Fighting the Cloudy, Cold Monday-in-May Blues

Some of you will get this post and some of you might not.  Stick with it to the end and maybe there's something good here for all of us.

Recently I've written that life is hard.  Yes, we all know that.  But life can be confusing too.  There are things that concern us that may or may not ever be explained.  It is the life of faith that accepts this.  After all, faith is believing without necessarily seeing.

Lately I feel the temptation to fall into despair.  To doubt.  To worry.  To fret.  To care too much about what others might think.  I know this is the work of the enemy of my soul who is always knocking on the door of my heart and whispering trash talk about God. Have you ever been in the middle of this war?  Notice I wrote 'temptation' - to fall into all this. I have resolved to NOT. GO. THERE.  How?  I'm holding on to God's Word for dear life.

Each morning I get up and spend time with God reading the Bible, especially on the days I may not really feel like it.  You see, I know all the answers I'm looking for are in there.  Because yesterday was a hard day and I didn't want a repeat, I prayed today that God would speak specifically.  This is what I read:

"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,

the woman who sticks with God.

They're like trees replanted in Eden,

putting down roots near the rivers - 

Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

bearing fresh fruit every season."  Jer. 17:7,8

Hold on a second, I need to read it again.  OK, I'm back.  Some of you will know just how amazingly applicable and perfect this is for me in this season.  Only God can do that. 

Here's how I know:  I made a goal in January to read through the Bible twice this year.  I love the reading plan I'm using and am basically just doubling up each day in order to finish the first time through by the end of June and be ready to start over in July.  

Sorry, I can't seem to turn this thing right side up.  You get the idea.

 If you've ever felt a nudge from God to do this, you should try it.  Totally doable.  So, here's the thing.....because I'm an overachiever/type a/always try-to-be-a-little-ahead type of person, I'm actually ahead by a few weeks.  Technically, I shouldn't have been reading the above verses until October 26 or because I'm doubling up, at the end of April. 

Which makes it all the more certain that God intentionally meant for me to read this treasure TODAY because He knows my heart, knows my needs and is the Chief #1 meeter of each one.  And He came through again.  He is very aware of what I'm reading and when.  Isn't that amazing?  It certainly started the day on a high note.

  Later, in an effort to finish a book, I read this:  

"When difficulties get in the way of us daring to do what God has called us to do, we must ask ourselves, "Who am I going to believe? The rational - ore the supernatural?  The factual or the true?"

The Bible tells us that Moses and the Israelites and Abraham before them, all got to the destination God had ordained for them by faith (Hebrews 11).  Their journey made no sense:  Leaving everything they had, the safe and familiar, for the unknown wasn't rational or explainable, definable or predictable.  But the exercising of faith requires the unknown, along with the unexpected and unpredictable and outrageous.

Faith is required when you're in doubt, when you're in want, when things are difficult and unclear.  "Faith," the Bible tells us, is, "confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1).

You can't touch faith, but it can move mountains.  The Bible puts it this way:  You may not be able to hold faith or wrap it up in a box, but it is real and powerful and can conquer kingdoms, administer justice, gain what was promised.  It can shut the mouths of lions, quench the fury of flames, escape the edge of the sword, raise the long dead, end torture, and release the imprisoned (Heb 11:33-38).  Faith can take you right where God wants you.

At times, it's possible to see life as a conflict between faith and that old bully Difficulty.  And Difficulty loves to stand directly in the way, so that we see as little as possible ahead.

Which is just when we need faith.  How misleading our perspective is for the things God calls us to do.  We see problems.  He sees possibilities.  We see difficulty.  He sees destiny....

There is no promise too hard for God to fulfill."*

I needed to hear that too!  These paragraphs and the verses in Jeremiah made me stand to my feet and say "NO" to the temptation to despair that's been hovering. 

So my point in typing all this out for you (and for me) today?  God is very much alive, very present and very interested in everything that concerns you and me.  When we ask Him to speak and then go to His Word and look for it, He will speak.  And likely it will be exactly what we need to hear today and often, He will use other means to continue a similar theme He wants us to grasp (a sacred echo).

Well, what are you waiting for?  I dare you to try it.  Then let me know how God speaks because that's another thing -when we share these God stories with one another, we build up each other's faith....and who doesn't need that?

 

*From Undaunted by Christine Caine

italics all mine