We've all probably heard the phrase "When God closes the door on a chapter in your life, He always opens a window!" This brings to mind my absolute favorite verse in the Bible, Jeremiah 29:11 "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." and it goes on to say "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, " declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity."
When things get tough and we don't know why things are happening the way they are, we must put our full trust in His plan for us and know that His plan is perfect, and even though we may have not any idea what comes next, God knows! Whether it is the loss of a loved one, a job loss, a failed marriage or other relationship, God will rescue us! He is the only one that knows every detail of our future, and we have to remember to turn to him with prayer and constant petition! The verse above says that when we call upon Him and pray to him, he willl listen! Sometimes we tend to want to keep it to ourselves, we mull over it, overanalyze it, worry about it, lose sleep over it, and so on, because we think we can handle it or don't want to "bother" God with it...What is it in our inner being that stops us from turning to God FIRST, so we can have the peace and joy only turning to Him can provide? Gods word says in Matthew 11:29-30 " Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I am an insomniac... I NEED rest, both physical and mental... Why is it so hard to give our burdens to the One who can handle them the best? If you are like me, you give it to Him,... and take it back, give it and take it back... Why can't we just lay it on the altar and leave it there? He is so much more capable of handling our biggest fears and biggest disappointments than we are!! He is sovreign, He is sufficient! He will protect us, provide for us and unconditionally love us!
As Christians, we have God's protection and his direction. We can trust him to never lead us down the wrong path and to know that when we mess up, he will always welcome us back with open arms. Yet even though we know his ways are right and completely trustworthy, we still try to do it our way, just because we think we know ourselves best. I can always tell when I'm getting in my own way, and straying from the hedge of protection God gives me by the level of frustration I'm experiencing in my life. God wants His absolute best for us, and just because a relationship or job is a good one, even a Godly one, doesn't always mean it's God's BEST for us. I recently experienced this in an area of my life, and no matter how hard I wanted to hold on to it, it wasn't God's best for me. Finally, you have to give in and leave it up to him....so I laid it on the altar for Him to deal with, because only He knows what will come of my life and I have to reach out and trust him completely, not just with the little, unimportant things, but with my entire future. Maybe He will give it back for me to keep, maybe He will open the window a little further for the next chapter of my life... And I'm okay with that, either way.
And here it is again... a quiet, gentle whisper that I hear so often... "Amy... Be still, and know that I am God.." Or more completely, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath, it only leads to evil." Psalm 37:7-8
So here I am, again, before the Lord, waiting, patiently!
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