Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever! Praise be His Holy Name! Praise be to and in and through His Most Sacred Heart! Praise and honor and glory to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! Praise be to The Creator of all life.
Thank You Lord for Your loving kindness. Thank You for Your steadfastness and guidance. Thank You for all thy benefits: Your provision, protection, blessings upon blessings, miracles, discipline, reminders. Thank You for the air in our lungs, the blood in our veins; thank You for it ALL. Thank You for new life and deeper love for others. Thank You!
I am so sorry, Lord, that I doubt and allow confusion to enter my mind when I lack trust in You and Your perfect plan. Forgive me, God, for the times I fail to see how You are present and guiding and still working miracles! I am so sorry for my forgetfulness, my pride, my short-sightedness, my self-centeredness. I am so so sorry!
You know, every time, I stare at a blank page and pray that God will reveal to me, remind me really, of all the Praise, Thanksgiving, and Repentance I owe Him. Every time, I wonder if what He prompts me to share is worth the time to sit still, reflect, listen, and then put it out there. He ALWAYS knows when I need that push, that reminder, that encouragement, that swift kick in the skirt. He blessed me last week with that encouragement again!
It never fails, no, that’s not right – He never fails. Last week, at a meeting, I met the sweetest woman who told me she enjoyed reading these little reports. She had NO IDEA how much I needed that encouragement. I could not help but give her a hug! Sometimes, we know exactly what God is asking us to do, so we do it. As time passes, we begin to doubt the call especially if we do not see the fruit or understand completely the purpose behind His request. God recently reminded me of a MAJOR truth about understanding, and I want to share it because I am pretty sure we all need the reminder, especially in these times of the constant battling of opinions, as the enemy sows confusion and division at every turn.
In my prayer journal, I recently put down on paper what I felt God speaking to me about my lack of understanding:
It is not for us to understand. Understanding is not necessary. Obedience without understanding demonstrates TRUST!
Some of you reading this may respond, “Well, DUH!” I am such a slow learner y’all! This truth was made so clear to me that day. I do not even remember, nor did I even bother writing down what it was I did not understand because that was not what God needed me to remember, but God knew I needed a lesson, a real truth bomb, about the definition of trust!
Sometimes, I get so caught up in connecting the dots and trying to unnecessarily understand aspects of this life and this world. Sometimes, I feel like I cannot do the next right thing without consolations and confirmations from the Lord. I get caught up in the “coulda, woulda, shouldas,” the “ifs, ands, and buts”, and let us not forget the infamous “what ifs”. My journal continues:
Living in God’s will even without consolations and confirmations demonstrates FAITH and right order. At times, there must be a RADICAL ACCEPTANCE of who you are, your limitations, your situation, AND who God is…stop wondering if…could have…should have – How wasteful and exhausting and JOYLESS –
See – a kick in the skirt! I do not need to understand to obey! Sometimes, trying to understand steals the joy that comes with knowing you are in God’s will. So, when you receive notification of a new praise report, keep in mind that many, many times, it is an act of trust on my part, and I am attempting to stay in God’s will! Have you been prompted to do something for the Lord that you do not fully understand? Maybe it’s a new calling or a change of some sort. Maybe it’s something you were called to do a long time ago, and you wonder if the call has “expired”. Someone may need to hear from you as to how you demonstrate your trust especially when you do not fully understand. Please share and encourage one another! We all need to be what that wonderful mom was to me last week!
Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash
