Our Resource for Success

"(Her) God instructs (her) and teaches (her) the right way."

~ Isaiah 28:29 ~

We had an opportunity placed before us a few weeks ago that required a big decision to be made. To most, it would probably have been quite a painless (and obvious) choice. To us, it was difficult and consuming. Knowing that we had to make our decision by Tuesday end of business day, we teetered and tottered throughout most of the weekend and Monday, weighing our options, listing the pros and cons, praying, seeking wise counsel, etc. On Monday evening, I prayed expectantly for God to show up and lead us to make the choice that we should make at this point in time. Neither options were bad - Both were fabulous, but was God asking us to step out in faith, believing Him for our provision and success? Ah, could it be that this new endeavor was purposed to be an opportunity for us to put our faith and belief in Him in a greater way? As I continued praying and seeking His Word for counsel, an excitement filled me that could only have been from the Spirit of God Himself. He was calling us to step out in faith - in full belief that He would come through for us. What would we do?

My heart was drawn to the first chapter of Jeremiah. This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. Jeremiah, though young in age, is called directly by God to a task that he perceived as too lofty and advanced. He feels ill-equipped, inexperienced, inadequate ... Yet God, in all His knowledge and intentional purpose, calls Jeremiah to step out in faith and believe Him to accomplish that which He has called him to.

Full belief. Trusting God to show up on our behalf.

Let's take a look at how God's call on Jeremiah unfolds: "The Word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah] saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'

'Ah, Sovereign Lord,' I said, 'I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.'

But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say, I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 1:5-8).

If you get nothing else out of this Scripture than this, then fine - Just get this: God ordains the days of our lives. He is in control of the small details and the life-changing details. He has a plan. He knows what the absolute very best is for our lives.

I love that before God calls Jeremiah to the specific task of "prophet," He first reminds Jeremiah of his identity. God reminds Jeremiah that his identity is in Christ. That God created him, that God has always known him, and that God has always had a plan for him. "Before I formed you in the womb ... I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5, emphasis mine). He knows Jeremiah. Knows the intricacies of his soul, his thoughts, his desires, his passions, his insecurities, his capabilities. Knows Jeremiah's ability to trust Him at His Word.

This got me thinking. Would I rather be the most capable at something, or the most able to trust my God? When God calls us to something, 99.9999% of the time it will be something that is beyond our natural capabilities. When God called me to my first speaking engagement, that 100% average in my college public speaking class only mustered up so much self-confidence in my own abilities. After realizing that my natural capability was limited, I began to panic. I immediately realized how desperately I needed my God to provide the resources for success. Why? Because God's call challenges us beyond our natural capabilities. And naturally so! When He calls us to a specific task that is beyond our natural capabilities, there are a couple undeniable opportunities that accompany this call:

1. His call provides us an opportunity to trust Him to come through on our behalf. To know without a shadow of a doubt, that without Him, we will fail.
2. His call provides an opportunity for our God to show up ... and to show off. All for His glory and purpose.

Do you know what else I love? Often when God calls us to a specific task, we are already in the process of going down another road. Perhaps a good road. One that seems to be the best possible, most success-breeding scenario. Jeremiah 1:1 gives us the background on Jeremiah's heritage. His father, Hilkiah, was one of the priests in the territory of Benjamin. Naturally, he would be expected to follow in his father's footsteps. So, here is Jeremiah - preparing to follow his father into the priesthood, a very honorable profession. Then out of nowhere, his Heavenly Father shows up, declaring His call on young Jeremiah's life - A task very different than what Jeremiah had in mind. Now, I'll let you be the judge, but do you think that this perhaps threw a little kink in his step? Challenged his faith-walk a bit? Required him to get on his knees a little more often? Believe God a little more?

Ladies, God still does this today. What is it that Revelation 4:8 proclaims? "Holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." He is the same yesterday, today and forever! He still calls us to specific tasks ... He still provides opportunities for us to trust Him in our day-to-day lives ... He still shows up and shows off ... And He still provides the resources we need for success!

What has God called you to do? Are you finding yourself at the point where I was a few weeks ago - At a crossroads? Is God asking you to step out in faith, believing Him to come through for you in a certain situation? Do you feel, like Jeremiah, ill-equipped, inexperienced and inadequate to accomplish a specific task you know God is calling you to? What are you going to do about it?

Believe God at His Word - THAT is what you're going to do. How I praise God that He sets us up for success, through Jesus! His Holy Spirit will lead us and teach us which way we should go (Isaiah 28:26). When we are called by God to accomplish a specific task, may we claim with unwavering belief that ...

He Alone is ...

Our Resource for Success.

Standing in Silence

I am just sitting at my desk getting some work done, and I have my Pandora Radio going in the background. Chris Tomlin's song "Kindness" is playing, and as many times as I have listened to this song, this morning I am finding myself totally captivated by the words.

His love truly is ... better than life.

Open up the skies of mercy
And rain down the cleansing flood
Healing waters rise around us
Hear our cries Lord, let them rise

It's Your kindness, Lord
That leads us to repentance
Your favor Lord, is our desire
It's Your beauty Lord
That makes us stand in silence
Your love is better than life

We can feel Your mercy falling
You are turning our hearts back again
Hear our praises rise to heaven
Draw us near Lord
Meet us here

It's Your kindness, Lord
That leads us to repentance
Your favor Lord, is our desire
It's Your beauty Lord
That makes us stand in silence
Your love, Your love is better than life

I have found myself wrapped up in a season of extreme busyness. To sit back and focus on His kindness, beauty and love ... It just puts it all in right perspective.

The same Holy and Almighty God "who was and is and is to come" (Revelation 4:8), is in our here and now.

May we take some time today in the midst of our busyness ...

To stand in silence before our God.

Our First Love

This will come as a shocker. I have pretty much been missing in action throughout the past several months. Well, in the blog world, anyhow. You will be happy to know, I have been very much present, very much occupied, in other non-cyberspace areas of my life. It has been a whirlwind, to say the least. Let me share a little about what has kept me occupied ... a little about where my heart is these days ... and a little about how deeply and desperately I long to be more consistent in sharing all that God is doing.

First of all, God is so good. His timing is perfect, His plan is purposeful, and He has great and wonderful things in store for those who love and trust Him. I cannot tell you how my heart has gone out to single ladies throughout the past several months. For many reasons. Many, many reasons ... And here are a few of them:

1. God can change things in an instant. In an absolute instant. Quicker than you could ever think, imagine, or dream.

2. God has such a purpose in your singleness at this very moment. Do not get stressed thinking about how long God could be calling you to stay in this season of waiting. It doesn't matter. It is different for every single young woman. For some, it's a few more weeks, months, years. For others, it could literally be just five more minutes. But regardless, for now ... for today ... it's you and Him. The two of you. Invest in your relationship with your God like never before. Ask Him to teach you something every single day. Increase your prayer time. Study the Word of God in detail. Pray big prayers. Believe God for the impossible. Have conversations with Jesus Himself.

3. God wants to blow your ever-loving socks right off your sweet (probably pedicured) feet. God, in all His glory and power, has a purpose and plan for your life that is beyond your wildest dreams. If you have a desire to love a man, to serve a man, to be married - If that desire is knitted into your heart of hearts, if it will not go away, no matter how many times you surrender it to the Lord - then God is just asking you to wait. And that is OK. Because what did I say a second ago? It could literally be just five more minutes.

Almost 6 months ago, a man walked into my life. I need you to understand something before I share some of the juicy details. I had asked (OK, pleaded with) God over and over to either fulfill this area of my life, or to remove the desire completely. As Abraham took Isaac to the altar with the full intention of sacrificing him, out of obedience to God (Genesis 22), I too laid down this most prized prayer of my heart, asking God to take it away, if He so desired. And I walked away from it, knowing that I had done my part - Now it was up to God Himself. Should He desire to take it away, He was going to be faithful to remove what had become such a growing passion in my heart. It would go away, or it would stay. If it went away, I would be OK. I knew God would satisfy me and provide for me in other ways. If the desire stayed, I would have to wait. That I was not so sure I could survive! Waiting ... waiting ... and more waiting. Ugh. Enough said!

On March 17, 2009 I prayed the following prayer in my journal: God, Your Word tells me to ask and I will receive (John 15:7). Please bring my husband to me, Lord. *Note that this was about the one-millionth time I prayed this prayer ... :) Just fyi, in case you were wondering.

On March 18, 2009 I stood face-to-face with my (now soon-t0-be) husband. One week later, God had clearly revealed to me that was the man He had created for me. The one I had prayed for countless times. So recently as 1 week before. Coincidence? I think not. Psalm 104 recounts all the many ways that God fulfills the desires of every living thing. Remember, dear sister ... God will fulfill the desires He has placed within your heart. It's just a matter of when.

And do you know what I love more than anything? Even more than that man God has blessed me with? The fact that when we have an encounter with the Almighty - When He becomes our All in All, our Satisfier, our Bread of Life, our Friend, our Everything - We get to a place in which we NEVER stop longing for Him. Ever. Isn't that fabulous? The longing God placed in my heart for a husband - It has been fulfilled, and believe me, I am praising Him for that! But the longing for a deeper understanding of my God, a closer walk with my Father - It is stronger than ever. Perhaps that is why the particular Psalmist in Psalm 104 breaks into praise after He admonishes God as the One True Satisfier: "I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, as I rejoice in the LORD" (Ps. 104:33-34). Because that Psalmist knew that ultimate satisfaction is found only through the Lord.

God will often fulfill the longings of our hearts on this earthly pilgrimage, because as Matthew 6:25-34 so matter-of-factly puts it, God KNOWS what we NEED. Those fulfillments are huge answers to prayer, much of the time. But praise God, that regardless of earthly fulfillment, He still longs to satisfy our soul. And when we know Him deeply, our spiritual desires will outweigh our earthly - And because of that, I do believe we will be able to enjoy our earthly blessings in a way that would not be possible had we not known Him as our Satisfier. "My soul will be satisfied with the richest of foods; within singing lips my mouth will praise You" (Psalm 63:5).

Just the other day, I came across the following verse: "You have forsaken your first love" (Revelation 2:4). My Bible's side note on this verse says the following: "Temptations to follow society's ways challenge us today just as they did the Israelites. Everyday distractions, large and small, keep us from our original commitment to love and follow God. What do we need to do each day to rekindle our first love for our bridegroom?"

No matter the season of life we find ourselves in - whether busy or peaceful - Jesus desperately desires that we continue in pursuit of our love relationship with Him. Jeremiah 2:2 says the following in reference to Israel's forsaking God: "I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown." May we not only be devoted in the times of desperation - in those seasons of life when we are deeply longing for God to fulfill our desires. My prayer is that our devotion to God would withstand the test of time - the joyous times and the stressful times, the times of need and the times of plenty (Philippians 4:12). That whether we are going through hardships, or we are having the absolute time of our lives ...

We would not forsake our First Love.