I know many of us have a lot of things going on in your life right now, and you are like me curious and maybe even anxious about the direction the Lord will lead you. I am trying really hard not to have anxiety over take me.
I need to learn to rely on faith. Not faith in the sense of whether you believe in God, and not faith in terms of whether you will stay committed to Him, but faith that means you can trust Him.
Can I trust His direction? Can I trust His timing? I mean can I really trust Him?
I was reading Psalms 23 today with the kids. I thought I was teaching them but I really believe God was teaching me (see what I mean about His timing?) haha
Psalms 23 says the Lord is your Shepard.
He is my Shepard...
Not my chauffeur. He doesn't take me wherever I tell Him I want to go.
Not my butler. It's not His job to make sure I a comfortable every moment and cater to me.
Not my tour guide. He doesn't tell me in advance where I will be going and what I will be doing.
He is my Shepard. He leads me where I need to go and takes care of what I need. He feeds me and protects me. He knows what is best for his sheep.
Does this make sense or is it just me? Haha!
I was trying to explain this to the kids but they were like ummm...nope don't get it mom!
Having faith in God is more than having a belief in His existence.
It is turning over control of our life to Him (in every area) This may be exactly what you want to do, but if you are still stressing out about the future, then you are holding back on God. True faith means that you can relax and rely on His timing and direction. Sheep don't have high anxiety levels they just trust their Shepard. They seem content to let the Shepard take charge.
See I am willing to go wherever and whenever He leads me but I struggle because I just want to know NOW how it is going to turn out in the future. Well I'm sure God won't let me know because He wants me to learn to trust Him. This is what faith is all about.
I'm trying not to be too anxious to see the next page of God's outline for my life. I know He will turn the page and let me see it at exactly the right time. I just gotta have faith. Simple as that...it's a matter of letting go and letting God!
So even thought my kids had no idea what I was trying to teach them today,I learned and thought I'd pass it along to you (if it made any sense ha)
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And for the winners of the music learning giveaway thanks to Heidi!
By random.org
The first winner is: Heather from the DC area. She is a mommy to 6 children in 5 years including not one, but two, sets of identical twins. That's right- two sets of twins in one family. She is living proof that lightning can strike twice! (Odds of 2 sets of identical twins are 1 in 70,000.)
and the 2nd winner is: Jessikah from right here in sunny CA ;)
She is the mom to two adorable little boys who I think are the best dressed little boys I have ever seen.
Congratulations! Email me at carlsbadryan@aol.com and I will ship those right out to you!!!
For those of you who haven't checked Heidisongs out I would head on over.
Also, thank you so much for all your encouragement! It's so nice to have so many prayers being said from all over.
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15 comments:
Agh, I *LOVE* your illustration! He is not a chauffeur, or a butler, or a tour guide - He is our Shepherd! Brilliant!
And congrats to the winners! :o) Guess I have to break the news to the Hubs that I'm going to be doing some shopping after all, lol. ;o)
:) We walk by faith and not by sight... he's the lamp unto our feet, not the FLOODLIGHT... I'm excited to see what God's goign to do with you & your family! :)
Oh, and Jess will be around here tomorrow night so don't bother spending the $$ on a stamp! :)
wow...that was awesome! thanks for sharing that!! I loved it so much I read the part about HIM not being our chauffeur, etc. to my husband! He really liked it too!
I needed to be reminded of that so thanks!
Good words. I'm totally in a time of transition and uncertainty for the future as well, it's good to remember that God is the shepherd leading us to unknown places and things only he knows about. Thanks!
Very true my daughter! Staying close to the Shepherd and allowing Him to reveal His deep love for us and His concern for all that goes on in our life makes a big difference in our trusting Him. He is worthy to be trusted. Who else can we trust? He tells us over and over in His word to trust Him and time after time that He will direct our paths, and yet our flesh continues to rear it's ugly head and cause us to doubt. We need to wrap ourselves in His love, stay in His arms and hold tight to Him. He will see us through and one day He will get us home! I can't wait!
Thank you Bridget I needed this this morning.....and your mom's words too....so so true.
God Bless you and your family.
Thank you!
Marie
Great insight! He is truly our Shepherd :)
I loved your post, so encouraging and so true. I loved "he is not our tour guide"! Thanks for this post!
Hi
I think I may have commented on one of your posts before but I'm not sure as there are soo many I read and enjoy. But I have been following along on yours for a while now and praying for you and your family as you go through this season in your life where you aren't really sure what the Lord has in mind for you. It's a hard place to be and I definitely understand your feelings. What is so neat is that the Lord does too. He understands that we are but mere humans with limited abilities, understandings, and capabilities of even fully comprehending the magnitude of His love and care for us. He is our shepherd and He cares for our very lives. Your illustration of this was perfect. How wonderful is it that He lead you to this passage to help you to understand a little better how to trust Him?? I will continue to pray He directs your path and that you will feel His peace in your decisions and choices. BTW, your family is just darling, and I think you are doing a wonderful job with it all. God's blessings to you....Debbie
hhtp://debbie-blessings.blogspot.com
love this post... you hit the nail right on the head.... walk by faith.... that's what the tattoo on my foot (of a spirit dove) represents for me. If I ever have doubt and hang my head... there it is to remind me... I walk by faith... not always easy to do! But such a great way to live. Our God is GOOD.
It makes so much sense, yet it is the hardest part of having faith. We want to push God back and do the leading and somehow we think it is going to turn out right if it is "our plan". If we can just let God lead us he can do an amazing work in our life. Sad how we hold ourselves back from so many blessings without even realizing it.
Great view point in this post. So many times we read this and think it is about how God is going to take care of us, yet we miss out on the part where we have to let hime lead us to do that!
YEAH!!!!! I couldn't agree with you more and feel like you've been reading my mind! God doesn't promise this life will be easy, but we know that he describes it as a vapor, SO if this is as good as it gets, I'm not all that interested! This IS as good as it gets for those who don't have Jesus - how sad, but for those who have a personal relationship and know that Jesus died for their sins will LIVE forever!! I too am trying to explain to my children that God cares more about our character than our comfort! We can try to make / force things to work our way in this life and make ourselves as comfortable as possible, however when we stand before God some day we need to know we WILL be held accountable! So keep on preaching...even if the kids don't completely understand, they will some day and you are giving them EXACTLY what they need!
Too bad you didn't live closer - you need a home and we have one to sell (ha)!
I will continue to pray for you!
I know with your life turned upside down {we are there also with the loss of a job and no income:( } plans have to change...I was wondering if you were still bringing your son to the creation museum for his birthday this month or have you had to postpone/cancel? I live 15~20 minutes from the museum and can help you with info about the area{hotels, food, etc...} if you need it still. You can either leave a comment on my blog macandemma.blogspot.com or email me at tammy.martin69@hotmail.com
Hope house hunting is going well.
Tammy
Well, that's what I get for not checking your blog for a couple of days!!! What a great giveaway to miss :O(
Speaking of giveaways, you've gotta try for the most recent one on my blog (not trying to do a plug for it, honest). I just think Farrah would be adorable in it!
Love, Susan
You are exactly right about waiting on God's timing. I've struggled with that A LOT this year. It's tough not to know what tomorrow holds (literally!) so it's easy to get frustrated. I try not to stress out about the fact that I move across the country on a few days notice or that my husband will leave for a year at a time. It still stresses me out sometimes but I'm trying so hard to lean on Him and trust that he will see me through it.
I am so excited that I won the giveaway! Yay! I'm emailing you now. :)
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