Restless Expectancy

Restlessness pervades my body, my mind...the expectancy of what is to come makes me antsy to get to that place. I see the road between where I am now and where I will be, but the journey causes this restlessness. It's all part of the plan, it's all happening in it's time. I trust that. I trust God. I trust the value He places in me and the talents and abilities He has lain deep inside of me before I ever breathed my first breath. "...she is worth far more than rubies." Proverbs 31:10b

I continue to dream of that day...that day that I am walking fully as the person He created me to be. To someday measure up to and exceed the expectations of friends and family...and of myself. His expectations are endless. His promises are concrete. His desires for my life are better and more rapturous than anything I can ever even imagine. I try to dream big dreams, and yet my dreams are so small in comparison to His dreams. I have watched as He has removed those who would cause my gaze to waiver, as He has closed doors on things that were never meant to be. As He has told me "No, child!" over and over again. All because He loves me so much, He doesn't want me to settle for less than His best for my life. So that when He blesses me, it will overflow and pour out onto others. So that when it pours out onto others, it will overflow in them and pour out onto still others. A river that has no beginning and no end...that has a wellspring that never runs dry. This is His desire for each of us. Why do we continually settle for less than what He wants for us? Why do we willingly take second place to this life, when He wants us to be first in this life? To lead by the example He has set before us.

Lord, help me to see the value you see in me. Help me to help others see the value you see in them. Help each of us to see that our meager offerings can be so much more, if we will just let go of it all, and allow you to be in complete control. Help us to see our lives through your eyes, dear Lord. Help us to dream our dreams through your dreams. Help us to walk the path, however long, however short, that you have set before us. Open our hearts, minds, and souls to all that you have planned for us. In Jesus' name, amen!

New Roads to Travel On

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

I have reached the end of a season in my life, one that has been both a blessing and a burden for the past 8 1/2 years. It took much prayer, laying a "fleece" before God and being still enough to hear what He had to tell me. If I did not trust that this was what He wanted for me, I would not have taken the steps I have, especially with the economic crisis that has saturated America. What a wonderful thing to know that our heavenly Father is not in an economic crisis! To know that He still has cattle on a thousand hills, streets that are paved with gold and precious jewels that adorn the gates of His city! When He says, "It's time!" You better believe that "it's TIME!"

So here I stand, seeing with my human eyes the concerns and responsibilities that lay before me, not knowing, with my human mind how I will make all the ends meet. Here I also stand with my spirit eyes, taking in all the wonder and glory that my Daddy God has in store for me, for those I love, for those I long to be help. With my spirit eyes, I see the provision, the abundance, the blessing...pouring out, overflowing, spilling over onto others. My hope, my trust, my life is in the hands of my loving Lord and Savior. My Provider. My Healer. The Lifter of My Head. In this journey, He is my hope, my joy and my goal.

So now, as I begin this new journey, down this new road, I look forward expectantly to the wonderful things that He has planned for my life, for the lives of my loved ones - family and friends, alike. He cannot bless what we do not give to him freely. Each day I say, "Lord, my life is yours to do with as you please. Mold me, make me into what you want me to be. My life is in your hands!"

Life Path

I believe that we all wonder at some point if the path we are walking in life is the path we are truly intended to be on or if we made a wrong turn somewhere along the way and missed the path that leads us to where we really belong.

It's so easy to get bogged down with where we are. To see no way out of or through the situations we are in, whether it be our jobs, finances, a relationship or some other situation in our life. It seems as though we are stuck as if in mud and mire and cannot move from the course we are on. Take heart!

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11

"You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn." Psalm 18:36

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths..." Psalm 25:4

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

"Listen, my son, and be wise and keep your heart on the right path." Proverbs 23:19

"You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence." Acts 2:28

Throughout the Bible there are references to the paths that we all take. Paths of deception, dishonesty, lust; paths of grace, hope, direction. One thing is prevalent as well...that if we place our lives, our paths, in the hands of Almighty God, that He will direct our steps. We have to be willing and unafraid to change the course of our lives, to alter our steps and direction and to move forward into the life that He has planned for us.

The trials and tribulations that we face day in and day out are not always lessons to be learned; they can be the gentle hand of our heavenly father urging us to simply move. Move out of our comfort zone and out of the darkness that surrounds us. We just have to be willing to step forward, to take a leap of faith into the great unknown, that is well known by God.