(edited July 3, 2008; grammatical improved :)
I have been thinking ... lately about how funny life is. In my bible studies and readings there has been a common theme the last few months. Laugh... it is going to be okay. HE is in control and you must tell the truth, life and people are side splitting... head jarring Funny lately. :)
( I typically avoid silliness and laughing ...it just never made much sense to me... I was always busy trying to keep up and learn stuff and do stuff; humor, and laughter seemed to be a waste of time but God has really shown me I was missing the whole point on some things and well now, it is funny to look at things with a new perspective.. and I have to laugh :)))))!
I am going back to school and one of the workshops I had to take was on goal setting. It talked about making long-term and short-term goals. I started thinking, I plan and prepare but I have a hard time setting long-term goals, why? Well I got to looking at my worksheet on the things I want to achieve and where I want to be in 3, 5, 10 years. Well, in there lies the problem, my goal is to be in heaven. I pray everyday, Lord... rescue us... Come back today I am ready, you know where I will be just come get us and we will reunited in the clouds on our way up. That is my hearts desire. I am a simple kind of person; I live things true and pure, wholesome and longlasting. I wanted to be a wife, a mother and (well I did want to be a nurse, but that did not work out, then I went for Medical Assistant and life changed so..) and I want to go to heaven.
I have spent so much time focused on my verse, Jeremiah 29:11, I was just waiting for Him to tell me what to do. I pray and work things out week-by-week, sometimes I can plan two weeks but that is about as far as I can go lately. And very seldom does the original plan work out there are usually several shifts and unplanned events, but I do not sweat it anymore, I write in pencil and use outlook so anything can be rescheduled. :)
I was reading my Patriarch Bible study and the story of Rebekah's troubled pregnancy really gets me. Luckly I was not having twins but, when I was pregnant it was not a great experience and I kept asking the doctors, "Are you sure, there is only one baby", Are you sure everything is okay?" (They finally did another ultrasound just to check on things and reassure me) I was so sick it was not funny at all. I love the verse, Genesis 25:22 ...she said, "Why is this happening to me?" so she went to inquire of the LORD. 23. The LORD said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.
Well, that pretty much describes motherhood, (the older serving the younger :) one people will be stronger than the other, well at least to start with this was true for me. And now that Charles is getting tall and muscular, it is becoming truer again. The thing that struck me is when she prayed and God granted her the blessing of barring a child, Rebekah probably had no thought of trouble, who thinks about all the bad possibilities (okay, I use to but, I am getting better). But when we pray and then receive our request and then problems arise, don't you think, "Oh no, maybe this was not from Him, something must be wrong, have I done something???" And you go to God and ask Him, Lord search my heart if I am harboring something reveal it to me, Why is this happening"?
My study bible had notes and in the study Beth Moore put a comment that sums it up beautifully... "Somehow we never grow accustomed to the idea that pain and difficulties are part of the human experience. God is not going to exempt His children from life's difficulty. Rather, He highlights those very challenges to prove our faith is genuine. We have an infinite advantage over unbelievers, however, even in the here-and-now of our earthly experience. Our difficulties are filled with meaning and far-reaching effects, leaving warm blessing on our earthly journey. Our lives are God's "I am here" tag on the map of humanity. God simply doesn't make choices the way people make choices. He's looking for glory, explaining why He appears to have such an attraction to weakness. Perhaps we, too should not take every trial we face quite so personally. Certainly the challenge has something to do with us, or God would have chosen someone else. The higher purpose of a season of jostling may be our family as a whole, our workplace, neighbors, church, and yes, at times our government.
That hit me ... wow!!! Maybe it is not me all the time, messing up. I have been chosen for this, which is why things come unexpectedly. What a relief!, I can imagine how relieved Rebekah was when God explained Why this was happening to her?, this was like having a conversation with God and Him explaining it to me... (OH!!! I get it :)
No comments:
Post a Comment