Tag: isaiah

Faithful

Good morning, friends. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday morning so far. I am sitting here this morning, Bible in hand (well, Bible open on the couch and pen and coffee in hand at this very moment), reflecting on my year. I am headed off to Savannah for an annual work conference this week that happened right around this time last year. What a difference a year has made.

I saw a friend’s Instagram post after the Great American Solar Eclipse. Her simple comment referencing the picture was so profound. She viewed the eclipse from Florida; and as anyone else that did the same from south Georgia or Florida knows, the picture was a bunch of clouds. Some grey, some white, but all just clouds. Her comment said something along the lines of [paraphrasing] “We didn’t see the Eclipse, but I know God was performing a miracle right behind the clouds.”

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

We serve an amazing God who knows, sees and has authority over all things. Just take the miracle of the eclipse for example; still amazing and significant even when unseen. He orchestrates things in our life outside of our power and understanding, even when we can’t see it happening.

Back to my reflection on this time last year..

I was in a tough place. Still wrapped up in a previous relationship that I should have allowed myself release from. Please don’t misunderstand, I thank God for that relationship because it taught me things about myself and Jesus that I treasure today. But the time for me to let go had come, and as usual *eyeroll*, I was refusing; exposing myself to new pain each day that I clung. I was directionless at the time, with no idea what was to come next in my life as far as purpose. I felt captive to my anxiety and fear. I remember laying in that hotel room bed, feeling lost and unsure of what to do to change my situation.

Through this year, as I have shared in previous posts, God has worked miracles in my life. Ones that probably seem small to a onlooker, but have moved mountains for me.

Today, I write while my precious significant other sits on the other end of the couch playing a video game (the manly kind of course *wink). I actually sat down to reflect and write because of his influence. This man is a God-send. If I could have pieced together a heart to compliment mine, it would be his. But to tell you the truth, we got together under tough circumstances. Really tough. The beautiful thing is, God took a broken situation and covered it in grace. So today, I sit here with this man overwhelmed with gratitude for God’s eclipse behind the clouds.

What else? I have direction. I may be unsure of my day to day steps right now, but I have vision of a career purpose and how to get there. I can honestly say if I had not walked through mental hell this year, I would not have come to this place of clarity concerning who I am and what I want. Thank you Jesus!

Anxiety and fear- the demon twins. To be honest, I am still in a back and forth with these two. I am in a valley season right now and its really hard. But, I have peace in knowing God is fighting for me. When I have exhausted all my efforts, He still stands strong. I will eventually defeat it for good; I am speaking and believing that this morning. In the meantime, I praise God for the victories in the daily battles and pray for peace in the losses.

“But I have trusted in Your unfailing love; My heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” Pslam 13:5-6

God works, even when we don’t see it friends. He always loves and always calls to us. I am praying for a mental victory today and thankful for the clarity and joy I have in Him. I  am praying for your need to be met, whatever that is.

Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness and thank you friends for reading today.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

Submit

Good morning! The weekend is here again. I am so excited! How will you be spending yours? I hope you will be honoring the beautiful mothers in your life; whether they are yours or someone else’s that inspire you. I adore my mama, and all of the amazing women that have played a mentor role for me throughout my life. You rock Moms!

So today we are going to be spending most of our time in 1 Corinthians. When you get some time today, please read 1 Corinthians 18-31. That will give you more meat backing up the passage we are about to chew on.

In 1 Corinthians 1:25, Paul writes, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” Paul is explaining here that God, the Creator of all things, has wisdom and strength far beyond what we as man are capable of. Meaning he has ability far beyond what we are capable of. You see, we are limited on this earth by time, space, age, mortality, etc. God is not.

Pride is a funny thing. If you are like me, when you think of pride you may think of arrogance or boastfulness. Two qualities that I don’t think I necessarily possess. So, I don’t struggle with pride, right? Wrong. Pride is responsible for me thinking I can take matters into my own hands and handle them better than God. Pride is the foundation of this conversation that I have regularly: “Lord, I know this will not play out this way because it just is not possible or logical. Trust me.”

Thank you Jesus for your Word that brings truth to my attention and forgive me of my pride. I am so thankful that it is not my ability that I need to lean on. God has made so many “impossible” things possible in my life. If you reflect for a bit, I am sure you can think of some things he has made possible in yours as well.

I have never related so much to Paul than I did when I read this passage today: “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)”. That is how I feel about this blog. I submitted this to God, and he pushed beyond my limits for his glory. So, why am I not eager to submit every other aspect of my life? Pride.

Holy Spirit, shower us in wisdom today! Friends, I hope you will join me in this challenge: Let’s step back, release control and let God be God. His ability is far beyond ours. We do not have to know how the situation will play out, because he does. If we will just let him move, we can rest knowing it is for our good and it will be greater than what we could have orchestrated ourselves.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Release control, let God be God, and watch what a mighty God we serve!