(no subject)
I've started having my quiet times in the morning in an attempt to really start my days off right. It's been awhile since I've been as crazy busy as I am these days, and it's taken some getting used to. I think the last time I was really this busy was the summer I worked at Dunkin Donuts/Rotary. I pretty much didn't see the light of day that summer, so I'm thankful that this isn't as crazy as that!
The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately, but this morning He's just allowing me to rest in his presence. This morning is a morning to take heart in His promises, to feel peace in His sovereignty and to rejoice in His plans. I've been easily annoyed, frustrated, and generally stressed for the past week, and it feels so good to let that all go. I am so blessed.
God uses different things to grow faith in different people's lives. He provides different ways to build fruit for each of His children. For example, with Matt I've noticed that He gives him a lot of opportunities to share Christ with people for the first time. God has blessed him with a gift to communicate Christ's love to people who need to hear it and to people who are eventually ready to hear it. He provides him with many opportunities in ways I couldn't even dream up. Something as big as making the active effort to reach out to his students and something as small as wearing a Christian t-shirt are both used in mighty ways. I can't imagine how taxing and draining it must be to pour into so many people, and I have so much respect for the ministry God is building through that man. I haven't had that as much, but God has provided me with different opportunities. God brings me through many trials and persecutions for my faith, and I couldn't be more thankful. I've been kicked out of my house. I've been called names by my own mother, cast as the oddball by my siblings. My friends often think I'm ridiculous and can't resist raising their eyebrows at me because I'm different. The leadership team I was on threw me under the bus. A woman I work with seems to have it in for me.
I wouldn't have half of the faith that I do without these things. I wouldn't have half of the opportunities I've had to share Christ's love without this. I couldn't reach out to the people that God has had me reach out to without some of the things I've gone through. We are all unique. God is alive. He is moving and breathing, so why should it shock me that He tailors the growing of our faith so specifically? I don't know, but it takes me breath away :)
The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately, but this morning He's just allowing me to rest in his presence. This morning is a morning to take heart in His promises, to feel peace in His sovereignty and to rejoice in His plans. I've been easily annoyed, frustrated, and generally stressed for the past week, and it feels so good to let that all go. I am so blessed.
God uses different things to grow faith in different people's lives. He provides different ways to build fruit for each of His children. For example, with Matt I've noticed that He gives him a lot of opportunities to share Christ with people for the first time. God has blessed him with a gift to communicate Christ's love to people who need to hear it and to people who are eventually ready to hear it. He provides him with many opportunities in ways I couldn't even dream up. Something as big as making the active effort to reach out to his students and something as small as wearing a Christian t-shirt are both used in mighty ways. I can't imagine how taxing and draining it must be to pour into so many people, and I have so much respect for the ministry God is building through that man. I haven't had that as much, but God has provided me with different opportunities. God brings me through many trials and persecutions for my faith, and I couldn't be more thankful. I've been kicked out of my house. I've been called names by my own mother, cast as the oddball by my siblings. My friends often think I'm ridiculous and can't resist raising their eyebrows at me because I'm different. The leadership team I was on threw me under the bus. A woman I work with seems to have it in for me.
I wouldn't have half of the faith that I do without these things. I wouldn't have half of the opportunities I've had to share Christ's love without this. I couldn't reach out to the people that God has had me reach out to without some of the things I've gone through. We are all unique. God is alive. He is moving and breathing, so why should it shock me that He tailors the growing of our faith so specifically? I don't know, but it takes me breath away :)