Genesis 8:22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Deuteronomy 11:13-15 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today–to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul–then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Psalm 94:19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-5 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, . . .
Isaish 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (TROUBLE. . .depression, anxiety, bullying, bills, criticism, and so forth. . . Troubles can be anything!)
James 1:17-19 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
James 5:13, 16-18 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. . .Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Anxiety and depression take many forms and many people suffer with these issues. Someone looking in on their life may be surprised and wonder, ‘What does he/she have to worry about, be depressed about?’ No one has the ability to know what is going on in another’s thoughts and heart. Sometimes with probing and counseling the root may be discovered and dealt with, but not always.
But there are so many lives who have been affected by suicide, insecurity, eating disorders, acting out and abusive behaviors, often times to self, but also toward others. We live in a time fraught with comparison, shaming, bullying, and often with just chemical imbalances. Anxiety, depression and many other psychological disorders are prevalent. And they seem more frequent with different seasons. Many get gloomy and depressed in the late Fall and Winter months with the prolonged darker days, the cold and decreased desire to walk in the elements. SADD, or seasonal affective disorder is a fairly common ailment amongst many, including myself.
For me, anxiety normally only rears its ugly head in the late fall and during winter, until about mid-February (at least living here in this more temperate area). That is an improvement as when I lived in the New England states, I got anxious and uneasy starting in early to mid-October and it would last until mid-April. I am blessed as living in NC my anxiousness and depression is much less. But it still is there and is a struggle for those few months–weeks really, but certainly easier for me to tolerate. I am unsure of why–I know we have a few more minutes on each side of sunrise and sunset to gain a few minutes of daylight compared to those more northern states. We are closer to the equator, so gain a few more daylight minutes. But I also believe it is because over the years, I have moaned, groaned, and complained about this issue to God knowing the concern my family and friends have for me over this time period, and He has guided me to have less problems when dealing with it now.
Anyway, as soon as we change those clocks back, I begin the countdown to December 22, then I can excitedly look forward to gradual lengthening daylight hours. Yay.
The end of December through end of February, one usually sees more dolphins, and there are frequent sightings of young dolphins learning to surf the waves and leap a bit out of the water. I have been blessed over the years to catch brief sightings of whales traveling by. Love to see that! All of that lightens my heart and brings a burst of thankfulness to Him for all He has blessed me with.
My birdfeeders are full of sparrows, chickadees, a few cardinals, and I still get a few red winged blackbirds and pigeons. So, my winter days are still full of blessings, rich blessings with the sunny days, the views of dolphins playing and jumping in the ocean, the loveliness of the Sound, and good health.
God is so good. He knows I never did well with New England winters. . . way too much snow, gray, gloom for me. Loved the first, possibly second snowfall, then I was done. Too dismal, chilly, and dark for me. But He made sure we were placed in North Carolina, and we have a bit of the four seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter, and yet, the weather is much less severe, and although has its cold days, is not as frigid as NE. There seems to be more clear, sunny days, and I feel positive and thankful. He put me in the best place for me.
So, for a few weeks, I deal with the short days and dark nights, but then comes December 22 and 23, and I am almost positive I can see the days lengthening out. It’s an early Christmas blessing.
I am blessed. My anxiety has an end point, it has certainly occurred often enough that I know the symptoms, I try to get out and exercise, be with friends and so look forward to December and watching each day for the gradual lengthening of daylight. But many others have a much more severe struggle than mine. It is a struggle to get out of bed, to see much of a future, they feel or think they are unworthy and do self-punishment acts–cutting, eating disorders, drugs, alcohol and other things. I believe Jesus can heal each of these people if they would seek Him, ask Him to come and help them and truly believe He wants to help. He does. He wants none to suffer and He wants to heal and comfort. But He needs to be asked.
With Jesus’ birth we received the greatest gift and blessing of all time. If we believe in Him as the Son of God and that He came to free us from death by forgiving our sins, on our physical death, we spend eternity with Him, God the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven. How exciting! I tend to hang on to the Light of knowing that during the winter dark days, and just anticipate the blessings and bounty of spring then.
Knowing He is my Light also helps me get through those days that have a bit too much night darkness. What a wonderful Gift that is, to have His Light. Thank You, Jesus for bringing me to the best place for me for this season of life, and for always guiding me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Psalm 51:16-17 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, do not despise.
Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals hidden transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Jeremiah 7:21-23 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, and add your burnt offerings to you other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command. Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.
Ezekiel 18:22-23 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that should turn from his way and live?
Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
Matthew 9:13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
Acts 8:22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
Hebrews 10:4-10 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me, with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.” First, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them—though they were offered in accordance with the law. The he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In the Old Testament there were many, many laws. I am sure I would have been sent from the disgrace and never to return. I would not have been able to keep many of the laws and judgments. But with all the laws and precepts and the additional laws the various religious leaders called for, they were all missing the point. God did not want the “pleasing aroma” of a ox, sheep, goat, or grain or any other burnt offering. He wanted the people to realize that a life, albeit an animal’s life, but a life had been given for THEIR sin. They were responsible for the death of some innocent animal. I would have been heart-broken to see this ceremony of even one, but to know that many were being slaughtered, would have been unbearable.
I cannot even imagine the terror for these poor creatures. They could smell that blood and death, and it is not comforting. I feel so badly when I think of how often this happened, the number of slaughtered creatures, and yet no one, it seems, realized it was for THEIR sin. I am sure if it crossed their mind, it was with the thought, ‘I can continue to sin, there are more animals, and at least, for now anyway, I am forgiven.’ I don’t know if anyone got the point God was instilling. ‘An animal, a living, breathing, innocent creature has to die for your sin—you need to truly repent and turn to Me and give Me your heart, to truly seek Me.’
Once Jesus came and the people closest to Him and the religious boastfuls saw Him and His actions and his free love, grace, and healing and forgiveness, they got angry. They wanted this man GONE. Afterall, they were able to suck funds from the coffers, they wore, impressive robes with all sorts of identifying, bragging paraphernalia on them. They liked being watched, admired, envied and were so arrogant, they became infuriated with this upstart. He had to go. Certainly, all could see that He was causing ruckus after ruckus, and after all, ‘THERE ARE LAWS THAT MUST BE KEPT!’
But many of the people living in the area at the time were able to spend time with Him, and they were able to believe, or at least wondered with more of a leaning that He might truly be from God. Afterall the Jews had waited for 4000 years for the Messiah. I think many doubted he would ever come, so therefore, it was easy to discard the possibility, with all the miracles, healings, love, and grace shown to doubt. Many in the Jewish faith are still waiting, although not all, as many have also believed in the Savior and lead others to the facts of Jesus.
But those who believed during the few months, about 36 that Jesus walked and talked, teaching and healing and saying things only God could say, performing miracles, and calling people to repentance, to go and sin no more, many, many of those believed. Most were fairly simple men, not overly well educated, although a couple were, but they lived with him, loved him, followed him, and chose to stay with him. He had touched their hearts, given their hearts.
And that is what God always wanted. He wants our hearts. He wants us to be fully repentant of our sins, truly seeking Him to follow and obey Him. Verbal mutterings are not enough, just words. He wants us to LOVE him, to seek him deeper and deeper, have a true relationship with him, to value his words, and his guidance, and to change our behavior to be more like him.
But giving him our heart is the only way to open the door to a relationship, a genuine following, and life of assurance, trust, truth, and growth. Forgiveness and the knowledge you are loved more deeply that you can imagine.
Oh, my Father, thank You for sending Your Son, the only sacrifice. His death truly did free us from our sins, and it was not some ceremonial rite—this was a truly blemish free Lamb who took on all our sins, to give us eternal life with God. Thank You for your amazing gift and sacrifice for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Job 17:9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.
Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
1 Timothy 4:15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
While researching for this blog post, I found a great article. It was in Crosswalk.com, written by Jennifer Heerin entitled God is Pleased by our Progress not Perfection published January 27, 2017. I’m so thankful I found it.
Do you make commitments to change something on New Year’s? Very rarely have I done that. Mostly because I make a “habit” of changing something throughout the year….and usually fail and revert back to the old before very long. For example, I smoked for several years. I would pick a favorite number and decide to quit on that numbered day of a certain month. There was extra certainty if that number landed on a Monday—first day of a new work week, so that much power in the date chosen. Nope, could just as easily fail.
I generally was not controlled enough to stick with my improvement decisions for long. So, if I could not stick to it on regular days, why would I risk a bigger failure choosing to change something in the New Year? There are still areas I work on and try to become better at, or give up things that are less healthy for me to deal with, and I believe that will be a lifelong process. But certainly, and thankfully, smoking is no longer on that list. There are a few other things that have been mastered over the years, but again, not given up on that brand new start of a new year.
I do try to choose a word for each new year. I want a word that will remind me I need to grow and improve in an area. A couple years ago, I chose ‘open’ as I needed to be more open to people and new experiences, to other ideas and be able to show them the truth in the Word; and I also needed to try to force myself to be approachable as well as easier and quicker when approaching others. For decades, I allowed whatever to hold me back from greeting and seeking others. (Yuck, how much did I lose with THAT behavior?) However, it was work and a great effort for me to push away from my shyness, hesitancy, and nerves. And when I would feel myself holding back, hesitating, or even getting ready to retreat, the Holy Spirit would remind me of the word ‘open.’
In all honesty, occasionally I would retreat, get to my car, then scold, tell myself to stop being a ninny, and go back in…and I’d go back in. And always had a pleasant experience. Imagine that! There were other times, when remembering my word and my intent for the year, I’d go forward and the warmth of another was a “reward” in a way. (Not a big deal for most others, but it was a chore for me to go forward and not choose to duck out.). My relationships with others grew, I gained some confidence, and had some real nice experiences.
So, this year, I will choose a word that is pertinent and see what the following of that will bring. It’s a way for me to see progress, writing the word, reminding myself of the word, and following His lead.
So, just a thought, but do you do anything special for a new year? Happy New Year to all with abundant blessings.
Thank You, Lord, for all You do for ‘me and mybellaviews.’
Isaiah 53:1-12 This entire verse is all about how Jesus died for OUR sins, gave His life so we could be forgiven and have eternity with Him, His Father, and the Holy Spirit. He willingly and silently underwent the pain, the humiliation and death which we deserved, but He did not.
Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children
Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins
John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believe is him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation of our sins’ and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the “life of the Lamb slain from the foundations of the world.
Christmas is the time when folks think about gifts. I don’t know a lot about folks living in third world countries, as my understanding is most of them have to worry about feeding, clothing and giving shelter to their children. They must hope for medical care when their children get very ill. I’m not sure there is anything to left to give to these poor people. Maybe it is some of these people who have children blessed by one of the Samaritan purse gifts…I truly hope so, but I don’t know. Primary needs outweigh the luxury of gifts all the time, as it should be.
I was always excited from Thanksgiving to Christmas as a kid. I loved shopping for the perfect gifts for my parents and grandmother and brother. My brother was the easiest to shop for—we read the same books, had the same friends, and did lots of the same things. My grandmother was also fairly easy to gift, but I would struggle more with buying for my parents.
So I did enjoy shopping and gifting, but I loved and eagerly anticipated my own gifts, and the excitement of opening mine. My family attended church Christmas Eve, then coming home we were allowed to open one gift and then the rest for the morning.
But there was an abundance of gifts around that tree for six persons living in that home. How blessed—how spoiled. It was hard to imagine those persons who did not celebrate the same, and with the abundance we had. I still buy abundance for my family, which partly brings shame. Why do I feel the need to offer so much when there are so many truly doing without? Yes, part of me feels strongly that it is the amount of love and thankfulness I have for them. But the thankfulness goes to God. He provided me with the wonderful family and friends I’ve been blessed with, and I am thankful. But we live in rich country and my friends and family truly do not NEED me to purchase anything for them. They are all employed and comfortably set.
As I became older, I traveled. And then it was easier to see how RICH our country is financially. There is so much money in this country and we forget those who are huddled in a hut with six young children, struggling to feed and water them, keep them healthy and so forth.
I took a wonderful trip to Cancun one winter, thoroughly enjoyed it. But signed up for a day trip to surrounding areas, including stalagmites and a distillery, and to Chichen Itza. All were impressive. But what stuck with me was driving along the road and seeing huts and gravel yards, with skinny dogs and persons, children, and mothers, only an occasional man but abundantly poor. These were struggling persons living and eeking out a living, trying to feed children and poor pet dogs.
My guilt and pity and sympathy soared. I wish I could really say empathize—but never have I struggled with those true struggles, so I can’t fully empathize. I was on vacation, staying in a luxurious resort, how for a day. . .while these people were living and throwing scraps to dogs and they looked awful, with ribs prominent, posture hunched, tails tucked under, with just an occasional uplift and slow, uncertain wag.
My heart ached. Here I was experiencing a lovely, spoiling vacation, being pampered in any way I chose, and these poor people and families were struggling to feed and house themselves.
Anyway, I returned with a new perspective that so many DID NOT LIVE and enjoy the same things many in our country do. There is NO reason to give such abundance to those I love who can also afford.
So, I began to consider the abundance of gifts my Lord has handed to me. I am blessed with good health, good eyesight with glasses—and I can groan in frustration if one of my MANY pairs of readers are not within reach—good hearing, reasoning ability, a wonderful family of three hard working, employed, family oriented, loving grown children, four wonderful grandchildren I adore, and am blessed to live in a wonderful home, a great neighborhood and close neighbors and friends, and have had experienced some marvelous experiences throughout my life. There is NO question I have been blessed—and those are HIS gifts for us.
His gifts to us. . .WOW, where can I begin? He gives life, He has given me the friends, family, children, and eyesight, hearing, general health, my pets, and on and on. I was married to a good and loving man until he died several years ago. I have a hoe that is nice and comfortable and accessible to the ocean and sitting on the beach within 60 seconds of leaving my home and crossing the street, my parents were the epitome of a loving, close couple, I am still close to siblings, and maintain friendships from my childhood. He has gifted me with all of that. He, my Lord, my Savior has blessed me. . . .abundantly. Even when I have made mistakes, jumped the gun, not waited for His direction because I was determined I was right, and I wanted what I wanted. . .
Yet, He still worked it out for my best. My God has gifted me abundantly. First, and foremost, He gave His life to free me from the sin of death and separation from Him and the gift of being able, the gift, the precious knowledge of living with Him, God, and the Holy Spirit in heaven. So, I can list many, many gifts You have given me. But the greatest of all is not material. It is the precious gift of eternity with you, an eternal, everlasting life with You in heaven—I cannot imagine heaven, but You have given it to me. Because of your precious, humble birth with a good young soman, chosen by God and her loving and understanding, obedient mate, You came into this world to give us the greatest GIFT—You, and your humble death on the cross, to give us the GIFT of eternity in heaven with YOU and the rest of the God head, so we are freed from our sins as long as we believe You died to save us from our sins, and You are the Son of God, are a part creator of the world and we choose to follow You as our Savior and Lord, You have given us the GIFT of life eternal.
Jesus left His kingdom in heaven to come to earth to walk among the suffering and poor, and then to teach and give His followers the Truth, the Light and the Way, and willingly gave His life to save all who believe in Him. Our greatest gifts are not of this world, not material things. They are the gifts we obtain from Jesus’ willing sacrifice to die on the cross, sinless, to take on all of our sin so we can be freed to live in heaven if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and recognize he is God and died to free us.
My Lord, You are the greatest gift ever. Thank You for all You have given to me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope. then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7,8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Deuteronomy 6:16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.
Romans 8:26-28 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Friendships and deeper relationships need a foundation of trust. Trust is needed before the relationship can grow and develop. And it takes time to build trust. Persons who are not in the friend category, you generally are not sharing anything except ‘how’s the weather’ type of topics, so then don’t really need trust. If it is a cashier, you might glance at and mentally have tallied what your change will be, but that is it. There is no sharing of deep secrets, and intimate feelings. There is no real investment with that exchange or relationship with that person.
But friends and friendships are totally different. Those you consider friends are closer and more trusted than the many acquaintances you have. Acquaintances are casual, not close, not anyone you have shared your heart and deeper feelings with. You have not built the needed trust to risk your heart, to expose vulnerabilities. Those are important relationships and take time and require a foundation, a sturdy, not leaky foundation. And until you have a firm foundation, you don’t share the most intimate details of your life—good or bad.
I think most of the women in my circles tend to be trusting when they initially meet someone, and will give the benefit of doubt until and unless someone breaks the trust. That does not mean they initially share the stuff they keep in their “personal closet” but they maintain an open mind and attitude toward new folks.
There are a myriad ways to break trust—gossiping, lying, consistently making plans and not showing up, stealing, saying hurtful things—not necessarily a lie, but a deep jab, using someone’s weakness or sensitivity against them. It’s been a long time, thankfully, that I have been with females who behave like that, but I well remember the cliques in high school and the mean-spirited, hurtful thrusts.
And all good relationships take time to develop. It often takes time for us to build and trust in Jesus. Oftentimes, this is even more difficult for some as you can’t see Him. You don’t always hear a verbal guide, promise, or loving comment. You have to open the Bible, to study WHO His word says He is, and test it. He stands by His word, His promises. He encourages you to test His word. Our God is steady, sturdy, stable, and substantial. But, like all relationships, we sometimes need to test if He will really be there, will really rescue and guide us. That is from our uncertainties because of other previous “human” relationships we have had during our life. All humans are fallible and they sometimes disappoint and let us down. We have learned to be at least a little mistrustful, hesitant, guarded. . .and we ask (can it REALLY be? He wants me, He chose me? Me?)
And yes, He chose even me! All this doubt, uncertainty comes until you know in your heart, mind and soul, that YES, HE WANTS YOU! HE LOVES YOU. He knows who you are—all your faults, flaws, sins, and muck and mire…He knows, and is so thankful that You chose Him back. He’s always chosen you, and He waited patiently for YOU to choose HIM.
The delay was on you. God loves unconditionally and waits steadfastly for us to realize He loves us, and wants to love and embrace us. He is consistent, steady, loving, forgiving, and wants to support us and give us rest always. The mistrust comes from us—our past has hindered or experienced broken trust relationships. It may have started as very young children seeing “loving” parents fight, hurt, and create havoc in a home, being told that parents love one another, then seeing/hearing/witnessing the opposite of any kind of love and respect.
It may have been a friend who lied, gossiped, ridiculed you; it may have been a peer, someone you worked with who ‘stole’ your work and passed it off as their own; it may have been a sibling stealing something you valued, or lying about something in which you were punished, but they were not. Our mistrust is caused by people, not by God, yet, because we don’t see Him, sit on His lap, and fully trust what we can’t see, we doubt. And sometimes our prayers are not answered in the manner we prayed and wished for—someone died and we expected, wanted their full recovery, someone is living with addiction, and because we know God’s word says ‘Ask, Seek, Knock and you will receive’ (Matt 7:7,8) we expect immediate gratification to what we pray for. So we begin to question the bond of trust. (When, God, when? The promise is….) But God knows all, and it is not always according to OUR wishes, OUR agenda or timeframe.
We frequently need to see Him be steadfast and sturdy and experience the evidence of Him being in our life, before we fully trust. Listening to what He says when we pray can help us become more trusting. We may have to wait, the answer may be different than what we prayed for, and we are left feeling adrift, lost, hurt and confused.
We don’t know God’s mind, but we do know He has good plans for us, plans to prosper and not to hinder (Jeremiah 29:11). But when we don’t always see the results of our prayers, we wonder, maybe wander a bit away from His truth, staying on the fringes, but the bonds of trust have weakened. We are a people of wanting immediate gratification.
Early in my walk with Jesus, I would test frequently. It was the story of Gideon in Judges 6:30-36 which had me walking forward and saying “I accept.” So for a long while, I tested. “God, I’m not sure if this is right, the path You want me to follow, so . . . If this is what You want, then this will happen, but if You want this, then another will happen.” I was new, not in a strong church with bible studies, and so on, so I was not reading the bible often, and when I was, my mind danced in dizzying circles trying to understand the KJV and proper English. So I depended on the “fleece” results for years.
I had some good Christian friends, bought a different, easier to understand bible, and found a new church in the area I had moved. Let me tell you how shocked and apologetic I was to read, “You should not test the Lord your God.” (Matthew 4:7, Deuteronomy 6:16). . . Aw-oh!
But I grew in my knowledge of who He is, and who I am to grow toward. I attended bible studies, hung with other Christian women, continued reading and seeking. As I grew in my knowledge, trust deepened. So then it was relationship rather than scary deity. I became secure He loved me—not that there were not periods when I felt He was silent, (are You furious with me, Have You left me forever?) but I learned the issue was mine. I was the one who had messed up the relationship, and needed to examine how, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to correct it and exactly what I did wrong. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to answers, uncovers hidden sins, blockades to deeper relationship with God. It is the Holy Spirit who puts verses in our minds, Counselor, Romans 8:26-28,Phil 4:4,6-7 John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father and He will give you advocate to help you and he will be with you forever.”
I do trust in this relationship and in His word. I share them when I can and believe in His promises. I may never see some of the things I am praying for come to pass—all family members being saved, but even if they accept when I am in the everlasting home, promise kept.
Thank You, God. You patiently let me examine the bricks of trust in this relationship and You just kept adding to them, until my whole heart was in. Thank You that I am so much less mistrustful and hesitant now. You have opened me to many wonderful friends and adventures. Thank You for all You continue to do for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Hi, I'm Kathy. Welcome to my website!