“Ready mom?” a lady said as she made her way toward us. The young woman, wearing a bright- colored scarf over her bald head, greeted me as her mother gathered up her knitting. Saying goodbye to the two women, I watched as they disappeared into the parking lot.
“How do you cope with all these unanswered questions and still smile?” she asked. My answer surprised her. “I don’t ask God why. I ask how? How God can you use this season to draw me closer to You?”
When our conversation ended, I thought about how Noah built an ark before a drop of rain fell; the Red Sea didn’t part until Moses put his foot in the water; and Esther used her gifts of diplomacy and compassion to save a nation.
Sometimes God uses little things to realign our focus on Him, like a spiritual check engine light that quietly guides us back on the path.
I found myself walking around the house telling God everything that was wrong and how yesterday’s circumstances had left me feeling so overwhelmed. The devil was clearly intervening in my quiet time. And the sad thing--I was letting him.
I was scheduled for an MRI one Monday morning. The nurse asked me two questions: “Do you have any metal parts inside you?” and, “Are you claustrophobic?” I answered “no” to both questions and confidently entered the room where the big drum of a machine was standing ominously in front of me.
My husband and I were trying to find the right place. The jazz concert had been moved to a different venue on campus, so it wasn’t happening here!
A simple truth received is often the “bringer” of God’s miraculous power in the life of anyone!
I had so much to do that day . . . that week . . . that month . . . that moment! Demands were pressing in on me from everywhere!
I sat down to read and turned on the table lamp beside me. As light spread across the table, I saw a fine white powder coated its surface and even the books resting there.
Have you ever pulled out a Bible verse to use because it fits what you want it to say? Then later, as you studied that passage more in depth, you realized it didn’t fit at all?
Offers for ways to live an abundant life are everywhere. If you just have this or do that, you will be fulfilled. Really?
What makes you feel ashamed? I hate making dumb mistakes, like smarting off without thinking before I speak. In the past, I made many choices that I’m ashamed of. And I still do today if I don’t set my heart on Jesus.
Is speaking God’s truth to strangers easier or harder than speaking to the people you know? If those you are with desire God’s truth, are you bolder in talking about it?
Are you blooming? The day I took this photo, I was sitting outside on the deck having time in the Word and kept looking at this new spring flag on our deck. I loved the vivid colors, but more than that I want to do what this says.
I have learned why my soul blesses the Lord.
David understood this too and says…
Now, after seeing God’s movement in healing, I am inspired to live in a new way.
Purifying. Refining.
These are godly words that sound good and they are good… in the end.
But have you been through it?
I have.
Refining can… hurt.
Recently, I was walking behind a grandmother holding her granddaughter’s toddler- hand.
The hands intertwined were a precious picture… two extreme ages, with the aged lending strength to stabilize the young.
The visual made me realize… aging is not what I expected.
I struggle with needing to feel… needed.
But sometimes this is a way that I make myself feel important.
It is a way of showing what I can do in my own strength… making it about me.
