Is it Enough?

Like a lot of women. I am a “doer!” I don’t like to sit idle because it makes me feel useless, inefficient and wasteful. However, over the past six months God has been actively working on my heart. Drawing me closer to Him and opening my eyes to how wonderful it can be to “be still”.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

In fact, for the first time in six years I am not going to attend my regular bible study. Instead, I am going to spend every Wednesday morning with my Father in Heaven. Just God and me on my back porch. I am looking forward to soaking in His word and what He desires for me to learn through His word.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

A relationship with our Lord and Savior should be our ultimate goal in life. We need to seek Him and love Him with our whole being. The question is . . . Is that enough for you? Ask yourself, “If I can accomplish an intimate relationship with God, is it enough?” Or will I feel the need to “do” something with it? We are a society of Martha’s!!! What if I don’t get a ministry, an important project from God, a job that helps me share what I have experienced through God’s love. . . .Is the relationship enough or will I be disappointed?

I had never asked myself this question until last week. I was surprised at my answer. Yes! Yes! It is enough for me. God has given me a content heart. A heart for Him that I pray He continues to fill with His peace, His word and His love for others. This may not seem like much to some, but for me (Mrs. Type A – get it done!) this was a BIG step. It is a relief for me to know that God is enough and if He chooses, at some point, to lead me in another direction for His purpose. . . I know He will be in control and equip me with all I need. Until then, I am looking forward to just hanging out with God on my back porch and getting to know Him better.

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:2

God Shows Off

There are not many times in my life that I can say God has responded instantly to a prayer request I have laid before Him. This isn’t to say that He hasn’t answered my prayers – He has answered many of them. He just doesn’t always do it instantly!

Last Thursday night, I got one of those instant answers and it was amazing.

I was sitting on our bed doing my bible study and felt the need to pray for God to show me His presence. We do have a God who adores us and wants more than anything to have a love relationship with us.
So I simply prayed, “Father, thank you for your abiding love and guidance. I pray that you will show me your presence and show off for me. Lord, blow my mind.”
Not even two minutes later the fire alarm in our whole apartment building goes off! We had to wake up the kids and evacuate.

Talk about taking 1 Kings 18:24 to a new level.
“Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

Thank goodness he just answered by fire alarm and not a real fire, but He did answer!!!
The fire alarm has even more significance for me personally. Since I was a little girl, I have always been afraid of my home catching on fire. I would pack all of my purses with my favorite toys and leave them by my window so that I could toss them out and climb out after them if our house caught on fire.

I think building our new home brought all of those worries about “fire” to the surface. For several weeks prior to my “instant” answer to prayer I had been struggling with the worry of fire. I was giving it to God daily for Him to handle so that my mind would not become consumed with fear.

I have found that the only answer – the only formula to get rid of fear in my life is to give it over to my Lord and Savior. Sometimes I can turn it over once and never worry again, but some things are a daily battle!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

Reality Check

The start of school is just around the corner. Seriously, didn’t they just get out!? I dreaded my daughter starting Kindergarten all last summer. I thought this year would be easier, but I am going to miss having her home just as much this year. There is just something about sending her off to school for the day – out in the world where I can’t watch over her, choose her playmates and be the one to give her a hug if she falls on the playground.

Once you have children, you look at the world in a whole new way. It makes me feel very vulnerable. I have had to learn to trust God in a way I never did before. I know that He loves my children even more than I do, that He is the only one who can be with them EVERYWHERE they go and the only one who can truly protect them from the evil in this world.

When my children were young it was easy to fall into the trap of believing I could always protect them. They were small, couldn’t walk, went to a church preschool for a few hours a day and were with me pretty much everywhere I went. Now that they are growing up, the reality of how much I AM NOT in control has really hit home. Each day, I have to pray for the courage and strength it takes to be a mom. Talk about trusting the Lord. I lean on Him in a way I could have never imagined before I had children.

There is an interesting scripture on marriage that I ran across in 1 Corinthians that puts scripture to my feelings.

“I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Paul wasn’t saying we should never get married, but he certainly explains how our emotions change when we have more than ourselves to think about. When you are married, have children or both our interests really are divided and we worry about the world’s affairs because we want to protect the ones we love. We want to be around to love and protect them.

Each day, I have to make the decision not to wrestle with thoughts that make my heart heavy with worry. I don’t want the enemy to have control over me. (Psalm 13:2) I don’t want the worries of this life to choke out all of the fruit God intends for me to produce (Mark 4:19).
Whether you worry about your children, marriage, job, safety or something else – present it before God. For it is only God who can grant us the peace, protection and understanding we all desire (Philippians 4:6-7).

May our Lord and Savior be with all of our children. Cover them with His angels of love and protection. Guard their hearts and keep them safe from all harm, evil, sickness and disease.

Convicted

One of my favorite songs is Lose My Soul by Toby Mac. Some of the lyrics are below:

Father God, I am clay in your hands,
Help me to stay that way through all life’s demands,
‘Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me,
And every little thing I make up my mind to be,
. . . .
Everything that I see draws me,
Though it’s only in You that I can truly see that its a feast for the eyes- a low blow to purpose.
And I’m a little kid at a three ring circus.
. . . .
I don’t want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don’t wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.
I don’t want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul,
Don’t wanna walk away, let me hear the people say.

That song is based on Mark 8:36. It says,
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

In this self absorbed and wicked world we live in there are many other things to attract our attention away from God. If we don’t take a proactive approach to studying God’s Word, seeking him daily in prayer and growing our relationship with Him we may gain the whole world, but as the scripture says – we will forfeit our soul.

I walked around for years calling myself a Christian not realizing that I was nothing more than a casual Christian – a hypocrite, really. I shutter to think of all the things I said and did during this time. I am sure my actions did NOTHING to bring others to know Christ. It took me many years to realize that what I had was religion – not a relationship.

It is a relationship with Christ that makes us Christians. When that is in place, we can’t help but start living in a way that is more pleasing to Him. Through this relationship He is able to keep us aware of His will and purpose for us so that we can bear fruit in His name. John 15:4

Thank goodness God isn’t looking for perfect because I am far from perfect in my relationship with Him, but I am seeking Him in many ways through His word and prayer that I know will change my life. I pray each day that I can live in a way that pleases God and will inspire others to come to know Him intimately.

Our pastor asked us a question a few weeks ago that I have thought about ever since.
If you were arrested and convicted of being a Christ follower, would there be enough evidence to prove it?

I pray for all of us that the judge would throw down his gavel and say, “Guilty!”