You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. Psalm 139:2 TPT
These days of radical upheaval and change can really reveal where, and what, your heart is trusting in. That can be knowledge that brings you great peace, or not.
It isn’t that you won’t struggle with anxiety.
(I think we all do that from time to time.)
But, if you truly believe that God loves you, and wants the very best for you, eventually an anxious heart has to quiet itself and bow to the One who rules all the wind and waves.
Tangled in worry-webs?
I really love my new devotional book of prayers by Sarah Young, Jesus Listens.
I came across a recent prayer that really helped me,
Lord, teach me to trust You in all circumstances–without letting my desire to understand distract me from Your loving Presence. I want to get through this day victoriously by living in joyful dependence on You.
Tomorrow is busy worrying about itself. Instead of getting tangled up in tomorrow’s worry-webs, I seek to trust You today–one moment at a time!
November 17, jesus listens
Waves of change
Yes, the waves come.
And, yes, sometimes your boat rocks.
However, rational thought (and faith) do prevail, and when they do, you know beyond any doubts, that change in our lives is constant, and inevitable.
Honesty demands that we won’t always like it.
We know that not all changes bring comfy circumstances. Heck, no! Sometimes those circumstances are very unpleasant, and maybe even, very painful.
God knows you inside out…
That is knowledge that gives my heart great peace when I’m struggling with worry…
(And sleepless nights.)
In point of fact, the Bible actually states,
You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins.
Psalm 139:3-4 TPT
The above verses give me quiet comfort when I am beside myself with worry, and trying to “self-talk myself,” back to some semblance of rational calm.
Red Sea moments
I am actually back at one of those Red Sea moments in my life, and I admit, I’m not liking it much.
Can anyone out there relate?
Yeah, me and Moses, are standing in the same shoes again. Life has led me to this “place,” where I know I have to go forward, but where? How?
It all looks impossible right now!
Yes, I know change is inevitable–but sometimes it truly sucks lemons!
Saints of today and yesteryear to my rescue
Thank goodness, for the Saints of yesteryear, like Harriet Tubman.
Did you know that, this former slave, led over three hundred slaves to freedom as a conductor in the Underground Railroad?
Amazing, amazing, woman!
Kristen Strong shares fascinating facts about Harriet in her new book, When Change Finds You.
She shared this simple prayer of Harriet’s:
LORD, I don’t know where to go, or what to do, but I’m expecting You to lead me.
- It’s simple.
- Direct.
- Just what I needed at this moment!
And so, I am going to refocus on the Word of God:
- He is ever present with me; at all times He goes before me. I will not live in fear or abandon my calling because He stands at my right hand. Psalm 16:8 The Voice
- Rescue Your people, and bring prosperity to Your legacy; may they know You as a shepherd, carrying them at all times. Psalm 28:9 The Voice
At all times–Expect God to show up!
If God know me intimately, He sure enough knows when I’m in trouble.
He knows all about my shaky childhood and my abandonment issues.
He knows when my little boat starts rockin’–and my knees start knockin’ big time!
That is when I have to make myself focus on His Word; to transform my fear into trust by reading His Word, and confidently expect His promises to prevail over my “impossible looking” circumstances.
Yes. Are you listening my heart,
- Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. Psalm 23:4 MSG
- My help and glory are in God —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God— So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be. Psalm 62:7-8 MSG
- Hurry with your answer, God! I’m nearly at the end of my rope. Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me! That would be certain death. If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I’m all ears, all eyes before you. Save me from my enemies, God— you’re my only hope! Teach me how to live to please you, because you’re my God. Lead me by your blessed Spirit into cleared and level pastureland. Psalm 143:7-10 MSG
- But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God! Psalm 42:11 TLB
Nothing, nothing, nothing!
In our uncertainty it is often easy to focus on the wrong things.
I admit, I often get lost in the foggy-fear-forests of my mind.
What am I to do on these days?
Focus!
Not on the uncertainties that can plague me, but on my Father in heaven, and all that He has promised His children.
Just this morning…
I received the most wonderful encouragement in my email from Brian Simmons and Gretchen Rodriguez:
I Will Sustain You
Rest in the realm of peace, and you will know when I speak and when I move. Don’t be afraid of being alone or going forward while others around you sink back. I have called you to follow me through the narrow gate. I will be enough for you. Even as I sustained my servant Abraham on his journey, I will sustain you and shower you with my love. The more challenging your days, the more mightily my power will be displayed in your life.
Promises long forgotten by you will now be fulfilled. I am more than enough to meet every one of them. I have not forgotten any promise, so rest in the understanding that I am enough and I know your future. I have marked out every step, bringing you closer to me and deeper into my glory, until finally you awaken with my likeness. All that I am, I am within you. All things are now yours: life, eternity, authority, power, and glory. No one will be able to take these from you. You are my temple, sustained by my very Spirit that is alive within you. —I Hear His Whisper
I wanted to look up the actual meaning of the word “sustain” and here is what Word Web had to say:
| Lengthen or extend in duration or space • We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible=keep up, prolong~bear on, carry on, continue, preserve, uphold⇒continue, keep, keep on, retain | |
| Undergo (as of injuries and illnesses) • She sustained a fracture in the accident=get, have, suffer~experience, get, have, receive⇒break down, break up, collapse, crack, crack up, cramp, crock up | |
| Provide with nourishment • We sustained ourselves on bread and water=nourish, nurture~cater, ply, provide, supply⇒carry | |
| Supply with necessities and support • She alone sustained her family • The money will sustain our good cause=keep, maintain~have, have got, hold⇒carry, patronage, reseed | |
| Be the physical support of; carry the weight of=hold, hold up, support⇒block, brace, bracket, buoy, buoy up, carry, chock, pole, prop, prop up, scaffold, shore, shore up, truss, underpin | |
| Admit as valid • The court sustained the motion~acknowledge, admit | |
| Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts • his story sustained my doubts=affirm, confirm, corroborate, substantiate, support⇒back, back up, demonstrate, document, establish, prove, show, validate, verify, vouch |
Noun: sustainer, sustainment, sustenance Adjective: sustainable, sustained
Question: Can ANYTHING separate us from the love and provision of our God?
Answer: No! Nothing, nothing, nothing!
[Romans 8:15-39 The Message]
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
* * *
18-21 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
Women With Destiny 