Thursday, November 22, 2018

Thanksgiving Thinking

Thanksgiving- the day we should be thankful, yet we are consumed with Black Friday shopping and getting more. 

Today I am going to intentionally focus on what I have and not what I want or need. 

We have so much to be thankful for. 

In this great country, we can be so easily distracted by successful marketing and overpowering social media. Before we know it, our thoughts are fixed on things. 

No, life isn’t perfect. Adversity is always lurking. But with God, we can refocus our thoughts and peace will take over. We can have peace in adversity, when we stay focused on Him by giving Him thanks according to His Word:

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 
I Thessalonians 5:18

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”  
Colossians 3:15

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Hebrews 13:15

As we approach this holiday and the new year, let’s make a strong effort to verbally and emotionally acknowledge God’s gifts. Speak of the goodness of God. When someone wants to bring up negativity, turn the conversation to God’s blessings. When we feel low and weary, think thoughts of praise and thanksgiving unto the Creator of life. 

Here’s a little Thanksgiving challenge: write out a list of your blessings. Do not include things money can buy, but you can include people. Focus on this list throughout the holiday season. Know that you have God and you are blessed.


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Find Rest

The human body is an amazing creation. What I've been thinking about lately isn't very profound, but as moms, it can easily be forgotten: the importance of sleep. 

When the body is sleep deprived, it malfunctions. Lack of alertness, impaired memory, moodiness, and even premature wrinkling and dark circles can occur! There is something to be said for "beauty sleep!" 

When the body is sleeping, the brain is rejuvenated, tissues and organs heal, inflammation is decreased, and memory improves. Studies show that regular quality sleep can even lower blood pressure, help you lose weight, improve your mood, and improve your relationships! 

Not to mention, to have dreams, you must be sleeping. God often spoke to people in the Bible through dreams. And remember, God Himself took a day of rest. In the busyness of life, don't overlook such a crucial command: rest. 

Taking care of ourselves allows us to be the best mother that we can be. It allows us to be more focused on God and less focused on, well, less focused. 
It's so hard to focus at all when you're exhausted. 

As I said, not profound, but still a good reminder. Know that sleep is not only good for the natural man. It is good for the spirit, too. Just as Psalm 23 tells us, "He maketh me lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul." When we rest, we will be restored. 

So don't push yourself beyond the limit. Rest. Allow God to restore your soul.

Oh, but don't oversleep...Proverbs 20:13 warns us you will be poor, if you sleep too much! haha 

As they say, "everything in moderation." (:

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

You Are Perfect (Just As You Are)

Over the last few weeks, I've been listening to one of my children complain about self image. "I'm too chunky...I'm so clumsy...I'm not very smart." Each time I respond with compliments trying to disprove these negative thoughts. The other day I become a little frustrated with those comments.  It seemed my words were ineffective. With lots of emotion I expressed, "don't you hear me? I see you as strong, smart, kind, wonderful, caring, loving. I see you as perfect-- just the way you are. I love you very much just the way you are." All I got was a little nod. 

"I love you very much just the way you are."

How do we convince our children that the standards of the world are not the measurements for success and beauty? How do we overcome the lies the enemy? How do we combat superficial, fake culture? While seeking for those answers, I felt a nudge in my spirit about how God sees us. He sees us struggle with self worth, and He hears us speak down about ourselves. He knows our thoughts about feeling insecure. 

All the while He is right there saying, "don't you hear me? I see you as perfect! I love you very much just the way you are!" Yes, we have failed. Yes, we have fallen. Yes, we have shortcomings and wounds. But to your Heavenly Father, you are a beautiful, perfect mother. Allow yourself to rejoice in the victories and celebrate the blessings. Don't let the negative thoughts sneak in to beat you down. 

"I love you very much just the way you are."

I think the answer to the questions I asked earlier is this: live in the Light. We must let our children see that we are confident and content in way God created us. We are sure of His grace and mercy. They will be convinced they are beautiful and cherished as they see us as mothers live and walk with the assurance that God loves us just the way we are. 

I Peter 2:9 says, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light"

Next time you are tempted to think negatively about yourself, think of how you love and cherish your own children just the way they are, because that's how God sees you!

"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." Song of Solomon 4:7

Monday, September 3, 2018

Like a Flower In the Rain



If you pick a flower from a plant, it doesn't take much force to pluck the petals from the stem, yet during a torrential storm, the petals take the beating from the pelting rain without falling apart. Droplets fall thousands of feet from the clouds above mixed with wind and air pressure attacking the earth with an almost immeasurable force which can even feel somewhat stinging to bare human skin. So the observation how beautiful flowers tolerate such pressure is intriguing. 

I'm not a gardener, so my interest in a beaten-up, post-storm flowerbed led to some research. Here's what I found:

"Heavy rain damage on plants may leave them looking like they’ve been flattened to within an inch of their lives, but if you take a closer look at stems and branches, you’ll notice something amazing — most of those rain damaged parts are bent, not broken. Your plants may look terrible, but their flexibility saved them from a monstrous rain storm. If instead they remained rigid in the face of such an intense beating, their tissues would have broken or cracked, causing important transportation pathways to be severed. 

A few days to a week after a damaging storm, your plants will perk back up. Sometimes flowers are damaged and leaves slightly torn, but your plants will replace these injured areas much faster than seems possible if you leave them alone to do it. Don’t try to prop plants that are rain-flattened, since this can lead to additional damage. Let them be and watch them come back from their beating." (www.gardeningknowhow.com

Watching a harsh summer rain pound down on a beautiful, delicate bed of colorful flowers can really serve as a powerful reminder for us: 

We might get knocked down, but we will recover. We might be bent, but we are not broken. 

Even though our situation "may look terrible," being flexible, or moldable in the the Potter's hands, will allow us to withstand the pressure of the storm. If we are rigid, or bitter, we could become quite broken in a storm, hindering our growth in God. 

As a mother, we will watch our children go through storms. Often we want to jump in and save them from the beating, but sometimes that's not what God intends. We must allow God's process to take place. 

And even though our children may be damaged and slightly torn from the storms of life, if we trust the Creator and leave them in God's hands, they will heal and come back from that beating! We don't have to worry if they are broken beyond repair. We don't have to prop them up and fix their situation. 

"I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26

Let the natural rain, and the beauty it brings remind you that storms bring forth blessing! 

The rain will come, we just have to trust God's design for growth in our lives. Like a flower in the rain. 

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Keep Reading Your Story

Each chapter of a nonfiction book reveals new ideas and thoughts. Each chapter of a fiction book unfolds a story. 

Many people have begun a book only to find that it was not what they expected, so they tossed it aside, never finishing the exploration of the author's intent. 

Oh, how our lives are a book! Each one of us have a unique story unfolding. There are new characters introduced here and there. Previous characters can sometimes fade away. The setting changes from day to day and can vary from a new room in the same house to a new country across the world! 

The plot of our lives is so unpredictable. Our plot could range from tragedy to comedy or include a quest of some kind. Conflict and resolution are woven throughout our lives with some instances being dramatic and others being minuscule. No matter how our story goes, we are all written with love. The Author of our book is none other than the Creator of the world. Jesus Christ is walking with us through each step of our plot, through every twist, to bring us to the expected ending. 

No matter how our story goes, we are all written with love. 

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11,

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Jesus is in your story right now, and He is at the end of your story cheering for you. The current chapter of your life may be dark and overwhelming, but He promises to never leave us (Matthew 28:20). The current chapter of your life may be scary and turbulent, but He is the God of peace (Philippians 4:7). 

Jesus is at the end of your story cheering for you!

Maybe the characters in your current chapter are not producing positivity in your life. Keep reading your story. Maybe your current chapter includes a complex plot twist. Keep reading your story. Maybe you feel like tragedy is the main theme. Keep reading your story. This current chapter won't last forever. New characters will come into view bringing joy and love. New plot twists will arise with excitement and enjoyment. Don't allow your mind to stay fixated on the current chapter. Keep reading! Too often we feel like the current circumstances are the final circumstances, but this is not so! Your story is still being written with love. This chapter will end and the next chapter will bring hope. What you are facing is only a chapter of your life, not your whole story! Hold on to the hand of Jesus as your keep exploring what He is writing for you. He will never let you down. 

What you are facing is only a chapter of your life, not your whole story!

Keep reading your story!

Friday, April 20, 2018

Slam The Door

As Christians, Jesus calls us to serve Him with our whole hearts. Actually- with our whole lives.

Deut 6:5 says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

This means serving Him in all that we do. Every action we make, every thought we think, every word we say should be pushing us towards Him. We must purposefully chase after Him. Every aspect of our lives should potentiate our relationship with Him.

In studying the sin of Eve, it is clear to see that she was deceived (I Tim 2:14). She was placed in a perfect world, yet she still fell into deception. She was given so many wonderful things to take advantage of, yet she chose to hang around the one tree she shouldn't have been near. Maybe she thought she was strong enough to handle the temptation of that tree. Maybe she felt like it was not a big deal because she had God's commands in her mind and heart.

Whatever the case, we find ourselves in this same situation daily. We decide what we are going to look at, where we are going to go, and who we are going to be around. Often we convince ourselves that we can be exposed to certain things or situations without it being an issue, because we have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Some temptations seem so harmless. That's the trick of the enemy. Allowing ourselves little open doors to temptations gives the enemy a chance to move in on us.

Some temptations seem so harmless. 

For Eve, the Serpent found her hanging around that forbidden tree and walked through that door to deceive her. She left open the door of temptation by being where she shouldn't have been. In our lives, if we're not careful, we can be found in the same situation. We leave open what seems to be a harmless door of temptation. We can feel sorry for a hurting coworker who is going through a rough time in a relationship, opening the door to our own emotions, potentially leading to sexual sin. We can find ourselves spending more time on the computer or smart phone tracking other people's lives, neglecting our own families causing stress in the home. We can allow our eyes to view photos of people of things that seem harmless when in reality they are drawing our thoughts towards distracting emotions.

The temptation is often not a sin. It was not wrong of Eve to be near that forbidden fruit. But why leave the door to temptation open when it can potentially lead to sin? The flesh cannot be trusted. No matter how much Holy Ghost you have in your life, you still have flesh. No matter how much time you spend with the Lord, you must still be vigilant about protecting your relationship with God. In protecting your relationship with God, you are also protecting your relationship with your family and church body. Completely avoiding temptation protects your blessings. When Eve ate the fruit, she lost all her blessings of that perfect garden. 

Avoiding temptation protects your blessings. 

The Apostle Paul was fully aware the enemy still uses deception to draw saints away. To the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:3, he warned:

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 

Closing this door can seem strange or difficult. It may seem strange to others that you refuse to go out alone for lunch with a coworker of the opposite gender. It may be difficult to release a friendship that could potentially damage your marriage. Or, it may seem like a small, insignificant door, like releasing social media or some other form of entertainment. However, not closing the door can be fatal. No matter how much of a struggle it is to close a door to temptation, it is a much greater struggle to deal with the repercussions of sin. James 1:14-18 reminds us that temptations leads to sin, which results in death.

Not closing the door can be fatal. 

With living for God wholeheartedly, we must be intentional. Every thing we do, say, hear, see, and think has be controlled. We have to allow the flesh to suffer. We must let the Spirit to take over. Being lead by the Spirit is a beautiful thing when we see His blessings, but let us not forget that the blessings have come because of obedience to His Word. Avoiding temptation is most certainly a trend in His Word. Because the temptation isn't always obvious, we can not be too careful.

I Thessalonians 5:22 command us, "Abstain from every form of evil."

So I would suggest to you that you close any doors to temptations that are lingering in your life. Actually, why don't you just slam the door? Don't convince yourself that you are a superhero and temptations that affect others won't affect you. As it says in Matthew 26:41, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Eve never saw that Serpent coming. Be wise in your investments and intentional in building the life God has blessed you with. Slamming the door to temptation is "making no provision for the flesh," as we are commanded to do in Romans 13:14. You are protecting your soul, your eternity, your family.  You are protecting your blessings.


Slam the door! 

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

A New Thing This Spring

It's spring! The freshly fallen snow does not discourage my excitement about a new season. It's pureness reminds me of a new beginning. Spring represents newness of life. Spring always brings growth and warmth. The environmental seasons we experience are an ever present reminder of the spiritual seasons we go through.

Spring always brings growth and warmth.

When the new season arrives, we are often glad to see the previous season go. It's the same in the spirit. We are commanded to actually forget that last season. Let go of the past. We should press on in this new season in great anticipation of what God is going to do next. He promises to do a new thing.

Let go of the past. 

"Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?  I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19

So we must forget what has happened in the past. Don't allow your mind to dwell on history. Don't focus your thoughts on what has been in your life. It's easy to get hung up thinking about how things have always been and what things you've longed for in the past. If you want this new thing, you must let go of the past! Don't even consider the things of old, or you might miss this new thing! "Shall ye not know it?" You won't know it, if you are stuck in your old ways. How tragic it would be to miss the new thing God has for you!

Jesus said in Luke 9:62,

"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Jesus calls us to be His completely. He wants us to be all in! Jump into His kingdom and don't look back. Look forward unto the new path He has called you to walk. When we continue in our same path, same habits, same patterns, we are "looking back." We are missing what is right in front of us.

Look forward unto the new path He has called you to walk.

When we stop looking back, God said that He would even do miracles- He will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. He will bring to pass things that seemed impossible before.

If you want this new thing from God, if you want to see Him bring greatness into your life this season, focus on what is to come! Look ahead. Be excited and anticipate this new thing to come forth speedily! God said that it shall "spring forth!" As soon as we let go of the past, He will make a way and rivers will of blessings will flow!

If you have trouble with the changes God is demanding, remember this:

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10

He is your God, and He will give you help and strength! He will not let you down, and what He has for you is greater than you can imagine! He's been waiting for you all along to chase after Him.

Oh, what excitement there is for a "new thing" this spring! 


Thank you to Shawna for the encouragement this week. 

Monday, February 19, 2018

I Will Sing

Often in trials, I've tried to remind myself of what God has already done. It's uplifting and encouraging. However, recently I felt God change my focus. Instead of focusing on what He's already done, in an effort to reassure myself that He can take care of my current trial, I felt Him whisper, "focus on Who I am." Wow. Who God is. His qualities.

Obviously, His qualities are manifested in what He has done, but what if we focus on just those qualities? He is all powerful (I Chronicles 29:11). He is never changing (Hebrews 13:8). He is a Promise Keeper (II Peter 3:9). He is Powerful (Psalm 147:5). He is the Comforter (John 14:26). He is a Healer (Jeremiah 30:17). He is a Guide (Psalm 48:14). He is a Provider (Genesis 22:13-14). He is a Protector (II Thessalonians 3:3). He is Love (1 John 4:8). He is... it never ends! The list never ends! You won't run out of things to focus on in your trial!

So here I am focusing on the qualities of God and refusing to die. I will sing. I've shared the song below because it is so encouraging to me. Even if you can't physically sing very well, you can allow your heart to "sing" by maintaining a spirit of praise in your trial.

Be encouraged by His qualities, and ignore what you are lacking. Be encouraged by His power, and ignore your loss of control.

Read these lyrics, google the song. I love the line, "I will trust. I will remember." I will remember all His qualities. You can sing, too, because of His qualities.

I Will Sing 

by Kari Jobe

I need to see You here
I need to know You're in control
Though my heart is torn wide open
I will trust, I will remember

I need to hear Your voice
Speaking to silence all my doubts
Your word won't return empty
You will break through every darkness

Even when my breath is weak
I will sing, I will sing
Even in my suffering
I will sing, I will sing

I need to feel Your hope
Rising above my greatest fears
Even death has been defeated
I will trust, I will remember

Even when the shadows fall
I will sing, I will sing
Even when the night is long
I will sing, I will sing

Hallelujah
I surrender all to You
Hallelujah
You are God, You won't be shaken

Hallelujah
I surrender all to You
Hallelujah
You are God, You won't be shaken

I need to see You here
I need to know You're in control
Though my heart is torn wide open
I will trust, I will remember

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Waiting Room Exit

This is a continuation of the Waiting Room blog. For this one to make sense, you have to read that other one first.

So here I sit in God's waiting room enjoying His love and peace. Then someone else in the waiting room wants to talk about the waiting. They say they are waiting on God, too, but after more conversation I find they aren't totally committed to waiting on God. Making their own plans and decisions still sounds somewhat enticing to them.

In a physical waiting room, there are usually two doors- the door you came in and the door that goes where you are waiting to be. When you enter a waiting room, the door you come through will sometimes say "exit" above it. You can always go back out the door you came in. You can always escape the waiting room. It's the same in God's waiting room. He doesn't lock the door behind you. He's allows us to have free will. He lets us decide what we want to do with our lives. He gives us His Word, written and spoken to our hearts, as a guide, but it's up to us to decide what to do with it.

You can always escape the waiting room.

There I found myself in God's waiting room talking to someone who seems exhausted from waiting. Weary. Then the thought comes up, "what if we exit the waiting room the way we came in?" You know, go back out and look for another way to change things. Maybe use our human minds to do some more thinking and our own strength to do some more building? Sounds like a tempting idea. Maybe I missed something, and I'll see things differently out there in the world of running-my-own-life? My mind starts wandering. The waiting is so difficult some days. I momentarily forgot the truth. The truth that when I was in control, life was chaos. When I was in control, I was often gasping for air and searching for hope. On the other side of that exit door, I was a different person. I was a troubled, hurt person. The truth is that I had started to take for granted the hope, love, and calmness I found in the waiting room. The waiting room had actually become a welcome respite once I realized the treasures inside. God restored my hope in the waiting room. God offers peace in the waiting room. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him (Lamentations 3:25). Yet, there I sat in the waiting room, allowing my mind to wander about giving up and going back out that door. There was no peace when I was trying to figure things out on my own. There was no peace when I was desperate for deliverance from turmoil. There was no peace when I was making my own decisions.

God offers peace in the waiting room. 

Why would I give that up now? It's a little scary to think that there is always the option of going back out the door you came into the waiting room. It's not locked. You don't have to wait on God. If you get frustrated with your wait and wonder how much longer, refocus your mind on what you were delivered from (Philippians 4:8). Refocus your thoughts on the peace you have found in God. Don't let the enemy try to convince you that there is anything enticing on the other side of that exit door. Everything you left behind when you decided to wait on God is what is out there. Everything ungodly and everything disastrous. Pain, heartache, loneliness, fear, and desperation- that's what's on the other side of that waiting room exit door. There is no peace in the world of running-your-own-life. Fill your mind with thanks for all that you are sheltered from in God's waiting room. You don't have to understand what God is doing, just believe that He keeps His promises. He is still working. When He calls you out of the waiting room, all things will be perfect and complete. He makes all things new. It will be worth the wait, the commitment of staying focused on His promises.

You don't have to understand what God is doing, just believe that He keeps His promises.

The coolest thing about waiting on God is that He waits with us. When I felt a little confused and my mind wandered to considering the exit door, I talked to Him about it. I asked Him to help me stay put. I reminded Him that my heart wants Him and His will more than anything. He wrapped His arms around me and poured more love in my heart. He is here. In the waiting. He's never going to call us out of that mess we were in and then forget us.

He is here. In the waiting. 

So, stay in God's waiting room! Don't let anything or anyone convince you that the door you came in is the door you want to go out of! Wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14) Let God finish what He is doing and bring His promises to pass in your life. God has not forgotten us. He knows right where we are because He put us there!

And for the person who wanted to talk about using that exit door, thankfully they were convinced that it wasn't a good idea. And they decided to keep waiting on God, too. (: Encourage others in the waiting room. Don't let them give up on God, either!

Micah 7:7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.




Friday, January 19, 2018

Distractions


Distractions. I felt the Lord whisper this one word to me a few years ago. Distractions. "Ok, I got it," I thought as I scribbled "distractions" in my prayer journal and went on my merry way. I had no idea how complex and heavy these distractions would be in my life over the next few years. Sometimes I immediately recognized the situation as a distraction, and other times, I fell apart and returned to God in frustration only to hear His reminder, "distractions." Ughhh, I fell for a distraction! 

What is a distraction?

dis·trac·tion

dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. 1.
    a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.

 Any thing (action, person, situation) that prevents me from giving my full attention to Jesus is a distraction. Any thing. It doesn't have to be a "bad" thing. Any thing that takes my focus off of Jesus and consumes my time and attention is a distraction. So when I find myself frustrated by a situation, I remind myself that I am becoming distracted. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says,
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

I love these verses. Here's my interpretation: While running this race of faith, we must get rid of distractions along with getting rid of sin, staying focused on Jesus, the One Who will get us through and is cheering us on!

Distractions are the weights that set us back. Of course we should avoid sin, but we should also avoid any other thing that takes our eyes off Jesus. I think the Author used "looking unto Jesus" because whatever we have our eyes on is what we are moving towards. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will be going the right direction and be able to avoid set-backs. 

Most of us have heard it said, "keep your eyes on Jesus." But how do you do that? By keeping your thoughts on Jesus. Read His Word. Meditate on His Word. Prayer should be first in the morning. Prayer should be in your heart throughout the day. If your mind drifts, your eyes drift. Refocus your mind and you'll be back on track. Jesus never changes. He never leaves us. We sometimes drift from Him, but He will always be there. A steady, guiding Light for us to focus on. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means not allowing oneself to spend excessive amounts of time or energy on something that isn't bringing us closer to Him. 

There is also a secondary definition of the word "distraction:"  

     2. extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.

Agitation means troubled, nervous, or perplexed. When our minds are agitated, we are distracted. When our emotions are agitated, we are distracted. Being troubled, perplexed, and anxious are signs that we are allowing distractions to take our mind and eyes off Jesus. 

Isaiah 26:3 says,
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

So there you have it; keep your mind on Him, dump distractions, and you will have perfect peace. No agitation. 

When life seems overwhelming and confusing, seek out what the distraction is and get rid of it! There is nothing like His peace! 

Many times over the last few years, I found myself struggling with less than positive emotions and realized I had let a distraction sneak in. My mind and energy was focused more on a distraction, things of this world, than it was on things above (Col 3:2).

God is so patient with us. If we get distracted, He's always waiting for us to refocus on Him. He's always there to pour His love on us and bring us peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4:7). We don't have to understand our situation to have His peace. We just have to stay focused and ignore those distractions! 

Focus, Baby, Focus! (:




Friday, January 12, 2018

Not Really Lost

Recently I got stuck in traffic because of an accident that closed down the highway. I looked up an alternate route on the GPS and exited onto a back road. It appeared that everyone else had the same idea. Being new to the area, I decided to trust the GPS and stay on this route. The GPS said I was 3.8 miles from the school, which is where I was headed to pick up my kids, but I felt like I was crawling there with no idea where I was. 

Nothing looked familiar. 

I called a neighbor to get the kids for me, because I have horrible childhood memories of being the last one picked up from school. Thankfully she was free and agreed to help, which immediately relieved my stress. As soon as I hung up, the GPS had me make a right turn, and I suddenly recognized the back entrance to my neighborhood where the school is the located! I almost cried. Not because of the situation, but because of the spiritual application that immediately saturated my thoughts. I’m going through a lot right now. Ok, I’ve been going through “a lot” for about 4 years now. And recently I’ve been feeling like God put me in a test, this trial, and forgot where I was. Spiritually, I felt like I did physically.

Nothing in my life looks familiar.

I’ve been asking, well begging, for a breakthrough, something to show me that He wasn’t done with me. The exhaustion of the roller coaster emotions and juggling the daily tasks with additional stressful elements involved have been weighing so heavily lately. It’s been feeling like I’m going nowhere with this whole trial. What is happening in my life? Where is my life going? In that moment, the moment I trusted the GPS and made the right turn, I felt God showing me, with a physical illustration, that He knows right where I am and my trial is almost over. I’m much closer to the end than the beginning. It will all be over suddenly when He is ready to lead me to that point of the journey. Life doesn't look familiar to me, but it looks familiar to Him. Nothing is foreign to God. No situation, no circumstance, no issue- He knows what He is doing in the midst of it all. Nothing is hidden from Him, according to Hebrews 4:13.

Nothing is foreign to God.

Once again overwhelmed with emotion, I gave it all back to Him. As the tears flowed down my face, I surrendered all the struggles, all the fears, all the pain, all the exhaustion, again. I can trust that He knows right where I am, even though I don’t know where I am.

We must not allow ourselves to be blinded by what is right in front of us. We must remember how far we have come and persist in seeking out His will for our situation.  According to google, “A GPS or Global Positioning System is a network of orbiting satellites that send precise details of their position in space back to earth. The signals are obtained by GPS receivers, such as navigation devices and are used to calculate the exact position, speed and time at the vehicles location.” On our journey, we must seek out His signals, the Maker of the Globe. He is the Ultimate GPS! If we don’t obtain His signals and allow Him to guide us, it is so easy to get lost and feel abandoned or hopeless.


Allow His signals to lead you in whatever you are facing. Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us, “seek the Lord and you will find Him.” Psalm 34:10 says, “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Seek Him and when He sends you a signal, be an open receiver of His love and direction!