This life has been filled with blessings and hurts. If I were more in tune with your life, I would guess that the same could be said for you – blessings and hurts. Gifts and loss. The two seem so often to co-exist – although perhaps we are focusing more on one side than the other.
I find myself in a time or a season of what feels like great loss. I find myself grieving and yet while I grieve, experiencing an almost eerie sense of peace in the midst of it. There is no doubt in my mind that the peace I am experiencing comes from God. Yet another gift coupled with loss.
What do you do when God speaks? What do you do when God directs? What do you do when what God is asking you to do is hard?
Well, I am certain that I don’t always get this right, but I believe that what we need to do whenever God speaks is first listen. Then act. Be obedient. Trust God’s prompting and leading. Depend on His promises to never leave you or forsake you. Rely on the LORD’s plan that He has created for His children – which are plans to bless us and give us a future.
It sounds easy. I’m not sure it is.
I am not sure what God’s plan in this is. I am not sure if He is intending to bring about change in the situation, in a person, or if God is using this experience to prepare me for something different altogether. So while I wait, I stay close to God through spending time with Him. Reading His word. Praying or speaking to Him as well as seeking to hear Him. Worshiping Him.
It has become more and more important to me that I spend my time with intentionality. I don’t want to waste my time with junk. Trash. Whether that is social media, T.V., or the games on my iPad, I don’t want to waste my time. I’ve increased my reading of God-honoring books in addition to His word. These books challenge my thinking and add depth to my understanding of the character of God. They help to keep God at the forefront of my mind throughout my day and into the evening. I’m trying to soak up all that I can of God’s word and the encouragement that can come from His children.
Two days ago, I finished a book and began a new one. The current one I am reading is by Max Lucado, and it is titled “Unshakeable Hope.” The title grabbed me. I want to share a few key thoughts that jumped off the page at me yesterday.
“We were made to live a life that says, “Look at God!” People are to look at us and see not us but the image of our maker.”
I kid you not when I say that I felt like Max was writing that line just for me. Just for my situation! God is so good, friend. I love it when again, in different ways, God speaks and confirms His word to His people.
And then God spoke to my soul through Max’s words 3 times about prayer: “You are never without hope, because you are never without prayer.” “When a believing person prays, great things happen.” “Prayer is not the last resort; it is the first step. God has power you’ve never seen, strength you’ve never known.”
God hears my prayers. Every single prayer I pray matters to God. Why? Because I matter to God. I am His child. I am His beloved daughter. While I may not understand the reason for the situation, and I may lack the wisdom to know how to right the situation, God does. I may not see with my eyes God at work, but my sight is limited. What I see does not accurately depict what God is doing behind the scenes.
So I will wait. I will pray. I will seek Him. I will draw nearer to Him. God may be taking away, but my God is always giving too.
Blessings!