When we express gratitude and praise to the Lord for all He has given us, we open our hands and hearts to be filled with more blessings.
Before we find our vessels empty, He has already refilled them. It is the Law of Divine Supply. He is our all; we need ask no other help!
Letting Go and Leaning In
Dear reader, perhaps your circumstances have led you to seek a solitary place. Take that solitude as God’s gift to you and learn to know Him during the time you set aside for study and meditation. Paul spent three years in Arabia after his transformation learning more about God before God called him to his kingdom work. I knew that to find my calling, I had to let go of everything to be still and hear His voice.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.—Romans 12:2
Oh, how difficult it is to wait upon God! I remember the pain and grief of placing myself in God’s will as an act of obedience and trust. I knew only God could bring beauty and life out of the ashes and the loneliness of missing my daughters, sons-in-law, and my precious grandchildren! How God has blessed us all! The Holy Spirit guided me and gave me time to learn of Him, and kept me from stumbling.
God can take a little and make much of it.
Resting in a Solitary Season
There finally came a point where I was having more good days than bad days. With God’s help, I was able to remember only the “glad days.” I did my best to discipline my mind to focus on all the good times, to let go of the pain and store only the blessings of the past.
One particular sunrise, I sat by the fireplace in my “prayer chair” with a hot cup of coffee and my Bible on my lap when I was startled by an unmistakable message:
“Jo, I have set you apart. I know your needs, for I am He who prepared your way. Trust in Me.”
I felt both set apart and set aside. I experienced days of loneliness and fear of the future, sometimes doubting whether or not God would keep His promise to me. But I knew God was who He said He was and that He would do what He said He would do.
I vowed to be faithful and responsible to Him, to be fruitful and seek God’s will for my life, and to hear His call for me to do what no one else but I could do. I knew He had made me for His purpose.
I trusted that He would use my circumstances to teach me, train me, and prepare me for His calling.
“I Surrender All…”
My friend, don’t ever underestimate what God can do in your life when you surrender and yield yourself completely to Him. He has the best plan possible for your life. When things seem impossible, instead of wringing your hands like I did when Steve and Shannon moved to Baltimore, when Brandon and Meghan moved to Coeur d’Alene, when Don had tongue cancer, when Don passed on… seek God’s will ask Him, “What are You going to do, Lord?”
I knew, without a doubt, that His promises were true and that He would reveal His purpose and plan for my life in His time.
“Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
BEHOLD, I WILL DO SOMETHING NEW,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.”—Isaiah 43:18-19
I heard His call: “Come with Me, Jo. Give up everything and come with Me. Your Kingdom work awaits you!”
And slowly I began to move.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks