Blessings in Waiting for God’s Plan (51)

Hello!

I would like to do another post to continue our series of Blessings in Waiting. I had someone suggest to me the topic of Blessings in Waiting for God’s Plan. I like that topic, because that is the main focus of this blog. That’s exactly where I am living at this stage in my life. The interesting thing is that I don’t think that this stage ever truly ends. Right now, I’m waiting on God for college, for a house, for a church, for the right man to step into my life when God knows I’m ready, and that’s just a few things. But as I mentioned in my very first post, waiting on God is not something you do standing still. Waiting on God is done best one day at a time, while actively seeking Him.

I’ve known a lot of girls, both my age, and older that have been asked to wait on God for one thing or another. Some of them make the right choice. Some of them choose to take it day by day and grow and change into the woman that God wants them to be. On the other hand, some of them make the wrong choice. They push God’s plan. Some of them run off with the first guy that comes along, some end up pregnant, and some of them end up ruining their lives. Yes, God offers forgiveness for those things, but they missed out on part of God’s plan. The situation with Rich, was really the first time that I had a choice to run from God’s plan or accept God’s plan. It was in the midst of the tears and trial, that I realized how easy it would be to make the wrong choice. I praise the Lord that He gave both Rich and I the strength to obey my dad’s plan and God’s plan instead of running off together. Running away definitely crossed my mind. I’m glad I went through the experience though. Now, I can understand better how a young lady might struggle to make the right choice.

After we take the leap of faith and accept God’s plan we must find the blessings that come from it to ward off the discouragement that is bound to follow. Let’s take a look at what some of those blessings might be.

Learning patience is one of the first things that cross my mind. By nature I am not a patient person. Once I figure out what I want I go after it, and work at it until it happens. I’ve been told I have an “industrious spirit”. That industrious spirit is great when working, or trying to get a project done, but it can be kind of a problem when faced with the challenge of waiting on God for His plan. My great uncle is the most patient person I know. He never gets flustered. He moves slow and is quite relaxing to be around. He is now facing the diagnosis of cancer. He is not hysterical or uptight. He is facing something hard and handling it with grace. He has learned patience and is practicing it. God is teaching me patience. He has everything under control. He has my timeline all figured out and He’s not surprised by my circumstances.

The next blessing goes hand with learning patience; learning to trust Him. As, I’ve said many times before, God has never failed me in the past and He’s not going to fail me in the future. He is more than worthy of my total and complete reliance on Him; my trust.

When every day is a challenge and a struggle to keep your focus right, you begin to realize that you have zero strength on your own. The third blessing is something that is hard to swallow and only comes when you release the grip you have on your circumstances and open your hand to God’s plan. This blessing is something I like to call “Living in God’s grace.” Paul puts it excellently in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Someone once told me that the definition of grace is “God’s supernatural supply for all I lack”. Boy, do I lack! But the story doesn’t end with what I lack. That’s just where it begins! Because I lack so greatly, my God gets the chance to make up for it. Any time that I make the correct choice to think right or do right, I know that the only way I was able to make that choice is because God gave me the grace to do so. The moments when I am the weakest, are the moments that God gets to shine in the biggest most incredible ways!

The last two blessings are similar. They are the fun part of waiting on God for His plan. Looking forward to God’s plan is scary and exciting. But if you have already been working on trusting God, then that takes most of the scary out of it. God has my best interest in mind. His plan is good. His plan will prosper me and not harm me.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

The final blessing is something that is a lot easier for me to grasp; watching God’s plan unfold. I can hardly wait to see how God is going to provide for my college education. I can hardly wait to see how He is going to bring my future husband into my life. I can hardly wait to see how He is going to lead me to the church where I can minister to others. The list goes on and on! God’s plan is good.

Blessings in Waiting for God’s Plan:

1.Learning Patience
2.Learning to Trust
3.Living in His grace
4.Looking forward to His plan
5.Watching it unfold.

On a side note, if you think of it, I would appreciate your prayers for my great uncle that I mentioned in this post. He is starting his chemotherapy treatments this week.

-Christy

Blessings in Waiting for Finances! (47)

Good evening to you! Hope you have had a marvelous day.

The next post in our series is going to be about blessings in waiting for finances.

Something I’ve learned throughout my life is that nothing in life comes without cost. Money doesn’t grow on trees. Even government handouts don’t come without cost to someone. The older I get the more I realize how much it takes to be able to eat, and have clothes, and a place to live. I am very blessed to have a father that works very hard to provide what we need and even what we want. While we have never been a wealthy family, we have never gone hungry or had to sleep out on the streets. My parents even sacrificed to put me in Christian education, which isn’t cheap.

I have always had a dream to graduate from college. Since my dad lost his job and we had to relocate my college dream has been put on hold. It would be impossible to afford such an expensive endeavor without tremendous student loans. This is another area that God is asking me to wait and trust Him. Since the waiting is inevitable, let’s see what blessings we can find while we wait.

First and most obvious to me, is that in waiting for Him to provide my education I have to learn to trust Him more. I cant make the finances appear by worry about it, so I might as well rest on and trust Him that He will provide for me just like He’s always done. That right there is the second blessing that comes from waiting for finances. I get the chance to see Him provide! I’ve seen my God provide my dad a new job after he lost one. I’ve seen Him provide odd jobs for us while we were waiting on the real job. I’ve seen God provide a job for me in Arkansas as well as one after we relocated. I’ve seen God provide always enough for what we need in the day to day! That’s just a few of the ways that God has provided for my family in the last few months. When I see those blessings, it makes it a lot hard to doubt that he is going to provide a house for us and a college education for me.

Third, in waiting for finances we get the chance to look forward to the ways that God is going to provide! I get excited just thinking about how awesome it will be when God provides a way for me to go to college. There are lots of different ways that God could make it happen! Rich always said to find something to look forward to, and that is definitely something exciting to look forward to! Finally the last blessing we are going to mention is the opportunities God gives us to give back to Him and to give to others even when we aren’t extremely wealthy ourselves. It’s one thing to give when you have more money than you know what to do with, but it’s an entirely different thing to give when you don’t have a lot to give. It’s like the widow in Luke 21:1-4

“As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

There they were all giving their offerings. The rich dumping in their money and there is the widow. She gave all that she had. Her little offering meant more because she was giving everything. When we give our ten percent even though we could use that money for other things, the Lord blesses us. Obedience always brings a blessing. There is a special joy that comes from giving of what the Lord has given you. Seeing the light of people’s faces when you give them a little extra tip, or when you help someone that has been struggling financially is an incredible blessing.

Today’s Blessings:

1.Learning to Trust.

2.Seeing Him provide.

3.Opportunities to see Him work.

4.Opportunities to give when you don’t have much to give.

Sometimes He Calms the Storm (25)

I do apologize for this being posted so late, I didn’t even turn on the computer till just now. But today was a great day! After a trip to the chiropractor to fix a problem with my foot, (it seems that I’m a total klutz and did a total face plant in front of a bunch of people last weekend, and in the process jammed by ankle and twisted a tendon in my foot. I’m just talented like that…) I went over to my sweet friend’s house to help her with some housework and chat a little bit. Okay, we chatted a lot. I so appreciate her, because she asks me the hard questions. The questions that make me stop and think about what I really believe, and how I’m gonna change to become more Christ-like. Anyways, I’m before too long I will share more of what we talked about, but right now, I’m still chewing on it, so you will just have to wait!

There is one thing that she talked a little about. It’s kinda interesting because it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about. In Matthew 8:23-27 it talks about when Jesus calmed the storm for His disciples.

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

I have always loved that account! I always wished that my daddy could do that when I was little. I mean wouldn’t that be so cool, I just walk outside with Daddy, and He tells the wind to stop blowing, and it actually does. Talk about awesome! To a certain extent I still wish that my daddy could speak away the storms in my life, and be able to automatically heal my heart, but there’s only One person who can do that. Anyways, that’s not where I’m going with this.

Where on earth do we get the idea that the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe can’t take care of our problems. I mean honestly, that makes zero sense. But we are just like the disciples, whenever something hard comes along, we freak out. But have you noticed that whenever we freak out, God doesn’t always just immediately make the wind and the waves stop. Sometimes it seems like when we cry out to Him, the wind gets stronger.

Why does that happen?

Why doesn’t He just make all the pain go away instantly?

It’s because He wants us to run as fast as we can into His embrace. If He just immediately fixed all of our problems like a genie in a bottle, we would never get to have those intimate moments with our God. If you really think about it, it’s the same way in our relationships with other people. I’m way closer to my parents now, than I was 3 years ago when we left for Arkansas. My relationship with my dad has gotten a lot stronger sense the situation with Rich. I’m not going to pretend that I enjoyed the last month or two. No, not at all, I disliked it very muchly!! But there has been a sort of blessing in the midst of the turmoil. I’m closer to my God and my parents, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. When we go through hard things with other people, and work through the hard situations, it brings us closer to the ones we love. It’s the same with God. He’s taken me down a hard road, and I didn’t like it; but I am so thankful for it. Sometimes God takes us through those hard things, to prove that His grace is sufficient. It really is! He’s a good God!

Today’s Blessings:

1. The time spent reconnecting with my sweet friend.
2. My God can calm storms!
3. The grace He gives when He doesn’t calm them instantly.

-Christy

These are the lyrics/video of a song that has been running through my head. It’s a great reminder of the sufficiency of our God.

“All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child

He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we’re shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place”

Letting Go: It’s Hard! (24)

Before we get into today’s post there is a sort of blessing that I would like to mention. It seems that there is a reason that God is moving us back up here. I’ve said it from the beginning I just didn’t know what it was. Well, shortly after we moved, we found out that my great uncle has cancer. The thing that makes that difficult is that his wife has several medical and mental issues of her own which makes caring for him impossible. By us moving back up here, we have the opportunity to care for him and help them, when there would be no one to do it otherwise. God knows what He’s doing!

On to today’s topic:

Letting Go! Why is it so hard?! I mean, it comes pretty easy when you’re dangling off the side of a cliff without a rope. Toddlers seems to find letting go pretty easy when it comes to holding your hand across the parking lot. But as adults, why is letting go so hard?! I mentioned in an earlier post that I was a control freak. This topic may seem like something we’ve discussed already, but hang on for a second. (Hee-hee I made a funny)

Letting go is a process. I’m beginning to realize that much of life is a process. Unfortunately life isn’t like the microwave and you can’t just pop in a struggle for 30 seconds and take it out and have a life of steaming hot happiness. But not only is letting go a process it’s also a choice. God didn’t make us to be robots. Wouldn’t that be nice? Or would it?

What if we didn’t get to choose what we do in life?
What if we didn’t get to choose to love our parents, family and friends?
What if we didn’t have the choice to love God?

That love would no longer be special. It would be just an everyday thing like the color of our eyes. The love would no longer have any meaning. Just the fact that God gives us the choice to love Him is a blessing all on its own. But it’s also something that requires action from us! Because we have the CHOICE to love God, we also have the choice to disobey and disappoint Him.

I mentioned above that letting go isn’t just a process but it’s a choice. Processes are continual, and choices are typically a one-time thing. How can that make sense? The choice of letting go is a moment by moment day by day thing. It’s a choice that you have to make over and over and over again!! And let me be really honest with you: the choice to let go is not an easy one!

There was an elderly gentleman in my church in Arkansas that never said “Amen” when he finished praying. His reasoning was that why should he end something that is continual. He is always in communication with the Father and just because a portion of his communication is made verbal, doesn’t mean that the communication is ending. That was such a challenge to me. I still say Amen when I pray aloud, but to always be in communication with my Saviour is something I could definitely benefit from.

There are a few things in my life right now that I continually have to “let go of”
1. College
2. Village Bible Church
3. Rich

There probably isn’t an hour that goes by that I don’t think of one of those things and wish that the circumstance surrounding it was different. I wish that I had an endless supply of funds and a scholarship for college, so I would have to worry about not being able to afford it. I wish that I never had to leave Village Bible Church. I wish a lot of things were different about how things are panning out concerning my relationship with Rich. I wish that everything would just be perfect and we could skip the hard things. Just sitting here and typing about those things there is a temptation to dwell on them and think that life isn’t fair. But that’s just what im talking about. As I type Satan is trying to attack me and get my mind off of Christ. I have to consciously make the choice to let go of my knowledge of the circumstances and trust that God has it all figured out.

This sorta goes hand in hand with my post from yesterday about taking thoughts captive. Make the choice. Take the thought captive. And let it go!

Today’s Blessing:

God has it all figured out! I just have to let go and trust Him!

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

-Christy

Captive Thoughts: Do it Yourself! (23)

Okay, so from now on I’m no longer going to promise that I will have updates by noon. That is still going to be my goal, but no promises anymore. I seem to be failing more often than not!

Anyhow, I don’t know about you all, but my brain is always running! I might be sitting at dinner or out with friends and I will be thinking about a million things at once! Occasionally, I verbalize those thoughts and end up scaring the people around me, with what seems entirely random. Sometimes my constant thinking is a good thing, like when I play the piano, or when I’m listening to sermons. But sometimes, it’s not such a good thing. For instance…Rich frequently reminded me that over-thinking doenst accomplish anything. Like when my dad lost his job and we were faced with moving, within moments I had the worst possible circumstance formed in my head. Rich calmly reminded me of the verse in John that says. “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I (Jesus) have overcome the world” Even though our trials are inevitable, we can have hope because we know who wins!! 🙂

Not only is thinking all the time bad when it comes to worrying, but it’s also a bad thing when it comes to thinking about my future or struggling with wrong thoughts. Before I moved to Arkansas the first time, someone gave me a verse to think about when I’m struggling with letting my mind run away. I had nearly forgotten about the verse until just recently.

I Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

What does it mean to bring someone or something into captivity? We hear about animals being put into captivity and kids being held captive by horrible people, but what does that mean? Well, I like to think about it like a cage for my mind. Whenever I have a thought, ANY THOUGHT, I need to “cage” that thought. I hold that thought captive for just a few seconds while I analyze it against the Scriptures. A good place to start with the analysis, is Philippians 4:8.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

If the thought that comes into the cage of my mind isn’t true, or noble, or right, or pure, or lovely, or admirable, or excellent or praiseworthy, then it needs to be released from the cage of my mind and cast out like it says in I Corinthians. If I’m not sure if it falls into those categories, I like to imagine that my thoughts are going to be projected on a big screen in front of my church and the people that I love. If that thought scares me, then I know I shouldn’t be thinking it. Building that cage in your mind is hard! I’ve been working on it for a while now, and I’m nowhere near where I should be. I fail a lot in that area! Like I said, it’s a major downside of thinking all the time! I can never let the guard down in my mind.

In my devotions this morning it said that God won’t automatically bring your thoughts into captivity. It doesn’t just automatically happen. It’s a process, and it’s something you have to do yourself. Yes, God will help you do it, but He won’t do it for you. So today I challenge you to do something with me! Bring your thoughts into captivity! It’s not gonna be easy, it’s gonna be hard because by trying to follow Christ, we are gonna have a huge target on our backs! Satan is going to try to beat us, but we can’t let Him!

Comment and let me know if you’ve ever tried bringing your thoughts into captivity, and how it’s worked for you! Or comment to let me know you’re going to try this captive adventure with me!

Today’s Blessing:

The victory that Christ is going to give me when I choose to think right!

-Christy

His Way is Perfect! (16)

Good Afternoon! Hope this post finds you doing wonderfully!

I have a couple of ‘material’ blessings to mention before I get into the ‘spiritual’ one today. First of all, I finally got my back fixed after a visit to the chiropractor! When you feel better physically it just makes everything else seem a little bit brighter. Also, I got to see my sweet 91 year old grandma today! That is definitely a benefit of moving back to my home state. I will get to see her more often! She has been very influential in my life and has been a super example of a godly lady!

Okay, now onto the ‘meat’ of my message today….

Yesterday while waiting for my parents to get ready to run some errands, I opened up the piano bench to see what music I had with me that wasn’t in boxes. I ran across one of my most favorite songs. “His Way is Perfect”.

“When my way seems dark and drear and the future I don’t know,
My heart feels so empty as the tears unending flow.
When my heart breaks with sorrow and a tempest fills my soul,
This one thing I know for sure: My God is in Control.

His way is perfect, HIs way is perfect.
Though I don’t understand His wise and loving plan,
His way is perfect. His way is perfect.
Take my life and make a vessel purified.
God makes no mistakes; His way is best.

When the toils of life are come and my heart is worn with care,
I faint ‘neath the burden of a cross I cannot bear.
When the joy has departed from my sorrow stricken soul,
This one thing I know for sure: My God is in control.

His way is perfect, His way is perfect.
Though I don’t understand HIs wise and loving plan,
His way is perfect. His way is perfect.
Take my life and make a vessel purified.
God makes no mistakes; His way is best.”

I have sung that song several times in the different church we’ve ministered at. The first time I sang it was right after the presidential election of 2008. Much of the congregation teared up at the reminder of Who was in control, and that His way is perfect. My best friend and I loved that song, and we would sing it just for fun on bus trips throughout the rest of highschool. Then I moved the first time in 2011. After a couple months in a new place, that I hated, and at a church that we weren’t welcomed at, I sang the song again as special music. The song then became a prayer. I was relating to the lyrics in a new way. I was seeing that even though I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, that I still could trust God, because He doesn’t make mistakes. I teared up that time, because I realized that being bitter about moving wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I just needed to trust that even in a new place where I didn’t fit in, that God’s way was still perfect. Shortly after that, we found the church that I have spoken of many times. I was beginning to click with the people there, making some incredible friends and was really enjoying getting to minister through music. Rich and I were just beginning our relationship and were enjoying getting to know each other. After a while, my mom spoke to the music director about getting me scheduled for special music. I didn’t know what to sing, until I stumbled upon “His Way is Perfect”. What could be better than a song that had helped me through a rough time personally? When I sang it this time though, it wasn’t a prayer, but a testimony of how I had witnessed God’s way being perfect. This time I didn’t tear up, but was rejoicing in the goodness of our God. Little did I know that just a few months later I would be experiencing a sadness and sorrow that I had never experienced before.

When I opened the piano bench yesterday and saw that song staring back at me, I chuckled a little on the inside, at how God must have known that seeing those lyrics once more would be just what I needed. I pulled the music out of the bench and sat it on the stand to play it. I barely got through the introduction before I had to stop to wipe some tears before I could continue. There was nothing that described the last few weeks better than “dark and drear” and “tears unending flow”. I never knew that it was possible to cry so much, or for your heart to feel absolutely broken and empty. But as the song says, “though I don’t understand, His wise and loving plan, His way is perfect”. The second verse speaks of “[fainting] beneath a cross that I cannot bear”, and the “joy [that] has departed”. Wow, that pretty much sums up how I have felt about not being in contact with Rich anymore, it’s the deepest sorrow that I have ever experienced. There were days when I thought I would never get through it. But the song doesn’t end there; we are reminded once more that God’s way is perfect. Through the trials He places in our lives, He molds and shapes us a vessel fit for His use. He hasn’t forgotten us, and He still doesn’t make any mistakes. His way is best.

I still don’t know what God is doing by moving me back here and removing Rich from my life. I might not ever know; but His plan is perfect, and I can have confidence that whatever the reason, it’s a good one.

As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him. (Psalm 18:30 AMP)

Today’s Blessings:
1. My back is better!
2. I got to see my grandma!
3. God’s Way is Perfect!

-Christy

Just a few more feet (13)

Today we are loading up the moving truck! All of my worldly possessions have been put in boxes to be stored and opened at a later date. It’s a bittersweet feeling; bitter because, well, put bluntly, I don’t want to move. But sweet, because I have can have confidence that God is going to provide for us in ways that we don’t yet know. That is one good thing about going through trials…We get to know our God better!

This morning we were so blessed by a great group of people from our church that came bye to help load the truck! They took a job that would have taken us all day, and we finished in less than 4 hours! Also when we reserved the truck, we reserved a 20 foot truck. Well when we went to go pick the truck up they told us that they only had a 26 foot truck and would let us have it for no additional charge. Come to find out, those 6 extra feet were needed! We wouldn’t have been able to get everything in without them! God knew that we would need those extra feet, and He provided them before we even knew we were gonna need them! Its really something to think about…If He can do something as small as get us a few extra feet, then He is more than capable of sustaining me, my family, and my future! It reminds me of Matthew 6:25-27,34

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

By spending my time worrying, I’m telling God that He can’t handle it. He takes care of the small things and the big things! I’m His child! If he cares about the birds, imagine how much he cares for me! The few feet that God added to our truck, and the wonderful people He provided may seem kinda small and insignificant, but it made a HUGE difference in our moving experience! I still don’t want to leave, but it helps knowing that God is watching out for us!

Today’s Blessing:
1. The great help we had moving
2. The few extra feet God provided!

-Christy