An empowered life...
I don't talk about faith very much here but I've had some faith growing experiences in the last few months. Experiences that have caused me to realize that my journey is far from over. It gets easy to get into a rhythm with your church, your religious routine, your happy lunches after Sunday meeting. Its easy to think THAT is faith, but it's not. I really put my foot in my mouth earlier this winter when I told a loved one that they needed to trust God more. Just trust Him I said, as if this hurting person would be completely delivered from their devastating reality by just trusting. As I sat fretting about the circumstances surrounding this person's family, I heard in a very faint voice, "do YOU trust me?"...That was hard, the hardest question to be faced with. "do You trust me?". Slowly, I come to the realization that you can't give advice that you yourself are not willing to take. Everyday, I have to ask that question of myself, and about a million times I have to pry open my hand and give God back my son, my husband, my house, my job, my hurting friends, my mother living in that empty house. Yup, all my life I've been taught that God will provide. I've been taught that all things work together for good to them that love him, to them that are called according to his purpose. Yet, I worry, I'm a big time worrier, I have a million conversations in my head a day that are in anticipation of bad things happening. What if I trusted him? What if I didn't lean on my own understanding? What if I dropped my worry stone, and took God at his word. Things are not always pretty, but He's always there among the ruins. He is always there by pillar of fire or cloud.
So, I trusted him with something that had been bothering me. I let him take it apart, and boy did he ever take it apart, right down to the roots. Bit by bit, we are working it out me and him. He helped me look past my fear of what others might think of my decision and he even helped me have the right words to say to those who would be impacted by my decision. I've learned that when you make a choice that has truly been inspired by God, you have little or no regrets. There is freedom in trusting. Freedom that does not come from just saying "I trust God", but putting that belief into practice in your daily worries. This scripture really spoke to me in Bible Study Fellowship a few weeks ago.
1 Corinthians 4:20
The Message (MSG)
18-20I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don't think I'll never show up in person. But I'll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we'll see if they're full of anything but hot air. God's Way is not a matter of mere talk; it's an empowered life.