this dry and barren land in which they were currently inhabiting.

So instead of trusting in God they complained and as a result turned a 11 day trip into over a 40 year Journey. No, that was not a typo. They could have been enjoying the good life for as long a Steve Carell’s character has been without a mate (nope, never saw the movie but it was fitting.)

This is a crazy fact when you realize that God parted, none other then the RED SEA to get them to where they presently were. Now I am not sure about you but If God parted a SEA and walked me across on dry land before swallowing up my enemies (who were chasing me) I would tend to BELIEVE anything that He said.

So here they were after all this time, they finally stopped doing their own thing long enough to be led by God, once again. They were actually going into the place that he PROMISED them! Wow how cool that must have been.

And as a mini reminder of where they had come from, when they crossed over the river that stood between them and land of their dreams, God (the cool and awesome God that He is) parted the Jordan and they walked over on dry land. They were leaving just as they entered, by way of God’s miraculous provision. Without Him they would have been forever stuck.

What about the stones?

Well the stones are the coolest part of all. The stones were not just any stones. They were memorial stones. I cannot do this justice so read what happened after they crossed over the Jordan, onto dry ground.

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel,

that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then

you shall tell them

that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:1–7, ESV)

So each Rock symbolized each tribe (and each person in it) and they were built into a MEMORIAL.

It was built why? So that they would see it and tell their children, “look kids, this here marks the place where God answered his promise to us. This marks the place of when God brought our family through the wilderness of despair into the land overflowing with all things wonderful. So when you see this stone remember God’s faithfulness, remember His goodness, remember that He made a way where there was no way.

And don’t just you remember it. That is not enough. Tell those around you, remind each other of His goodness. And tell your children and your children’s children. So that every time they see this memorial of stones they will remember how Great is Your God.”

So what does that have to do with me? I hear you asking (wow you sure ask a lot of questions…kidding).

Look around you. How many memorial stones do you see. Now some of you may certainly be standing next to the Jefferson memorial or even the Vietnam memorial…so I will rephrase that…how many memorials made of stone (which by the way is solid) in remembrance of the goodness of God, have you pointed out to your kids lately and said Kids let me tell you about when?

So why did God have them build the memorial? Because He knew that they needed to REMEMBER His faithfulness. They needed to remember His goodness. They needed to remember how even though things looked so very bleak in their life, like they wouldn’t amount to anything, and they would suffer all their lives, they needed to remember that HE brought them through those hard things in the past (even though they fought him) and He would bring them through their present form of opposition.

And guess what …we are no different then them…we are stubborn-fighting against God leading, wanting to be in charge., we are forgetful- forgetting all that he has done for us so that we have no hope when times are rough,

but one thing is different

WE HAVE NO STONES…we are stone-less. We have no memorials to point to…to that end I humbly offer up this Blog…

I pray that by the grace of God this will be a place in which we can place our stones of remembrance, where we can tell our stories of Gods faithfulness (more of this latter)

a place that we can go to when times are rough to remember that God will bring us through….

We all just desperately need to get stoned so that we will have the strength to follow God when times are rough (more on this latter )…so who’s with me? Who wants to erect some memorials for the future Generation?