He Will Act

I am humbled. I saw this verse played out first hand today.

God. Works. Miracles.

One step at a time.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

http://bible.us/Ps37.5.ESV

Lost

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Have you ever lost your way? As a man of course I have never gotten lost, nor ha...

I better stop right there. Because it simply isn't true.

I've been lost on the highway before, no doubt about it. But have you ever felt lost on the highway of life?

I wrote about it the other day, how the animated movie Cars surprisingly provided some comfort in my journey called life. Yet, I still feel I have more to share on the subject.

What do you do when things don't work out quite the way we had planned them to? What happens when a detour is thrown into our path and the dreams we had seem to be derailed? It seems that's where my family has been for the last little while. Do we abandon the dream? To we change the course? Is God wanting us to do something different?

For my wife and I, we have had a heart for ministry. Now, before I bleed my heart out anymore, the reality is that those who call themselves Christians are in ministry. We are the light of the world, and you don't need ministry to be an occupation or minister to be your title to reach out and love others the way Jesus told us to. We are the Body of Christ. But we have felt a specific longing for ministry. Full-time. Maybe it's a calling, maybe it's just pursuing our heart, either way, it's what we have gone back to. And more importantly, it's the direction it seems the Holy Spirit is leading us in.

So what do you do when things aren't looking the way you anticipated? Do we throw in the towel? Has God changed His mind? Did we miss it somehow? Do we really have anything to offer anyone?

I don't know the answer to these questions for you - I have difficulty answering them for myself sometimes.

But here is what I know...

Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

and

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

and

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

and

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.

So... what do you do... But trust?

Problem is, that's easier said than done. It's more natural to trust in myself than Him. It's easier to trust in myself who is finite and limited and flawed, than the One who sees all, knows all, created me and can see the bigger picture. Doesn't make a lot of sense but it's the reality of my life at times.

OK, a lot of times.

So today, I choose to trust. As best I know how, I trust.

Even though I may feel lost, I know that in Him,

I am found.

Faith Booster

Psalm 119:27 says, Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.

What a great way to build faith. When we meditate on the great things God is done, we are encouraged in our faith. We are encouraged to believe God for more of the same and greater! The problem comes when I fill my mind with what I feel He HASN'T done. My faith crashes at that point and its hard to step out in faith and believe God for more.

Jesus perfectly revealed the Father. In doing that, He healed all who came to Him. I have never seen a place in Scripture where He turned someone down for healing. We too are to pray in faith for healing with Jesus as our example. We have power through the Holy Spirit to do great works! However, if I meditated on all the times I have prayed for healing and it didn't happen, my faith isn't encouraged. At all. In fact I'm probably more discouraged. On the other hand, when I meditate and remind myself of the times healing has occured, I am encouraged and empowered to believe God for more!