Trusting in the Lord

I received this from a co-worker and had been looking for a subject to do my devotional for our Ladies Meeting later this month. God made sure that she sent this to me just when I needed it. This is what my co-worker sent me later after I told her that I knew that He had her send that just for me.

It must have been meant for you. I received that email from my sister-in-law about the middle of last week and I was too busy to read it. I skimmed my email again first thing this morning and I still said, I’ll read it later. Well, around lunch time I got a pop up message from Kohl’s which led me to go into my email and I decided I would read that email now, and it was awesome I had to send it on.

TRUST GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR DAY:

Me: (in a tizzy): God, can I ask you something?
GOD: Sure.
Me: Promise you won't get mad?
GOD: I promise.
Me (frustrated): Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
GOD: What do you mean?
Me: Well I woke up late,
GOD: Yes
Me: My car took forever to start,
GOD: Okay....
Me (growling): At lunch, they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait
GOD: Hmmmm..
Me: On the way home, my phone went dead, just as I picked up a call
GOD: All right
Me (loudly): And to top it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak my feet in my foot massager and relax, but it wouldn't work.  Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
GOD: Well let me see..... The death angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life.  I let you sleep through that.
Me (humbled): Oh...
GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that might have hit you if you were on the road
Me (ashamed): ............
GOD: The first person who made your sandwich today was sick and I didn't want you to catch what they have, I knew you couldn't afford to miss work
Me (embarrassed): Oh.....
GOD: Your phone went dead because the person that was calling was going to give a false witness about what you said on that call, I didn't even let you talk to them so you would be covered
Me (softly): I see God
GOD: Oh and that foot massager, it had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I'm sorry God.
GOD: Don't be sorry, just learn to trust me.........in all things, the good and the bad
Me: I WILL trust you God
GOD: And don't doubt that my plan for your day is always better than your plan
Me: I won't God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
GOD: You're welcome child. It was just another day keeping my promises; I just love looking after my children.

Scriptural References: II Samuel 22:31, Proverbs 3:5, Hebrews 2:13

II Samuel 22:31

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Hebrews 2:13

And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

As you can see from the dialogue, it is really hard for us to trust Him. We get so caught up in our selfishness and day to day routines that we don’t stop to think that there might just be a reason that our pattern/routine was interrupted for that day. I am a HUGE grumbler when things do not go as I want them to. Notice I said, AS I WANT THEM TO. I am getting better at trusting that He is all knowing, all seeing and already there to make sure that I am safe and well taken care of. Let’s think about that for a minute. I’m imagining a large hand ever ready to shoot out and deflect all of the bad stuff of the world. Kind of like when our kid’s were little and us mothers were right there trying to shield them from all of that terrible stuff in the world. My Father is right there for me every second of every day.

I say to my husband all the time, we must not have been meant to do that and it has caught on with him too because he says it as well. It is hard to put that much trust in something and someone. You know though, when you accept Jesus, that’s what happens. It all gets taken care of. We may not think so at the time, but He is always in control and He always has a handle on everything in our lives. As I am writing this, I am thinking, how awesome it is that I have such a wonderful and loving Savior to be there for me every second of every day and how warm and cozy it feels in his loving arms.

This personal relationship with Jesus is what was behind this email being shared with the right person and then provided to me at just the right time. He is always on time, always.

December

It is hard to believe that the year is almost over.  This is my favorite time of the year.  We celebrate the Birth of our Lord and Saviour.  There is no better time! 

I was talking with my 12 year old daughter last night about the meaning of Christmas and how commercial everything has gotten.  People seem to have this inane drive to out do each other when they are gifting and it is mind boggling.  I LOVE small, homemade gifts.  They mean so much more to me than a sweater or a scarf. 

I haven't decided what I am doing for my extended family yet.  Hubby and I have differing opinions on this.  There are some underlying issues there though that cause the differing opinions, it's somewhat complicated.  I'll share that one of these days.

Right now, I am just trying to stay in His will for my life and to do all I can do to glorify Him with my every day life.  It amazes me how hard that is though.  There are soooo many worldly influences that it is so tempting to drop back into my old ways and thinking.  I find myself there all too often.  I try not to beat myself up about it though, because God is right there with me when I "snap out of it" and get back on the right track. 

I appreciate prayers as we are in between churches again.  I'm not sure what is going on, but I am waiting for direction.  I feel like I am being pulled back to my old church and I am having a hard time with obeying.  To be honest, it has been so nice to be home on a Sunday morning, but yet, I feel this nagging pull that I should be out and at church.  Prayer is needed in this situation and I pray that you will ask that the Lord makes things clear for me and for my family.

I have to share a miracle with you.  My boss came into my office a couple of weeks ago and told me this story.

He has a friend whose sister lost her 4 year old to cancer not too long ago.  The sister is railing at God as to why her baby had to go and has really lost all faith in God.  Not a good situation!  The family is devout Catholic, so this is really tragic for them.  Well, just recently, they found out their 13 year old son has a rare form of cancer.  They figured it out when he was injured playing sports and just wouldn't get better.  They saw the best doctor in Indiana for the cancer and were given a few options.  Well, with the family being as religious as they are, they brought in a trained healer.  The lady trained with Irish Nuns for several years in the art of healing.  She laid hands on him and prayed over him in the spots that he had tumors.  He went back to the doctor a week or so later and two of the 3 tumors were gone.  GONE!  How amazing is that!!  What a miracle!!  When they told the healer that two of the 3 were gone, she said of course they are, the other one will be gone in a couple of days too.  WOW!

So, I said to my boss, you know what.  Do you know why that all happened?  It was to restore mom's faith.  I sincerely believe God used that situation to work in mom's heart!  I also believe that the absolute and unwavering faith of the healer has touched so many.  Just look at this:  my boss shared it with me, I shared it with my husband and also posted the story on Facebook (I have 100 or so friends).  Now I am posting it here and perhaps you will share the story.  That's how He works!  What a story to use for witness!  Yowza! 

It truly touched me.  Obviously, because I am here sharing it with you, but just think about what it would be like to have the absolute, undoubting, unwavering faith of that healer!  I have it sometimes in some situations, but there are more times that my doubting Thomas side shows. 

Lord, I pray that you will help me and all who are reading this to have that unfailing, unwavering and absolute faith the healer has.  I pray Lord that everything we do will be done to your glory and that you will be praised in all that we do and say.  Lord, I thank you for the blessings that you have given me and these dear readers.  It is in your will and grace that I pray. Amen.

If you have a similar story or something you wish to share, please feel free to do so in my comments.  I would love to read your stories!

Hello friends!

We've been sooooooooooo busy!  No time for blogging for sure.  I have some time today because my baby girl is home sick with tonsilitis, a sinus infection and ear infection.  YIKES!  Twelve year olds can be really whiny when they don't feel well.  :-D  Please pray that the antibiotics work and she doesn't have to have her tonsils removed.  Eeps!

We've had some challenges with her and going to school.  I am hoping that this doesn't set her back.  Prayer for her schooling would be great as well.

I'll tell you one of my go to verses during these trials recently has been Psalm 18:2, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."  I am really leaning on Him heavily right now.  The school problems have caused financial problems and it just snowballs from there.  I have handed it all over to Him to get us through this valley...it really seems like a deep and wide one.  I hope there is an up side soon!

Thank you in advance for your prayers!!

In His Love,
Valerie

Creation Day 6

We are learning about Day 6 of Creation this Sunday in my class. It amazes me how the Lord created all of "this" in just 6 short days. Fascinating! Think of the complexities of everything. The complexity of the human body astounds me!

Genesis 1:24-31

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of teh earth after his king: and it was so.

He said it and it was done. How great is that!

25 And god made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

We are made in his image. Think about that. God is perfect and he makes no mistakes. You are just how he made you. That should make you stop and think a bit. If God is ok with you, you should be ok with you. He doesn't see the outside of you, he sees the inside of you. Aren't we grateful for that!! I know I am.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein tere is life, I have gien every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made and, behold it was very good. And the evening and the mornign were the sixth day.

Think about this passage the next time you are doubting if God will take care of you. He said "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth". He is saying, I will take care of you. Plain and simple. No matter what is going on in your life, if you have faith, God will be right there helping you along.

I'm so blessed with this opportunity to teach and learn at the same time. I thank the Lord every day for all the blessings that He bestows on me and my family. Even in the low times or valleys, He is still richly blessing us in one way or another. Just amazing to me. I can't even being to understand it, but you know what, I thoroughly believe that He is always there with me, ALWAYS.

Next time, I will post photos of our craft from Sunday. Should be fun.

Check out El Bethel's website in my links if you are looking for a home church. It is a wonderful, small old fashioned Baptist church with a congregation that is like family to us. We just love them all!

Until next we meet...