This one is pretty old. I think I may have actually had the tract to this one when I was a teenager, but the words kept playing over and over again in my head and they speak so clearly to what I've been going through and what I'm feeling this morning.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
He Will Meet You In the Morning/Mourning
Last night or really very early this morning (and honestly for many nights for some time) I went to bed pleading with the Lord for and about some things, literally begging Him for answers, for His presence, for Him to rebuild some things in me that Satan has torn down over the last year and a half or so. As I prayed I pulled up the Bible App on my phone and began to read my Bible reading plan. At first it was just reading. There were several chapters from Isaiah. Then I got to Isaiah 40, which on the app is entitled "Comfort for God's People". In this chapter He began to speak to me right where I am. Isaiah 40:4-5 "Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed...." then Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Those verses I prayed and clung to for Josh after he was injured, but now the Lord was showing me that I must believe them for myself. Then my last chapter for that reading was Isaiah 41, where he led me back to some verses He's been bringing to mind lately and added some that I'd overlooked. Isaiah 41:10, 13-20 "So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, you worm of Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you," declares the Lord, YOUR REDEEMER the Holy One of Israel. "See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the Lord and glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on the barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." So, I was finally able to go to sleep around 12:30 with some peace that He was answering me. Then I woke up at 4:00. Not a good thing since I had to be up by 6:30 and have a very busy day, but I decided to make the most of it and get up and get some things done, but first I decided to go ahead and do my Bible Study for the day while it was quiet in the house. I've just begun a Bible Study Book in the "A Woman After God's Own Heart" Series by Elizabeth George entitled Walking In God's Promises. It's a character study of Sarah. I began to read lesson 2. Most of this lesson was a reminder of Sarah's lack (bareness) and God's promises to her and Abraham. In the middle of the lesson it asked that you identify the lack, sorrow or missing element in your own life. Then at the end of the chapter it asked that you revisit whatever you'd identified, read verses of promise and apply them to your situation. It is here that I knew He was meeting me....reminding me of promises that I'd let go of or had become distant to me. I wept as I read them and wrote my applications. Psalm 23:1, Psalm 34:8-10 and Psalm 84:11 all reminded me that He WILL meet my needs. Then came the verses that I will be clinging to and reminding myself of as He walks me through this process of healing and growing: Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminded me that He WILL make EVERYTHING beautiful in HIS TIME and He WILL put eternity in my heart. Philippians 4:13 I can do ALL things through Christ who STRENGTHENS me...(even walk through this process in His timing) and 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has OVERTAKEN you, except what is common to man, but God IS faithful, who WILL NOT allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation WILL also make a way OUT (the way of escape) that you may be able to bear it." Which reminded me that even though I have felt consumed and defeated at times, it's not true because He will not allow me to be overtaken.
Honestly, I know I still have a long way to go. I am a work in progress and this is part of my process, but I was reminded that He will answer me, it may not be when I want it, but it will come in His time and my friend, He will do the same for you.
(P.S. If you know me well, then you know that He often speaks to me through music and oftentimes words trigger the memory of songs. I thought of several as I posted this, so I'll post those lyrics or youtube videos in seperate posts.)
Honestly, I know I still have a long way to go. I am a work in progress and this is part of my process, but I was reminded that He will answer me, it may not be when I want it, but it will come in His time and my friend, He will do the same for you.
(P.S. If you know me well, then you know that He often speaks to me through music and oftentimes words trigger the memory of songs. I thought of several as I posted this, so I'll post those lyrics or youtube videos in seperate posts.)
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Long Time No Blog.....and a HUGE Sigh of Relief
I've been such a blogging slacker for so very long now and honestly so much has happened since I blogged last that I can't even imagine where to start now. However, I will restart....I had too big a scare not to. You see some way, some how, Google all of a sudden thought I'd submitted a birthday that showed I was too young to have a blog. That's completely baffling to me considering the fact that I've had a blog for YEARS and am not exactly close to being underage.....AAAANNNDDDD......the only ways to verify my age to them were by giving them my credit card number or a copy of my drivers license. I wasn't comfortable with either of those options and meant to check into, but I forgot. Soooooo......they deleted my account and I was notified that it was not recoverable. Which means I lost my blog! I was sick and in tears because I'd never backed it up or saved the info elsewhere (with the exception of a few posts on FB and the posts over at the blog that started it all www.homeschoolblogger.com/pretzelfamily ). I tried everything to get in touch with them to no avail....or so I thought. Today.....weeks after it initally happened....I received notification that if I would verify my age they would reactivate my google account. I have definitely spent some time rejoicing and will soon spend some time backing it all up........
Monday, October 3, 2011
Messages for Mamas
I posted this on my Facebook status, but wanted to elaborate here.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24
I think we all (including myself) occasionally need this reminder. When I am serving my family, I'm serving the Lord and I need to walk through every task throughout every day, not as if it's a burden, but as if it is a privilege to serve my Lord through serving my family. When I first learned this lesson as a young Mom, there would be days that I would repeat to myself over and over (usually while doing the much dreaded task of laundry) that "When I'm serving my family, I'm serving the Lord." I think that often the attitude in which we serve our family is very indicative of the attitude we also have while serving the Lord. Especially when He asks of us things that we don't necessarily want to do.
"Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless." Philippians 2:14-16
Some translations use the word grumbling in place of complaining. I think it's easy to get frustrated with changing diapers, washing clothes, cleaning a room for the 2nd and 3rd time in a day, taking care of meals, paying bills....the list could go on and on. It's a LOT of work to be a Mama. What we have to remember, though, is that just like any other ministries (and maybe even more important than others), the ministry of motherhood, is one that He has called us to. Being a Mama and wife is a calling. When we walk through life grumbling and complaining about the tasks that are involved as a wife and mother, we are complaining about the very thing that God has called us to.
"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right." 1 Samuel 12:23
While the previous verse is speaking about praying, it also serves as a reminder that when we sin against others it's as if we are directly sinning against God. That means that when you've snapped at your children or your husband, you've snapped (yelled, etc.) at the Lord.
By the same token, Matthew 25:40 says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" Which also means that all of the good things we do for our family, we do unto the Lord. When we serve our family with gladness, we serve the Lord with gladness. I heard a definition several years ago that really stuck with me. It was that Obedience is doing what you're told, when you're told with a right heart attitude. I believe I read that in relation to parenting, but I've learned over the years that often I need the very lessons that I'm trying to teach to my children. If I raise my children with a rotten attitude, have I truly been obedient to the Lord. Is that really what He was asking of me?
The Word of God also tells us to "Choose you this day, whom you will serve..." Joshua 24:15
We must die to our flesh (our selfish selves) daily and with our attitudes we make a choice who we will serve each day. Who will you serve today?
P.S. If you ever get a lesson that proves to you that you're doing things wrong, handling things in the wrong way, it is soooooo important to remember that Conviction comes from the Lord to lovingly teach us to walk in His ways. Grab those lessons and learn from them. However, if those lessons make you feel guilty, like you're not good enough or make you feel like a failure, remember that guilt is not from the Lord and it can often be bondage that keeps you from being able to move forward. Take on the lesson, learn from it, ask the Lord to forgive you and work your way to walking out what you've learned. Remember that we don't learn everything overnight. We don't expect our children just to hop up and walk one day, it takes practice and little by little you will get there.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24
I think we all (including myself) occasionally need this reminder. When I am serving my family, I'm serving the Lord and I need to walk through every task throughout every day, not as if it's a burden, but as if it is a privilege to serve my Lord through serving my family. When I first learned this lesson as a young Mom, there would be days that I would repeat to myself over and over (usually while doing the much dreaded task of laundry) that "When I'm serving my family, I'm serving the Lord." I think that often the attitude in which we serve our family is very indicative of the attitude we also have while serving the Lord. Especially when He asks of us things that we don't necessarily want to do.
"Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless." Philippians 2:14-16
Some translations use the word grumbling in place of complaining. I think it's easy to get frustrated with changing diapers, washing clothes, cleaning a room for the 2nd and 3rd time in a day, taking care of meals, paying bills....the list could go on and on. It's a LOT of work to be a Mama. What we have to remember, though, is that just like any other ministries (and maybe even more important than others), the ministry of motherhood, is one that He has called us to. Being a Mama and wife is a calling. When we walk through life grumbling and complaining about the tasks that are involved as a wife and mother, we are complaining about the very thing that God has called us to.
"As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right." 1 Samuel 12:23
While the previous verse is speaking about praying, it also serves as a reminder that when we sin against others it's as if we are directly sinning against God. That means that when you've snapped at your children or your husband, you've snapped (yelled, etc.) at the Lord.
By the same token, Matthew 25:40 says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" Which also means that all of the good things we do for our family, we do unto the Lord. When we serve our family with gladness, we serve the Lord with gladness. I heard a definition several years ago that really stuck with me. It was that Obedience is doing what you're told, when you're told with a right heart attitude. I believe I read that in relation to parenting, but I've learned over the years that often I need the very lessons that I'm trying to teach to my children. If I raise my children with a rotten attitude, have I truly been obedient to the Lord. Is that really what He was asking of me?
The Word of God also tells us to "Choose you this day, whom you will serve..." Joshua 24:15
We must die to our flesh (our selfish selves) daily and with our attitudes we make a choice who we will serve each day. Who will you serve today?
P.S. If you ever get a lesson that proves to you that you're doing things wrong, handling things in the wrong way, it is soooooo important to remember that Conviction comes from the Lord to lovingly teach us to walk in His ways. Grab those lessons and learn from them. However, if those lessons make you feel guilty, like you're not good enough or make you feel like a failure, remember that guilt is not from the Lord and it can often be bondage that keeps you from being able to move forward. Take on the lesson, learn from it, ask the Lord to forgive you and work your way to walking out what you've learned. Remember that we don't learn everything overnight. We don't expect our children just to hop up and walk one day, it takes practice and little by little you will get there.
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