Earlier this year, it was prophesied over me and my family that this would be the year of redemption and restoration. All God would ask of us is that we would shout it from the rooftops. We are about 1/2 way through the process and I am praising God because of his faithfulness and goodness to us. It definitely has been ugly and painful and scary, but it has to be. There is no other way around it. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Actually, all things considered, it has been supernaturally a lot less ugly and painful and scary than it could have been. And God has been so near, so present, so close. He has poured his Words into me. He has send people to randomly text and email scriptures to me. He has brought new friends into my life to walk it out with me as well as positioning my old friends to stand in prayer and encouragement. He has supernaturally provided for us financially. He is restoring our marriage relationship. He is guiding us in ways and paths that I couldn't even imagine.
God had spoken to my heart and told me not to try to find solutions in my mind, don't search out answers...He would bring them to me. Every time I thought I knew what direction things would go...nope. And it has been better than my plans. His ways are higher than my ways. His thoughts are so much higher than my thoughts. But oh the stretching! Certainly I have had my quota of moving out of my comfort zone for the year? Nope. OK, Lord, I completely abandon myself to You. This train is moving so fast and clearly You have it under control so I am going to just let You have it. Just tell me what You have for me to do and I will do it. Clearly You are much better at this than I am! Oh, and this stupid cancer scare...I am done being scared. Just done. You can have all of it because I just don't have room for it in my life anymore. Finances? Your problem. I am doing what You asked of me, you can have that one too. I know You are faithful so I am not going to sweat it any more. We have everything we need for today and that is what matters. You hold tomorrow. You took care of us yesterday. You will never leave us or forsake us. So there it is. What is there left to fear?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:35-39
Patty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I've always admired and been encouraged by your whole-hearted faith. In times of trial it is so easy to pull-back instead of leaning into God. Once again, you've leaned into God and trusted him for his direction in your life. Whether in this life or the next, God certainly has his reward for your steadfast faithfulness. For "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you." Psalm 9:10, NLT
I am confident that God will provide, lead and direct your paths and there are so many verses that come to mind concerning God directing our paths.
Proverbs 16:8-9 is always in my mind because so many things in my life, Lucas being the most recent example, have not turned out the way that I had hoped or planned. In fact, God's answer to our Prayer's about Lucas was devastating, BUT I found hope in knowing that God's character has not changed over time and his Character is love; so while I cannot understand God's answer, I can trust and believe that his answer leads me down the direction he wants me to go. Proverbs 16:8-9 Better to have little, with godliness, than to be rich and dishonest. We can make our plans, but the lord determines our steps. NLT
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. Isaiah 26:4, NLT
I love you guys,
Denny
That is sooo good to hear, Denny. I was thinking of you today and then I saw this message! The Holy Spirit is amazing. I am glad to hear you are trusting and moving closer to Him. I didn't think anyone actually read this blog! LOL! I admit that I haven't immediately responded to our challenges with faith. I have done my share of freaking out. But God brings me back to Him and reminds me of His love for us and that He said He would never leave us nor forsake us. It is Him that has held me to Himself and not anything I have done. I will have to email you and tell you all of the amazing things God is doing in our lives. I stand in awe! We love you too! P.S. Loved seeing the pictures of Bobby (and Danny). I can't believe how grown up they are!
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