God Never Wastes

 I love people. It is fun for me to be around others. It really fills my tank up, so to speak. I like traveling to new places and going on adventures. I have always enjoyed moving to new places because it’s an exciting challenge.  During each of my four years of college I moved to different apartments (I'm sure all this moving thrilled my parents :) ). Then I married a man whose job required us to move around a lot, and although it’s not his favorite, I loved it! As I became more dependent on other people and my relationship with God became stronger,  I loved seeing how God provided.

 

 However, as I became more dependent, I also ended up spending more time alone at my house in silence. I cannot drive anymore, so going inside the local Starbucks does not happen very much. Fortunately, there is a drive-through so when my sweet nanny comes and we are running errands we frequently drive through the local coffee house. Doing things with friends is different now, because they have to come pick me up and help me. Satan uses these moments to keep my eyes focused on my circumstances and on my loneliness. I quickly become discouraged and my thoughts tend to go into a downward spiral. Bitterness and anger ensue that many times I take out on other people. It’s not pretty and, trust me, I am not proud of this. However, this just shows how much I need Jesus.

When I have a smile on my face and my words and actions are positive, it’s because of Jesus. 

 

I make a decision, many times a day, to turn my eyes on Him and change my attitude. In Psalms 32:3 it says, “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak and deep inside me I moaned all day long.” When we keep our thoughts focused on ourselves and our circumstances we do feel weak, because we cannot renew our minds and our attitudes. God never wastes our hurts or what we might be going through. God never wastes suffering. In Proverbs 4:25 the Bible tells us to “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.” It also tells us in Ephesians 4:23 to “be made new in the attitude of your mind.” So my being alone and silent has really allowed me to pour into scripture and also pour into other peoples' lives. When I am able to participate in something, I enjoy it far more than I might have if I did it all the time. My prayer for you is that you will keep your eyes turned toward Jesus. Trust Him and trust the story that He is writing through you. He is writing a story that will bring Him great glory and you “get to” be part of it. Trust our good God.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus” by Hillsong

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=czxd5oa-gi0

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:8-9

Work In Progress

Work in Progress 

I cannot stop smiling. Right now I am looking at our brand-new room. We just finished renovations on our living room. After about six weeks of construction, the formal living room and the den became one big family room. It is beautiful, and I know my family is going to love it! 

Even though it was two separate rooms just six weeks ago, it is hard to recall. However, I do remember watching parts of the process of the two rooms becoming one. There were times when my kids and I came home to find big holes in the wall. Sometimes, even though we knew guys were there working, we could not tell that there was work being done. And then there were times that it was really, really, really messy (but our contractor did do a good job of cleaning up the room).

Every time I rolled through this room I reminded myself that it was a work in progress and that it would be beautiful when done. Looking at this beautiful new room and thinking back on the process of renovation reminds me of how God renovates us. We are also a work in progress. Sometimes we are in crisis and there is a lot of work being done in our lives. Sometimes our lives are going well and even though we know that God is working, we can’t really tell. Although we are a work in progress and our lives will not be complete until we meet Jesus, each day we should look a little bit more like Him. I heard a sermon recently in which the pastor asked, “Whose voice is the loudest in your life? Whose voice influences the decisions that you make each day? Who influences your thoughts and what you think about yourself? Who influences your actions and the way you speak?" These are questions that I ask myself every morning because I know that I am a work in progress. I want to make sure that “my room” looks more and more like Jesus every day. My prayer for you is that Jesus is the loudest voice in your life and that you are becoming more like Him every day.

“So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Changed” by Jordan Feliz

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPMX4zU9jc