Seek and Find (Part 2)

In the middle of the night, a few hours after I posted that last post, I woke up with this passage in my head.  

Acts 17:24-28

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. ²⁶From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. ²⁷God did this SO THAT MEN WOULD SEEK HIM and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"

I'm not going to try to explain how it works or the theology behind it...  I'm just gonna praise God that he was determined the details of my life...  so that I will SEEK HIM.  : )  And I'm going to thank Him that IN HIM I live and move and have my being.  He gives me life and breath and everything else.  What more could I need?????  Earlier today I was thinking about how I didn't know what to do about something and God reminded me of what I wrote the other night.  So I realized that if I didn't know what to do about "this" yet, I must not need to know today.  So I'll work on what I DO know and leave what I don't for when God shows me what to do about it.  Walking in the light I have for today and leaving tomorrow for tomorrow...  Hmmm.  Seems like I've heard that somewhere before, too.  : )


Bless you today, friends!

Seek and Find

Every once in a while (like this week) I hear people talk about waiting for direction from God, or feeling anxious about decisions they have to make.  Jus as often, I am the person trying to be patient for the direction and the wisdom.  I thought surely I had written about this before, but can’t find it anywhere on my blog, so thought I’d write about it now to remind myself and pass it on.

These are 4 lessons God taught me many years ago about seeking His will.  It’s all founded, however, on  WANTING to know and do God’s will.  If you don’t have that issue settled, you have to start there first.  But once you do, I pray these thoughts will encourage you like they have helped me so much through the years.  God has never failed to be faithful.  Here are the lessons He has taught me.

1.  DON’T TRUST IN MY ABILITY TO LISTEN; TRUST IN GOD’S ABILITY TO SPEAK.  He can speak through a donkey and through dreams and He can write on walls.  When I was trying to figure out whether or not I was supposed to marry this certain guy my Sr. year in college, I agonized about whether or not I was going to hear from God.  What if He tried to tell me and I just didn’t hear?  In response to that He told me – over and over – not to trust in my ability to listen, but in His ability to speak.  Wow.  What a relief!  John 10:27  “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

2.  TRUST THAT BY THE TIME I NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO, I WILL KNOW.  Sometimes I look ahead at a fork in the road (that’s coming and I don’t know which way I’m going to go!!!) and I fret and fret about which way to go, begging for a SIGN, only to get there and discover that the sign is laying flat on the road and just couldn't be seen from far away – but it’s there nonetheless.  No matter what, by the time I need to know, I will.   Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it.”

3.  THE SHEEP WILL NEVER CARE MORE ABOUT GETTING TO THE RIGHT PLACE THAN THE SHEPHERD CARES ABOUT GETTING THEM THERE.  If I have such an intense desire to know what God wants, how could I ever think that if it actually matters, He might not lead me?  He’s the Shepherd.  I’m a sheep (and sheep are sort of dumb!) and He knows that.  Just like I would never ever leave my kids to figure out how to get to school or to Thailand by themselves, God will never leave me to figure it out for myself.  He is always with me.  As a mom, this verse is especially meaningful to me:  Isaiah 40:11  “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

And lastly, perhaps the most important lesson:

4.  Don’t seek God’s will.  SEEK HIM.  Over and over in the Word God tells us to seek Him.  I have discovered that when I take my focus off of the decision or questions or whatever and just choose to intentionally SEEK GOD it’s like taking my eyes off of the map, putting my hand in His and just taking a walk together.  He loves me.  He teaches me.  He heals me.  He prepares me.  He equips me.  He helps me.  And all of a sudden, I discover that we’ve ended up exactly where He wanted me to end up – and I didn’t even realize it.    You likely know Proverbs 3:5-6.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

“In all your ways, ACKNOWLEDGE HIM…”  That means basically to KNOW Him.  And the more we know Him, the more we will TRUST HIM.  Trust Him.  Trust Him, trust Him, trust Him!  Then He will make our paths straight.

Oh, how I love Him!!!!!  I hope you do too...

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Is it wrong that this little video makes me so happy???  

I told my (wonderful, supportive) husband one day that if he comes home and the house looks the same way as it did in the morning when he left, that means I did something!  It takes work just to maintain the status quo...  and even more to improve on it.  Nobody understands that like a mom...  especially one who's at home with kids who are making messes all day long!  I'm not complaining...  I'm just sayin'...  

Actually, I've been realizing lately that I'm on the tail end (well, except for during summer vacations!) of having at least one kid home all day long and it's quite strange.  I've been a mom for almost 9 and a half years now!  Amazing.  I love my kids, but I'm actually enjoying them growing up and unlike some women I know, I don't really miss the baby stage.  Maybe it was the sleep deprivation (for 9 years!) but especially those early years (okay...  the first 6) of motherhood were HARD for me.  I don't miss it...  I praise God we all made it!!!  : )  God has done some major work through it though and today I am healthier, stronger, more whole, more at peace, more content and more healed because of it.  I know there will be more challenges - probably next week! - but I'm so grateful for what God's done in me during these years since I became a mom...  And I'm looking forward for whatever is to come.

If you happen to be a mom with young kids and you could use some encouragement, PLEASE know that you are NOT the only one who doesn't have it all figured out and who is exhausted and who wonders why she can't just relax and enjoy her kids more.  But they really do grow up and eventually you just might have a little boy who tells you as you're tucking him in that he can't wait to give God a hug when he gets to heaven, or a daughter who WANTS to read the Bible with you and wants to know what it all means.  I can't promise that they'll ever keep their rooms clean or come the first time you call them, but they really will get older and eventually sleep through the night and be able to talk and tell you what they want instead of just crying or pointing and saying "that!" when you have no idea what "that!" is.  They'll grow up, and BY GOD'S GRACE you will too.  With His strength, you'll make it.  

At least, I did!

Blessings to you all...  young moms, old moms and dads, brothers, sisters and daughters, too.  God loves you all!  A whole lot.

~Melissa