Tag: Wisdom

Leaning The Right Way

Life is. . . 

So many extra words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, or chapters that can be added to the phrase “Life is”. One minute life is good and the next minute life may not be so good. What should we as believers do to help us navigate through these moments? The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 ”Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (NKJV)

This scripture has blessed me and comforted me in so many ways and so many times. I will often share this scripture with others when they are seeking answers. There are times in my own life where I just don’t understand the why, but I do know God has a plan for me. I have to remember to trust Him when the times are not so good just as much, if not more, as I trust Him when times are good. I have learned over the years not to try to figure things out on my own. It took me some time to get here in my thinking and in my prayer life, but thankfully, there has been progress. 

When the not so good moments occur, I have to go to God for Him to comfort me and to give me the peace I need. He can do that better than me phoning a friend or posting my circumstances on social media. He can comfort me better than retail therapy or eating too much of a favorite dessert. No one understands me better than God understands me. No one understands you better than God understands you. Remember, He is the One who created you and knit you together in your mother’s womb. He is the One who knows your thoughts even before you think them or speak them (Psalm 139).

Perhaps this is why  Proverbs 3:5 starts off with ” Trust in the LORD with all your heart”. We have to trust Him because He is the One who gave us our hearts. He loves us just as we are and He knows how we are feeling about certain issues in our lives. Then we have to lean not unto your own understanding”. God is saying I may not need you to understand right at this particular moment, but in time you will get some understanding out of your circumstances. God is saying if you trust Him and don’t try to figure things out on your own and also acknowledge Him, then He will set you on the right path. We have to lean in the right direction at all times and in all of our ways. The right way to go is to lean towards God.

There is a hymn we sang in church when I was a young girl titled “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms”. Hopefully, some of you know this song and/or remember it. Back then I had a hymn book in my hands and I would sing along with the rest of the congregation.  Here are a few lines in this song:

“What a blessedness, what a peace is mine.

Leaning on the everlasting arms. 

Leaning, leaning;  Safe and secure from all alarms.”

Safe and secure from all alarms! In other words, acknowledge Him in all our ways, then we will be safe and secure. Life is full of surprises. Life is full of ups and downs. How we manage to get through each day is key. Do we try to figure everything out and keep asking why? Or, do we turn to God and trust Him to lead us the right way. John 10:10 says ”The thief does not come except to steal and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” When we are leaning the right way, we are trusting God and trusting His plans for our lives. Life is better when we come to know we can trust God and don’t have to figure things out on our own. The right way to lean is to trust God and to acknowledge Him.

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Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank You for the blessing of life you have given us this day. You woke us up this morning. We are grateful that You are protecting us and providing for us right now. We thank You, Father, for being merciful and loving towards us. Please forgive us of our sins. Forgive us for when we try to understand things on our own without trusting You and acknowledging You. Help us, Father, to be more intentional in seeking You for direction and clarity in our circumstances. Thank You, Father, for directing our paths and for Your word being a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. Thank You for being the Everlasting Arms we can lean into at all times and be safe from all harm and dangers. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen and amen, again.

Posted on in Encouragement

Are You Ready?

We have made it to the last month of 2020! I don’t know about you, but now that we are in December I feel this year has zipped by! Yes, I said zipped! In spite of all that has been going on around us, I feel like 2020 started just a short while ago and here we are approaching the last few weeks of the year! You’re probably thanking God for 2020 coming to an end, but are you ready for 2021? Are you really ready?

I have been hearing people say “I will be so glad when 2020 is over.” Or I’ve heard, “I can’t wait for things to get back to normal!” Do you really think things will go back to a resemblance of 2019 as if 2020 did not happen? During my 2020 experience, I have felt that God was shaking things up so that we would not return to the normalcy of pre-2020, but that what He planned for us would manifest in the earth.

Now don’t get me wrong, 2020 was not what I had anticipated it to be. One minute we were ushering in a new year with new resolutions, new hopes, and then all of a sudden, something happened that we did not expect to see or experience! And the interesting thing about approaching the year 2020 was that many were speaking of it being a year of 20/20 vision and insight! I’d venture to say that most of us did not see any of what we expected to see in 2020! I look at 2020 not just as another year in my life, but I will remember it as an unusual and amazing experience. The year 2020 has not been like any other year I have seen in my lifetime. I have had my share of ups and downs this year; I’ve had moments of joy and moments of despair, but God has continually blessed me and sustained me throughout 2020.

Isaiah 55:8-11 says “For My thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not My ways. This is the LORD’s declaration. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper in what I send it to do.” No matter what we were planning and thinking right before the strike of midnight on January 1, 2020, God’s thoughts were already different than ours. His plans, in the midst of all that we have experienced in 2020, was that His word would accomplish what He intended to accomplish.

I ask again, are you ready? Are you ready for what 2021 may bring? I hear the LORD say don’t just finish the year strong, finish ready! Be prepared! He asks what have you learned about Him in 2020 that will prepare you for 2021? Have you grown in your relationship with Him over these past 12 months? Have you spent more time complaining or have you spent more time being grateful? Have you worried more or have you put more of your trust in Him? Have you spent more time watching news reports or have you spent more time reading the Bible and feasting on God’s word? Have you prayed and fasted more? It’s not too late to consider making some changes before midnight strikes and we usher in the year 2021.

I don’t know how much different 2021 will be from 2020, but I do know God has a purpose and a plan for us. What God has set in motion will not return to Him empty or void. In 2020 we have gone through the pains of feeling the thorns from the rose bush before we see the rose blooming. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to see the roses bloom!

The remainder of Isaiah 55 in verses 12-13 reads as follows: You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush, a cypress will come up and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the LORD as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.

Before this year ends I would encourage you to give some thought as to what you have learned from 2020. More importantly, what have you learned from God? I would also encourage you to write your thoughts and memories in a journal. I think our 2020 experience will make some amazing stories to tell in later years.

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Dear Father in Heaven, how amazing and wonderful You are! Thank You for blessing us to live through the experience of 2020. Prepare us to be ready for what You have in store for us in 2021. Saturate us with strength, power, wisdom, knowledge and love that comes from You. LORD, let the words of our mouths and meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You. Forgive us of our sins. LORD, we thank You for being the giver of life and the sustainer of life. Prepare us to be ready for what You will accomplish in the days ahead and bless us to see how Your plans will prosper in this land. In the precious and mighty name of Jesus, amen!