Obedience

I thought it would be fitting to take a day and reflect on 2010... so I did. Just before Christmas I woke up bright and early and drove up to a canyon, hiked out to the edge and watched the sun rise. AWESOME!!! The rest of my day was much of the same... Some of my best times with God have been in the car, just me and Him. So, I spent a couple of hours that day just driving and talking with God. Most of the day I spent just sitting and reading His word. I bounced around the Bible, prayed... slept a little :) Read and prayed some more...

I have to say I was a tad disappointed... I kind of thought if I spent a day with God He would tell me all kinds of amazing things. But He didn't... He showed me a couple things that I needed to fix. But I think my day was about simply slowing down. (Those of you that know me know that I love my busy life. If it isn't busy I find something to make it busy.)

I guess if there is one word to summarize 2010 for me it is "Obedience". My first blog post of 2010 said my New Year's resolution was "...simply to follow God. Less arguing and more listening..." And although I can't say I didn't argue at all... I did listen... and oh the places God took me! It all started with a u-turn to a new church and ended the year by moving across the state. Leaving nearly everything that comforted me; job, friends, church, routine. 

I still don't know what God has in store for me in this desert... but I know He is faithful... and He doesn't call us to go someplace if He doesn't have something incredible planned for us there. 

Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 

Romans 1:5

A Bible Bath Lesson in Friendship

Some people like to take Bubble Baths... I prefer to take a Bible Bath. One of the simple joys in life is relaxing in the tub while taking in some of God's word. 

My latest lesson from the lavatory... I love it when God shows me something in my reading that I have never seen before. This time it came from the book of Job. I have read the book of Job before... it is one of the staple hard knock life stories from the Bible. You can't help but read this book and be thankful for where your life is. This time however, God decided to show me a different side of the book of Job... it started with 3 little verses. 

When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. 

Job 2:11-13

This is nothing short of a lesson in true friendship. I think this speaks to the kind of man Job truly was. He had three extremely close friends, so close that when they heard the trouble that Job was in they all agreed that they must go to him. Their only plan was to go sympathize with him and comfort him. I believe this means they just wanted to go love on him. Think for a moment of your close friends, who would you drop everything to go to? Who would do the same for you? 

From a distance they saw Job... and could hardly recognize him. Instead of turning around and going back home they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. At first I thought "Why would they have done that?" I relate it to me when I'm having a bad day (and Job was having a doosey of a bad day). I can imagine if it were me I would be sitting at home, face red from crying, makeup streaked down my face, hair not fixed, probably not showered, in my comfy fat clothes. How well would I receive my friends knocking on my door if they were all made up and looking their best?! HA! I don't think I would even answer the door!! I think his friends wanted him to be comforted by them, not irritated by them. 

What they did next is pretty amazing... "they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." v. 13. Imagine that... they just sat with him, probably cried with him... but didn't say a word to him. They really just wanted to be there with him. They knew he just needed friends, not advice, not a lecture and certainly no one telling him what is wrong in their lives. They knew his suffering was great. 

I wonder if I am that kind of a friend? Would I be able to sit for seven days and not offer my two cents? Probably not... 

God, help me be the kind of friend to people you want me to be. Even if it means keeping my mouth shut! 

From the Fast Lane

Well... I did it... I listened, obeyed... whatever you want to call it. I made the big move. God has taken me from the fast lane to a screeching halt. I believe it is called "being still and knowing He is God". Easier said than done...

It has been almost a year now since I made the decision to just listen to God and not ask questions.

So here I sit... jobless, answer-less, and yet hopeful. God has proven himself to be faithful time and time again... why should this time be any different?

I think it's only fitting to repeat one of my favorite verses...

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future."

 Jeremiah 29:11

I have spent the past 4 years looking at plans that were drawn, approved and built by a team of architects, engineers and contractors. I am so thankful that when it comes to the plans for my life there is ONLY ONE who has put His seal on them, the architect, engineer and builder of my life. 

 

Change is a Comin'

I recently read Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book was a nerf gun... full of little foam darts hitting me in the head every time I turned another page. 

Here are just a few:

"Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

"This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than in what we hope God will provide. But when Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything. It means being willing to go without an extra tunic or a place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going. God wants us to trust Him with abandon. He wants to show us how He works and cares for us. He wants to be our refuge."

"But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him, so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."

"...you must learn to listen and to obey God, especially in a society where it's easy and expected to do what is most comfortable."

So that brings me to here and now... I have felt for months that God is calling me away from everything comfortable to move someplace I never wanted to go. I don't know what He has for me... I can only assume it must be something incredible! I know the process has been and will continue to be a true lesson in faith. Doing something without it all planned out goes against every fiber in me, it puts me 100% outside of my comfort zone, which is exactly where God wants me... and that gives me peace. 

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way."

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Blindfolded

We've all been there... blindfolded... not knowing where you are going... 

The natural reaction is to reach out. But what are we reaching for? Somebody we can trust, something solid to hold on to, something or someone to lead the way...

This is where I am at with my relationship with God. I have my blindfold on. I know where I am, but I don't know where I am going. He is telling me to reach out for Him. He will guide me and direct me, step by step.

I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along the straight paths. 

Proverbs 4:11