Going back to the main theme of this blog, finding little wonders
and showing them to the world, I have a really cool thing to say. :)
God has a plan for you.
If you have grown up in a Christian home or in Christian circles
you have probably heard this many times during your life, and if not,
let this be the first time.
God knows what you have been through, He knows what you are going
through and what you are doing at this moment, He knew before time
began that at this moment you would be reading this and He knew what
your reaction would be.
I have always thought this was cool, but now it is even cooler.
I was reading in Acts recently, and I came across a verse that
really stood out to me, sadly I cannot remember what it was or even
exactly what it said. But I do remember that it was about God
planting us where we are, and that He put us where the best place and
time would be for us.
He placed you in just the right spot.
The thought that went through my head was He put me EXACTLY
where I needed to be in order to be saved.
When I was younger, at random times, I would wish I was a
different person, maybe in a different family, in a different
country, in a different time, just to see what it would be like, or
because I thought I would do better in a different environment.
But His plan was for me to be in the family I am in, in the year I
am in, in the country I am in, all because He knew it was best for
me.
Talk about God taking care of His children!
As I thought about it more, I thought about how sometimes I will
pray things like, "God, I know I am supposed to want You to come
soon. I know I am supposed to yearn for the day when I can meet You
and I do, but I want to travel the world first. I want to grow up and
experience this life first."
I know it is a selfish prayer and usually I end it with saying
something like, "Please change my heart to be only for You."
But I realized as I thought about that concept that if Jesus comes
back when I am fifteen, He will have made me to be born fifteen years
before His return because I am supposed to be fifteen when He comes
back. Or if He comes back when I am seventeen, then it will be no
accident that I am seventeen when He returns. Or eighty. Or still
fourteen. Or sixty five. Or even not alive anymore, but whatever age
I am, if He does return in my lifetime, it will all be part of the
plan.
That, to me, is really comforting.
To know that God has such control over everything, that even time
He has structured to fit His plan, that something that happens in a
split second, that split second He has planned.
Isn't that amazing?
I was at my cousins' house this past week and at one point we were
standing looking at an unfrozen stream, there were almost no words to
describe the way it looked and sounded, it was so beautiful.
I remembered that thought then, and I realized that when God made
that stream He knew I would look at it, even from that angle. He knew
I would listen to it and think it lovely.
Is this not a God worthy of praise?
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Saturday, January 25, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
A Faintly Burning Wick
I know I haven't been on here for a while, I will try to keep it more regular, but if I have nothing to write about for a long period of time...I guess you will just have to wait. :P
But anyways, since I am writing, here is what I am writing about. I am going to tell you a story about myself, a struggle I have been going through, and how I just broke out of it.
I hope that someone going through a similar struggle will read this and take heart.
For the past...Oh my, I don't even know how long, I have been settled in a little hole of my own comfort space. I have not grown spiritually for a long time, and I have known that, but just was not really willing to push out of it.
So there it is, my confession.
Recently though, I have really come to realize this and I have tried to be on fire for the Lord, tried to just make myself be hungry for His word...and well, nothing really came of it.
Then the day came. Our church was going to have a week long fast, starting into the new year. I saw it as a sign from God and was sure that if I fasted I would again be close with God, and everything would be good.
That is the WRONG mentality to have.
Here is a piece of advise, never go into a fast thinking that not eating will fix all of your problems, it doesn't.
As the week was going by, I still felt nothing. I was not getting closer to Him, I was not being convicted of sin, I wasn't growing.
One day I thought to myself, I feel like I had a fire raging in my heart once, but slowly it has died down, until now all that is left is a small flame, barely staying alive, slowly going out.
But I didn't know how to stop it.
The next day I received a letter from my cousin, at the end she included a bible verse, she said it was one that had encouraged her. I read it, and was like, Oh, that's nice. But then I felt the need to read it again, to study it, to find what it had for me, I read it again and really listened to the words, it was just what I needed.
That verse was Isaiah 42:3, A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
That was for me, my faintly burning wick, a promise that He will not let it die out, that He would answer my prayers.
That was when I really began seeking, I wasn't really sure how, but I prayed that God would reveal Himself to me, and show me how to grow closer to Him.
Near the end of the week, (I had already finished my fast) I had still not grown in the way I wanted to. But I believe that the week was not in vain. On Saturday I went to a new group meeting that our church has started for young adults, 14 and up, and we did a bible study on Mark 12:28-34, and afterwards a few of us stayed at the church for about two hours talking about God and who He is.
That night I felt the fire flare up again.
The reason I believe the week to not have been in vain, (or one of the many reasons) is that we have prayed for revival, and at the end of that week, the last full day of the fast was when it happened for me.
This time I intend to not let it die again, this time I want to feed the flame, I want to always be on fire for the Lord.
But anyways, since I am writing, here is what I am writing about. I am going to tell you a story about myself, a struggle I have been going through, and how I just broke out of it.
I hope that someone going through a similar struggle will read this and take heart.
For the past...Oh my, I don't even know how long, I have been settled in a little hole of my own comfort space. I have not grown spiritually for a long time, and I have known that, but just was not really willing to push out of it.
So there it is, my confession.
Recently though, I have really come to realize this and I have tried to be on fire for the Lord, tried to just make myself be hungry for His word...and well, nothing really came of it.
Then the day came. Our church was going to have a week long fast, starting into the new year. I saw it as a sign from God and was sure that if I fasted I would again be close with God, and everything would be good.
That is the WRONG mentality to have.
Here is a piece of advise, never go into a fast thinking that not eating will fix all of your problems, it doesn't.
As the week was going by, I still felt nothing. I was not getting closer to Him, I was not being convicted of sin, I wasn't growing.
One day I thought to myself, I feel like I had a fire raging in my heart once, but slowly it has died down, until now all that is left is a small flame, barely staying alive, slowly going out.
But I didn't know how to stop it.
The next day I received a letter from my cousin, at the end she included a bible verse, she said it was one that had encouraged her. I read it, and was like, Oh, that's nice. But then I felt the need to read it again, to study it, to find what it had for me, I read it again and really listened to the words, it was just what I needed.
That verse was Isaiah 42:3, A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
That was for me, my faintly burning wick, a promise that He will not let it die out, that He would answer my prayers.
That was when I really began seeking, I wasn't really sure how, but I prayed that God would reveal Himself to me, and show me how to grow closer to Him.
Near the end of the week, (I had already finished my fast) I had still not grown in the way I wanted to. But I believe that the week was not in vain. On Saturday I went to a new group meeting that our church has started for young adults, 14 and up, and we did a bible study on Mark 12:28-34, and afterwards a few of us stayed at the church for about two hours talking about God and who He is.
That night I felt the fire flare up again.
The reason I believe the week to not have been in vain, (or one of the many reasons) is that we have prayed for revival, and at the end of that week, the last full day of the fast was when it happened for me.
This time I intend to not let it die again, this time I want to feed the flame, I want to always be on fire for the Lord.
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