"Do This or Something Better!" Page 14

“Do this or something better!”1  This phrase just washed over me as I prayed about my current concerns.   My mind is never far from the consequences we are walking through since closing our business.  Many dominoes were aligned in our life...each toppled and knocked down the next.  So be it!  I’m hoping that the last detrimental domino is in motion and slow motion at that.  We are working to hear God’s voice, be in His will and attend to those things that are within our power.  As the last few game pieces tilt toward us, tapping in staccato,  we watch in faithful uncertainty.  We know our prayers and our needs...but the game simply is not over just yet! 

During this time the subject of my many prayers has been:  “Lord, hear our prayers, (Psalm 27:7);  Reverse our losses (Matthew 6: 27-34); Put us back on the path written about (Psalm 139:16).  Bless us (Matthew 5: 3-10);  Protect us (Isaiah 43:1-3); Be with us (Psalm 46:1);  Help our unbelief, (Isaiah 41: 10);  Go before us (Exodus 14: 21-22); Lead us back to the path written about (again Psalm 139: 16); Don’t let us go if you’re not going with us (Exodus 33: 15-16) , etc, etc, etc.  If you read carefully you’ll see that, though based on scripture, some of these prayers are contrary to the others. Ok, so I was covering every base!  Thankfully within my current bible study….I’ve come across a prayer that is so pivotally profound it is poetically simple:

“LORD, DO THIS OR SOMETHING BETTER!”

This amazing request leads me to the realization that my prayers need to be very detailed.  Do this or something better!  Do what?   What IS this request?  We had better be very specific!  

When we’re in a tumultuous situation our thoughts and emotions tend to roll from here to there….and so did my prayers.  I know that we have specific needs and I’ve tried to focus on those….but as you see I have been, let’s say, in a back and forth match as to what to pray for. Surely I want God's protection and His best...but reality is so distracting!  Distraction and uncertainty are not good for our prayer life.  However now…armed with power of one simple sentence…..I know how to petition God with reverence…..”Do this or something better”. 

So... the game plan is to attend to what is within my power and then add the following prayer:  “Lord, here is what I think……….I am working toward this end….. this is my plan….but Lord, do this….or do something better. "  God's answer may be something totally different than what I am expecting....and that's just fine...for scripture says:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29: 11-13

With the knowledge that God, himself, knows the plans for me, I pray and then stand watch.   What an amazing prayer!  What an amazing game plan!   What an amazing God!  This prayer sets us up for God's best (not mine).   It strengthens our stance because of a sure faith.  It allows us to stand on the might of God, His word, His power and His plan as we carefully align another set of dominos (those things within our power).  This strategy allows God to take care of the end result.  We can breathe a sigh of relief- knowing  exactly what our prayer is....and what God  is capable of....and therefore how to anticipate things... as He works it out! 

Truly the words something better  flood over me with relief.  I have found some peace again.  I know that God can do better than my best.  I’ve seen Him answer my prayers before…and armed with this visual….I can utter this amazing prayer and sit back with tremendous trust in Jehovah Elohim-the God that can make something out of nothing!   My faith has room …not just to grow but expand  in every direction into something it wasn't..and in doing so completely cover my life with God’s blessings….His best. 

 When we pray like that…..with a true belief and an honest heart…confessing that God can take what we deem best and make it better ...heaven rejoices as we laugh.   Our specific prayers are not too hard for God.  He could touch that 1^st domino, setting  my plan into motion….or He can change the course of my future with a simple angle change of one game piece.  It really doesn’t matter  when we’re standing on faith….for that very faith changes everything in this game called life.

Proverbs 16:13
“We toss the coin but it is the Lord who controls its decision.”Proverbs 21: 30

“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”

Amen and Amen!

Song recommendation
Voice of Truth
by:  Casting Crowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwsvqVmFV6Y

1-Priscilla Shirer Bible Study, One in a Million.

A Major Discomfort Page 13

The writing below is, word for word, a devotional put out by Mr. Charles Swindoll, a renowned Christian preacher and author.  It is precisely linked, in lesson, to page 12 of this blog.  Please read page 12 first and then read this page so that you can see how God works in our lives.

 How does this reflect God's Hand, you might ask.  Well, first it ties directly to the entry made yesterday by myself which reflects the lesson I am studying in my current Bible Study and the exact experience through which I am walking.  The subject matters are the same...regarding a time in the desert, our personal needs, and God's plan for the enrichment of our souls.  God teaches us just like this, if we're keen enough to see it, by presenting the same lesson to us in seemingly ironic ways... taking us deeper into an understanding of what He knows our hearts are yearning to hear and understand... and what our character and integrity still have to learn.  Additonal devotionals and other resources by Charles Swindoll can be found at http://www.insight.org/

May 6, 2011



A Major in Discomfort
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 3:1; Acts 7:29–30

Notice carefully how the process took place through those years of desert learning, because it is the same with you and me. God must break through several hard, exterior barriers in our lives before He can renovate our souls. His persistent goal is to break through to the inner person. As David acknowledged, "Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6).

What are those resistant layers in our hearts, and how does He break through to that hidden part?

 First, He finds pride. And He uses the sandpaper of obscurity to remove it ever so gradually. Then He finds us gripped by fear—dread of our past, anxiety over our present, and terror over what may lie ahead—and He uses the passing of time to remove that fear. We learn that things aren't out of hand at all; they're in His hand.  He next encounters the barrier of resentment—the tyranny of bitterness. He breaks down that layer with solitude. In the silence of His presence, we gain a fresh perspective, gradually release our cherished rights, and let go of the expectations that held us hostage.  Finally, He gets down to the basic habits of living, he penetrates our inner person, and there He brings discomfort and hardship to buff away that last layer of resistance. Why? So that He might renovate us at the very core of our being.

Reach for the hand of your Guide! He is Lord of the desert. Make that your desert. The most precious object of God's love is His child in the desert. If it were possible, you mean more to Him during this time than at any other time. You are as the pupil of His eye. You are His beloved student taking his toughest courses. While testing you, He loves you with an infinite amount of love.  Jesus walked through the desert first. He felt its heat. He endured its loneliness. He accepted its obscurity. He faced down Satan himself while the desert winds howled. And you can be sure He will never, ever forget or forsake the one who follows Him across the sand.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

I am following Him across the sand!  May you take out your sunblock and sunshades and do the same!

Many blessings.

Speak Tenderly To Me. Page 12

I share the following….not so that I may gain your compassion…but so that you can see God Almighty's!

Not long ago I struggled with fatigue which led to me acquiring a plague I’ll call Doubt.  Shadows were lurking.  Something ungodly had taken hold of my brain.  During this time I was so overwhelmed that tears fell to wash over my soul…for I was burdened with feelings of inadequacy.

I was depleted.  Busyness will do this to us.  I had worked a two day trip with the airlines which included 11 hours in the air, landed late in the evening and the next morning went straight into last minute pack-mode for 4 people…for a last-minute trip to Louisiana; traveled 8 hours in the car.  Spent 2 short days visiting for Easter then drove the 8 hours back home and within 3 hours I was overcome with the stomach flu.  After suffering for 3 days, during which I actually thanked God that I am usually healthy, I had to hop up and fly another 6 hour work trip with AA and then head into a busy weekend.   When I touched down, mentally and physically, I realized I had landed in the Land of Lost Toys.  I felt like a mis-fit; broken and unwanted.  Weary in the wake of my life and its travels.   This schedule may sound manageable to some…and is usually manageable for me….but not this time. 

I could embellish and add the normal nuances that make our days truly complete.  On this particular trip there was the 16 hour round-trip car ride with 5 head-strong people I call my family…and all the give and take that goes with that.  Within life in general there is the juggle we all go through to manage our time, our family, our home, our job and ….oh yeah….ourselves!   There’s the chronic dishes, chronic laundry, chronic meal planning, chronic errand running; the chronic floor cleaning, bed-making, task-mastering, and car-pooling to here, there and yonder.  There’s the balancing of job vs. family, health vs. convenience, flexibility vs. structure ….on and on and on.  Somewhere in there we invite God along on our trips and into our daily lives.  During my latest challenge between Super Mom and super tired…. I reached out to God and He spoke to me in a way that opened my eyes to His compassion and mercy.  I heard God’s voice for He heard mine!

 Many years ago I memorized the scripture, Psalm 27:7, that says “Hear me O Lord when I cry with my voice; have mercy on me and answer me”.    During my latest struggle, with tears and all, I literally cried out to God “I need nurturing”.  To be honest, it is hard for some of us to use the words “I need”.  But, I humbled myself and spoke these words to my husband and to God through various prayers.  I moved through a couple of days….hoping to “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” per  Psalm 27:13 (But my confidence wasn’t quite on par!)

 I was struggling, vulnerable.  As I exited this time of busyness and sickness I felt out of sorts; off course.  Of course, there are other underlining issues in my life, as in yours, that burden my heart and weigh on my mind and these only added to the noise in my head screaming “inadequate”.  However, my voice reached God’s ears.  Instantly He knew that neither my heart nor my senses were centered True North and He arranged to attend to my needs.  Through my Bible Study a day or two later I read the scripture in Hosea 2: 14-15.   God said:

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Trouble a Door of Hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”

This still makes my heart tighten with thankfulness.   It’s full of compassion from a compassionate God.  I needed a song in my heart so badly.  I needed someone to speak tenderly to me….to offer tender care.  This scripture is saying that God entices us to a quiet place (the desert) were we can steal away from the busyness that weakens us.  He allures us lovingly toward something we need for He knows, during our low times, we require the security that comes from being alone with a loved one.  Once there, He will encourage us kindly, as our earthly parent would; reminding us we are loved and provided for.  In this place, meant for healing…. we hear His tender voice and we are calmed; nurtured.   During this intimate talk He reminds us that our troubles will fade….and soon we’ll  be standing before a Door of Hope.  “This too shall pass” is the implication.  During this respite in the desert, we recuperate.  We’re given back our vineyards; the things we’ve worked hard to harvest; those vines we had planted deep with great hope for our future.  In the warm desert sun we are revitalized... and re-discover those strong feelings we had back when we first gained Christ’s enduring friendship through salvation.  We’re recovering!   He’ll make us strong and healthy again, for He is the “Wonderful Counselor”....a Mighty God!  He’ll give us back the song we used to sing.  That tune we used to hum quietly under our breath when life was good and all was well in our soul.  He does this for He knows that to travel down this earthly path is to face sickness and strife. 

God can and will give us back that peace and joy that we once sang about.  He can lead us to a peaceful locale free of distractions and in this beautiful place we can hear His  voice as He speaks tenderly to us…nurturing us; restoring those things that busyness and distractions took from us; restoring our confidence and competence; restoring our hearts with His goodness and our spirits with His power and love (II Timothy 1:7).   He will lead us through the Door of Hope that was temporarily locked by doubt.

  As of now…. my plague of Doubt has vanished.  I’ve walked through that door of Hope and into the direction of the very things God planned for me all along.  It's "a journey not a destination" as they say...but I'm on my way!   During your troubles…may you find this door as well!

“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights
 who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17

     “…and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9: 6

Song Recommendation:
The More I seek You
BY:  Kari Jobe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4crRPpqoW4