Ready, Set, Wait.

I shared a piece of advice with a friend yesterday. As soon as it came out of my mouth, it punched me in the gut. It was like the Holy Spirit said, "That advice was for you, Janet. Listen to what you're saying." I kinda brushed it off at the time, but then again this morning I was praying about an issue, and I heard my advice all over again. It was really good advice. Biblical advice that I really need to put into practice. In so many ways thus far in my life, I have not heeded the advice that I gave my friend. So, I figured since it was so applicable and timely for me, it might also be helpful to something you're going through right now.
Are you ready? Here goes.........

It's usually a lot more appealing to be busy and to be doing, doing, doing rather than to wait on God and trust His path and provision. Try to resist the attitude of self-reliance that would have you to believe you must make things happen entirely for yourself. Learn to become comfortable with seeking and waiting - lest in your busyness you miss God's best, right in front of your face.

Oh How Much We Need You, Lord!

I spent a while praying this morning for the leaders and members of my church - including myself and my husband. This week I have a real burden, an urgency, a gut-level realization of how very much we need the Holy Spirit to work in our lives; to deeply convict us of our worldliness and selfishness so that we are broken, repentant, and most able to experience the mighty presence of God when we come together on Sundays to worship.

In the Bible I read of a God whose power is unlimited and who invites us, through Jesus, to participate in that power. That's what I want! That's what I want for my church! And, I'm pretty sure that in order to experience God in this way we will have to become far more broken, far more hungry, far more submitted to His ways, and far more determined to seek Him above all other pursuits of our lives.

After I prayed I was reading in Isaiah about God's people, the rebellious nation of Israel. They forsook the Lord, turned their backs on Him, and went their own way time and time again despite hundreds of years of His divine care and provision for them. Their's is such a sad story. And as I read, I was saddened by how much we, the church, may be mirroring their sad example:

The Lord has spoken:

"I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox (notoriously dumb animal) knows his master, the donkey (notoriously dumb animal) his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt... They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.... Their land is full of silver and gold; their is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; their is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. 

Isaiah 1:2-4, 2:7-9 (parentheses mine)

Holy Spirit have your way in us - that we will experience this life as God has intended, not as we wish. 

Come Lord Jesus and teach us how to let you truly be Lord.

The Fatherless.....Singing of Their Father

Some friends of ours are considering a foreign adoption. Aware of the fact that adoption is such a literal and wonderful enaction of the gospel message, I decided to have a look this morning at what the Bible has to say about the "orphan" and the "fatherless." Did you know that there are over 30 verses in the Bible where God clearly expresses His compassion and concern for the fatherless? He also clearly instructs His people to be active in caring for the fatherless.

God makes me more and more aware that His work on this earth extends so very far beyond my American existence. He is turning my heart to be aware of needs all over the world. It's exciting to be growing. I can't help but wonder in what ways He will continue to convict Nick and I regarding our responsibility to reach beyond ourselves and into the lives of the lost, the poor, and the fatherless around us.

When Our Circumstances Just Don't Make Sense.....

In my last blog I addressed the truth that often God Himself will orchestrate dark, difficult, or painful times in our lives for the purpose bringing-about His glory. I think it was really good. I hope you read it. Then again I may be fooling myself to believe that anyone's actually reading my ramblings :). I'm inclined to keep writing, though, cause most of the time I'm writing for my self as much as for yall. I find it helpful in more fully processing the truths that God is teaching me. Anyway.......back to business......

In reading through the book of Job this week, I'm finding plenty of scripture that exposes our correct response during the hard and hurtful times of our lives. When our circumstances just don't make sense, when things aren't going as we wished or as we expected, when we feel we're being dealt an unfair, raw deal - WE CAN HAVE PEACE.

Peace in the midst of pain.
Peace in the midst of uncertainty.
Peace in the midst of trial.
Peace in the midst of sickness.
Peace in the midst of seeming hopelessness.
Peace because God is good, sovereign, and wise.


As I pointed out last time, God invited Satan to ruin Job's entire life and family. So, Satan ruined Job's entire life and family - as God stood by and watched! Job - confident in His God - responds amazingly with complete submission to God's wisdom and ways. In the midst of unfathomably horrible circumstances, listen to Job's words:

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job 2:10


"Indeed, I know that this is true.... His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.... He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 9:2a, 4a, 10


"In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.... To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his." Job 12:10,13


"Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him..... Indeed, this will turn our for my deliverance." 
Job 13:15-16

I don't know about you, but I'm convicted! Lesson learned for today: God is awesome and completely in control - so I need to be confident in Him and quit worrying about my circumstances. They will happen exactly as God wills. And, when His will doesn't feel particularly good to me, I still have the responsibility to respond with peaceful confidence in who He is. Got it!

God Will Not Always Make Us Happy

I have been struck lately at seeing how often God Himself orchestrated undesirable, hopeless, and painful circumstances for people in the Bible.

In the book of Job, God invites Satan to ruin Job's entire life and family. Satan does exactly that - as God stands by and watches.

To the children of Israel He said: I am going to give you the Promised Land! To take it, however, the thousands of you must first cross a massive, flooding Jordan River. After you have done that, you will need to conquer the mighty city of Jericho. It is well established, with massive walls for protection, and I know that you don't really have any weapons or trained soldiers or anything like that. But, no need to worry - I've got a winning battle plan. Are you ready? Here it is: Form a line, march around the city for seven days, and blow your trumpets........... Geez.

In the book of Judges, we read about how the Israelites are attacked for years by the powerful and oppressive Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples. God came to Gideon, the least member of the smallest clan of Israelites, and said, "I will make you a mighty warrior to defeat the Midianites!" Surprisingly, Gideon bought-into God's plan. Gideon gathered the troops for battle - over 30,000 men! But......are you ready.....check out what God says: "No, no, Gideon, that's far too many troops. You only need 300. Send about 29,700 of your men home, and with the remaining 300 you'll be able to defeat these mighty tribes of thousands of men that have been destroying your people for years." Once again.........geez.

Then, we see God orchestrating discomfort and temptation for Jesus himself. In Luke 4, we read of how the Spirit of God intentionally led Jesus into the hot desert for 40 days for the express purpose of being tempted by the devil!

In all of these accounts we see the hand of God orchestrating circumstances that seem painful, heartbreaking, hopeless, very uncomfortable, and very very challenging. On each occasion, His one motive is clear: To accomplish glory for Himself in lives of His people.

Who are we to assume that God will not similarly author hard and heavy circumstances in our lives for that same goal of bringing glory to Himself?

His one and main agenda for the lives that He has given us is not our happiness.
He is chiefly concerned with the accomplishment of His glory.

Note to Self: Bless Your Husband

This morning as Nick was leaving for work I had one of those warm-fuzzy moments where I thought, "Gosh, I love him so much. I want to bless him so much." And, this was quickly followed by thoughts of frustration that I don't stay in that frame of mind all the time.

To be clear, I think I'm doing a pretty decent job of loving and blessing my husband. I hope he feels that way, and I hope others see it as well. For several years now, I have identified this as one of the highest priorities of my life. God makes it clear in His Word (Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 31:10-12, 1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:22-24, Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:3-5, 1 Timothy 5:14) that a wife possesses a chief responsibility of submitting to, respecting, serving, helping, and enhancing the quality of her husband's life. I have embraced those responsibilities and have been trying my best. There are times, like this morning, when I am filled with desire to excel as Nick's wife because of an overwhelming heart of gratitude for who he is and all that he does for me. However, I hate to admit, there are also regular times when my attitude becomes moody, snappy, critical, and naggy. Because of stress or fatigue or a multitude of other reasons, it is easy for me to not communicate to Nick the love and appreciation that are really in my heart.

Judging by how I see and hear other women interacting with their husbands, I am not alone in this struggle.

So, I wanted to tell you about a little exercise that I have done this morning:
I have written myself a short note that I will keep here at the house. I have reminded myself of how much of a blessing Nick is, how much he does for me and gives to me, how much he sacrifices for me, and how much I really want to bless him in return. I will read this note-to-self each day before he comes home from work. Hopefully then, having freshly reviewed my commitment to bless and honor him, our evening hours together will be full of love and respect and notably absent of moodiness and naggy-ness :).

Praying to be Hungry

I went out for a walk this morning to pray. It was a very welcome time, as it has been a week or so since I have really unloaded my heart to the Lord in focused prayer. I so enjoy praying while walking. For some reason I have far more focus while walking than while sitting in peace and quiet, and the brisk pace of my feet seems to fuel my passion as I talk with God. As I was marching around the neighborhood this particular beautiful day, I noticed something that I have been noticing quite a bit lately: that is, how often I pray that people will have a hunger for the Word of God.

A hunger for the Word of God will cause us to prioritize time in His Word - and thereby discover in scripture any and every needed help for the issues of our lives!

I see so many needs surrounding me:
People needing direction in careers and major life decisions, Christians with misplaced priorities, apathetic and selfish Christians, troubled family relationships, victims of others' sin, young people being pulled into darkness and worldliness, Christians desperately needing to retain and respond to the Truth that they are taught, folks struggling with commitment to a church body, consuming materialism that prevents us from embracing the sacrificial call of Christ, stale religiosity and ritual within the church, a lack of love and respect within marriages, confusion in knowing God's Will, and the list goes on and on and on and on......

And so often, as I recognize these needs in my life and in the lives of those I love, this is my urgent, gut-felt prayer:
GOD, GIVE THEM MORE OF A HUNGER FOR YOUR WORD!!!

You see, I know that one of the most powerful ways that God will deliver His powerful assistance to our circumstances is through the wisdom He has revealed in His Word. I have discovered that His Word is a wealth of help and strength and direction and correction and counsel. All that we need for life and godliness is within the pages of God's Word. There is no issue that we will face in life that is not addressed in the Bible. Time and time and time again I find myself realizing that my issues and those in the lives of others would be so easily fixed if we would just consult and put into practice the principles of scripture. I know that the power of God is available in His Word to address every hurt and every need. So rather than always worrying and fussing and praying over the specific details of all the different circumstances, I sometimes simply pray that people will be hungry for God's Word. I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in lives to replace worldly appetites with an appetite for the Word. Then, as people are regularly seeking God through the Bible, I know that He will speak to them exactly what they'll need for their circumstances.

Even the issues that are not addressed in the Bible really are addressed :).
God's silence on some issues is, in itself, His guidance. Since He did not feel the need to address a particular issue in His Word, He obviously has other things that are of higher priority for our lives. We need to first make sure we're prioritizing what He has clearly addressed in His Word. Once we have done this, we will have the wisdom and the filling and the freedom of the Holy Spirit to know what decisions to make in those gray areas of life that aren't clearly spelled-out in the Word.

If you are a person whom I know or love, I very likely have prayed for you on different occasions. And, I very likely have asked God to give you a hunger for His Word. In asking that, I know that I am praying for God to draw you to His #1 source of aide for the circumstances of your life!