Sarah: God's Timing is Aways Best

I apologize for the delay in this blog post. Things have been crazy busy, and I was having some technical difficulties as well.  Thank you, for understanding and being patient with me! :)

Her Story

“Is anything too hard for God?” This question was the question of Sarah’s life. She failed to answer it correctly on many occasions and downright ignored it on others. But, no matter how she reacted to that question, it was always right in front of her.

She left all her comforts and family and home to follow her husband into an unknown future. She blindly obeyed her husband when they went down to Egypt. She tried to take matters into her own hands and almost ruined God’s plan. She laughed at God’s promises, then was amazed when they all came to pass.  She was doubtful and selfish, yet she became the mother of the nations.

Sarah is a clear example of the importance of waiting for God’s perfect way in God’s perfect timing.  She did not like God’s timing and decided to do things according to what she thought should be God's timing.  She did what she perceived to be the right thing, but the results were disastrous.  Her lack of faith and her impatience nearly ruined everything.  She did not see “the big picture” the way God saw it. 

God uses us in spite of us to prove that absolutely NOTHING is too hard for Him! Our greatest weaknesses become our greatest strengths in His hands.  And, I don’t know about you, but that thought absolutely brings me to my knees before my holy, wonderful God!!!

Her Life and Times

In Sarah’s day and time, names were so very important.  A person’s name signified a person’s character or told of their station in life. The name that mothers and fathers gave their children often would give a glimpse of their personal experiences and their personal stories.  Sarah naming her son Isaac was so very significant.  Isaac means “laughter,” which we all know refers to the time when Sarah laughed at God’s that she would have a son.  Sarah naming her son “laughter” indicates acknowledgement of her unbelief and an excitement and joy over God’s fulfilled promise. 

Can you just imagine what her reaction was when Isaac became old enough to ask her what his name meant?  Sarah had the wonderful opportunity to tell him about the wonderful promise of a wonderful God that was fulfilled, in spite of her incredible unbelief.  She was reminded, every time she said her son’s name, that nothing is too hard for God.

Her Promise

I often find myself acting a lot like Sarah in my day to day life.  I think, sometimes I think that “waiting” for God is laziness and, I often find myself thinking that I can do this myself, and I get in God’s way. 

God’s timing is the best timing. When I start to feel impatient, I need only remember Sara, whose life began with a promise and ended with laughter.

Her Legacy of Prayer

“Gods hints at His purpose for you by planting dreams within your heart.”

What dreams do I have? Maybe, some of them are not part of God’s will and He doesn’t want me to pursue them.  Sometimes, I may look and concentrate on and work towards the dreams that God does not plan to fulfill in my life.  I need to be willing to give up the dreams that I have in order to let Him work His plan and dream in my life and allow Him to fill me with joy and laughter that my own dreams never could bring me.

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Today, I heard a song that I think goes along with this post so perfectly and was a reminder, to me, of what God is wanting to teach me thru Sarah's life.

 It's called "Already There" by Casting Crowns...

From where I'm standing,
Lord, it's so hard for me to see
Where this is going
And where You're leading me;
I wish I knew how
All my fears and all my questions
Are gonna play out
In a world I can't control

When I'm lost in the mystery,
To You my future is a memory,
Cause You're already there,
You're already there.
Standing at the end of my life,
Waiting on the other side,
And You're already there,
You're already there

From where You're standing,
Lord, You see a grand design
That You imagined
When You breathed me into life;
And all the chaos
Comes together in Your hands,
Like a masterpiece
Of Your picture perfect plan

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

One day I'll stand before You
And look back on the life I've lived
I can't wait to enjoy the view
And see how all the pieces fit...

When I'm lost in the mystery
To You my future is a memory
Cause You're already there
You're already there
Standing at the end of my life
Waiting on the other side
And You're already there
You're already there

Eve: Perfection Doesn't Equal Contentment

This year, in my devotions, I am going to be studying the Women of the Bible.  I have a little devotional book that I will follow, and each week, I will study a new woman in the Bible. I am very excited about this study, and I thought that I maybe would share it on my blog.  It provides some accountability for me, and hopefully, the Lord will use this study to help you, as well as me! :)

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EVE

I have to admit, when I began to study the story of Eve, I thought to myself “What could I possibly learn from Eve that I haven’t learned before?”  I mean, I’ve heard her story at least once a year, ever since I was in nursery at church.  But God showed me her story in a completely different light this week, and now, I would like to share with you! :)

Eve:  Her Story

The story of Eve is one that almost every person, Christian and non-Christian alike, knows.  “Eve? Why yes, I have heard of her.  She ate that forbidden fruit and now we all live with the consequences!  Dumb Eve!”  That is how she is often viewed…just a silly woman who did her own thing and ruined life for everybody else!

But there is so much more to Eve.  Think about it…Eve knew what it was like to be perfect! She had the perfect body, complexion, life, and, of course, the perfect man! She knew a level of living that we will never know until we get to Heaven.  She also had a perfect and personal fellowship with the Creator of the world! She literally walked with God every day! She also knew God’s perfect will…God had given her a wonderful man, life, and environment for which she had been specifically created.

But all that changed one day, the day she allowed herself to listen to Satan.

It’s interesting, to me, the way that Satan worked in this story.  First of all, he found a way to sneak into a perfect Garden.  But, he had to be very subtle, indeed.  He couldn’t tempt that “dark place” inside Eve.  He didn’t attack her with her besetting sin, because she had never sinned!  No…he tempted her with what she already had.  He used the perfection around her and tempted her with it…he suggested that her life could be better than it already was.  That there was something else she needed to make her life even more perfect. 

And for some reason, she fell for it!  It seems so silly to us, yet, we do the same thing in our lives.  Many times, Satan uses our surroundings or the good things around us to tempt us.  He can turn our best intents and desires and use them to bring us down.

Eve grew discontent with her perfect life and wanted just a little bit more.  He made her second guess God’s will and take matters into her own hands.  In a moment of weakness and hesitation, Eve gave up what she wanted most for what she wanted at the moment! And the consequences were long-lasting.

If the devil would tempt perfect Eve with discontentment and doubt, then how much more will he try to temp us with such things?  He will try to sneak into our thoughts and desires and motives, just as he did with Eve, and cause to us become discontent with God’s blessings in our lives. 

Her Life and Times

Eve was the first woman ever. This means every feeling, emotion and experience she encountered had never happened before…she had no one to explain what it means to be a woman to her.  She had to face that pain and fear on her own. 

Eve was such a brave woman. She had faith in God and in her husband, but she also had inner strength as well. She was a fighter. She was the first woman to experience child birth!  She probably was so very scared. I imagine that while she was in labor, she thought about the sin she’d committed. She knew this was the consequence of her discontent and doubt. But she also knew that God was with her and that His Grace would help her thru the dark, painful times. 

Imagine what she must have felt when she looked at her baby boy for the first time?  She knew that the small child she held in her arms was proof of God’s grace! We may do some terrible things and grieve God, but He will never turn us away when we repent.  Yes,  we have to live with the consequences of our sin, but He will find ways to help us and let us know He’s always there.  He didn’t forsake Eve and He won’t forsake us!

Her Promise

“Sometimes, God’s grace is most often beautifully evident within His judgments.”

“When you’re at your lowest, on your knees before God’s judgment, never forget that His grace is still at work.”

Eve shows us grace in suffering and trials.  Even in our dark times, God is there right beside us, step by step.  What a truly amazing God we serve!

Her Legacy of Prayer

Eve’s story gives us the promise of a Redeemer who will come to crush the serpent’s head!  It also teaches that God had specifically created each and every one of us for a special and unique purpose, and we may have the tendency to mar that image and do our own will.  But God has a bigger purpose, and we must trust Him completely!

“I was made for Paradise.  The joys I now taste are infinitesimal compared to those that await me in Heaven.”  But, unfortunately, sin has made this earth completely opposite of Paradise!  But, in the midst of judgment and trials, God always is there and always offers hope. We must strive to not allow discontentment and doubt to keep us from Gods’ perfect will. God had a wonderful purpose in creating each of us and we must allow Him to help us reach that potential, in Him!

When Your Hut's On Fire

I received this story via forwarded email today, and it was just too good not to post! :) I hope that it means as much to you as it did to me!

When Your Hut's On Fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.  Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky.  He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost!  He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God! How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?"  asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal!" they replied.

The Moral of This Story:  It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad,  but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.

Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.  It just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

My Thoughts on God’s Wonderful and Perfect Will

“What is God’s will for my life?”

Probably the most asked question of Christians, young and old alike, in churches today.  The way to answer to this question has been preached, taught and drilled into our little brains by many a Sunday School teacher, missionary, and Youth Conference preacher, sometimes to the point of feeling like we are less of a Christian if we do not know the exact answer to this question.  I mean…God told that missionary or that preacher what His will was, so surely He will tell me as well, right?  And if you were raised anything like me, you heard a lot of wonderful stories about how God revealed His will to different people.  As a result, when I was a little girl, I would dream about what God’s will most surely would be for my life.  Perhaps He would call me to the darkest jungles of Africa, like Mary Slessor, and I would save orphans from being murdered and would be the greatest single woman missionary of our time.  Or, maybe, I would marry a wonderful Christian man, and together we would go to the Communist country of China and have books and movies written about us.  (I always dreamed big! What can I say?)  And as I dreamed, I had complete faith that God would make this all happen.

I’ll never forget the day that I realized my dreams were not God’s dream for my life.  I was 21 years old, and my world had pretty much crumbled around me.  Some very sad and terrible things were happening to me and my family, and I was as confused as I have ever been about life.  I would cry out to God, and ask him, “Why?  Why is this happening to me and my family?  What have we done to deserve this?”  And I never have felt so confused and hurt before.  This was NOT how life was supposed to go.  I truly thought that God had something else for my life…but now, I was hurting beyond belief at the hands of people that I thought loved me, and I couldn’t see God through the tears.

A lot of things happened and a lot of things changed in my life and in my family’s life, and I didn’t even know from one day to the next what was going to happen or where my life was going to go.  But somehow, I made it thru the days, and I now know that it was the daily grace of God.  There’s absolutely no way I could’ve done any of it without Him, even though I didn’t even realize it at the time.  I said all that to say this…now that I am on this side of that valley in my life, I can honestly say that I know 100% for sure that it was all in God’s will.  He has guided me along, day by day, and now, when I look back I can see the path that He has led me along and the changes He has made in me.  I’ve had many of those “look back and see one set of footprints in the sand” moments.  My life, so far, has most definitely been completely different than I ever imagined or dreamed that it would be, but I can honestly say that I’m glad it happened God’s way, and not mine. 

God’s will in my life hasn’t been a big revelation that was written in the sky, or a miraculous sign that he placed on my path.  God’s will has been a daily journey that I have been on since the day I got saved.  I don’t know what’s ahead, but I’m not too worried about it either.  God has done such wonderful things in my life and has led me in such amazing ways, that I can do nothing but trust Him for my future.  I know that it is different in everybody’s life, and God will work with us all in different and unique ways, but I just wanted to share my experiences.  So, to sum it all up, God’s will for my life is an uncertain future of trusting Him daily for every single thing.

Dancing on the...couch?

Have you ever just felt the need to break loose and do something crazy? And by crazy, I don't mean not putting the cap on your tube of toothpaste or drinking milk right out of the carton.  I mean, crazy, as in something you've never done before or something that requires you to step outside of your comfort zone and experience new things.  So I ask, have you done something crazy this week?

I had my crazy moment last night.  My girlfriends and I let out hair down, grabbed our microphones (which just happened to be remote controls for the TV), cranked up the music, and danced on the couch.  I probably will remember this moment for a long time.  Not just because of how goofy we looked or because of how AMAZING we sounded (emphasis and slight exaggeration added for dramatic effect), but because of how it felt to be with friends who know me and love me anyways.  We have had our ups; we've definitely had our downs, but it's these things that have made our friendships what they are today.  And I do not want to take a single moment I spend with them for granted.

Life is short and none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, so we need to be thankful today for what we have.  If we have people in our lives who love and accept us for who we are, we had best hold on tight and thank God everyday for His precious gift of friendship.

Life is an ever-changing process and God beings people into our lives to teach us things and to help us along life's path.  Just as a wind across the ocean can alter the path of a ship, so can one relationship, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be, change our lives forever!

So...go ahead, do something crazy, dance on the couch, and thank God for the crazy people jumping around with you!

Why Rain?

Rain….to some, rain is just an inconvenience.  It ruins their plans and completely ruins their day.  They sit by their windows and wait, some patiently and some impatiently, for the storm to pass and for the sun to come out so they can get on with their day.  To some people, rain means feeling depressed, sad, or lonely and it totally changes their attitude and outlook.  But to some, rain is the best thing that ever happened to them.  They can’t wait to be outside, running through the downpour and jumping in puddles and finding ways to make it the best day ever.  So what makes the difference in these situations?  Is it the time of day the rain is falling or the amount of rain that’s falling that determines one's outlook on it?  No!  Rain is rain, no matter where you go or what you do.  The difference is all in the heart of the person being rained on…

Life isn’t all sunshine and cloudless days.  Life isn’t a perfect journey that we all take and enjoy every experience along the way.  Life is about enjoying the sunshine and the rain and is about learning the lessons that God has for you along the way.  Sometimes the rain will fall and may seem like it’s never going to end.  God sends hard things our way to teach us lessons and to help us become the Christian He wants us to be.  But, I think He also wants us to learn how to enjoy life, no matter what we are going through.

I have had some of the darkest storms pass through my life, and I haven’t always felt very thankful for the dark clouds that God has placed over head.  But looking back now, I see that those dark and scary storms have made me the Christian and person I am today.  And I can honestly say I wouldn’t change those experiences for the world!  So this is blog is just some of my random thoughts about life in general and about how, every day, I’m learning to dance in the rain...