Blog Move

Hello,

In an effort to focus my writing, I'm moving my blog archives over to my second blog (www.deployedheart.com). Please come visit me over there.

Refinement

^“I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The LORD is our God."  (Zechariah 13: 9, HCSB).

He never said the refinement process would be easy. Just the same, I shudder at facing it. I know that it’s for my best. I know that I will be better for it. Just the same, I shy away at the sign of discomfort, of pain. I step back when I see that this life lesson will hurt. Because I don’t like hurting. I’d rather live in a world without hurt and pain and loneliness. But I don ‘t. The realities of this world are hard to stomach at times. Just this morning I heard of some awful things on the radio. It was hard for me to believe that a woman could be treated like that. But she was. This world is filled with muck and grime, muck that our Savior wants to wash us free from. In order to do this, we have to give Him free reign. We have to give him control, so that He can work and move and slowly make us into something more beautiful than we can imagine. When given the choice, I would honestly take the ultimate beauty over the worldly muck, even if I do have to face trials and tribulations in the process. What about you?

Not By Strength

"So he answered me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit, ' says the LORD of Hosts” (Zechariah 4:6, HSCB).

I love to be in control. Time and again I do things the hard way, trying to solve life’s problems, instead of handing the reigns over to my very able Savior. As I read this verse above, I was reminded once again about how great and powerful our God is. He can handle my worries, He can handle my frustrations, He can handle all of the bits and pieces of my life and make something beautiful of it yet. I can’t, but He can.

And for that, I’m extremely thankful.

What about you? Do you ever try to handle life’s problems on your own?

I Am With You

“Haggai, the LORD's messenger, delivered the LORD's message to the people, "I am with you" —the LORD's declaration” (Haggai 1:13, HCSB).

“I am with you.”

Such simple words, but so profound. So often I try to live this life on my own. I somehow think it’s my lot in life to suffer. I push through the pain like a martyr, knowing better things are ahead.

I think that God wouldn’t give me anything I can’t handle.

I think I can do it on my own.

But I can’t.

I’m weak.

Sometimes things are thrown at me that I truly can’t handle.

But then God whispers, "I am with you."

He reminds me that this world, and it’s trials, are not meant to be suffered alone.

They are there so that we can depend on Him all the more. Yes, there are things we can’t handle. But God is there. He can handle them. And all He asks is that we give Him those things with open hands and let Him take control.

This is such a hard thing to do. There are things that I daily have to give back to Him. Physical pain, hardships, loneliness, uncertainty—I give these things back to Him because I cannot deal with them in my own strength, I need Him to provide.

I need to recognize the difference it makes when He walks through this life with me. When He is in control. Because it most certainly makes all the difference.

He Delights in Me

“The LORD your God is among you,
a warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
He will bring [you] quietness with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy” (Zephaniah 3:17, HCSB).

In the words above God is speaking to the Israelite nation. He is reminding them that He, indeed, rejoicing over them.

Did you know that He rejoices over you and me as well?

Sometimes I need this sweet reminder.

Sometimes I need His love to quiet my restless soul.

My soul that tries to fix and mend and keep everything in it’s place.

Sometimes I need to be told that He joyful shouts His love to me.

Where does He do this?

I see it in a new morning, high up on a mountainside. I see it in the laughter in my child’s eyes. I see it in the food on my table each evening. And the victory of a prayer battle won.

He

Delights

In

Me.

How marvelous. How wonderful.

And He delights in you as well.

The Feet of a Deer

^"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will triumph in the LORD;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!”

(Habakkuk 3: 17-19, HCSB)

I love these words above. They really caused me to ask myself some questions of myself.

Do I truly trust my Savior to provide?

Do I truly trust Him to take care of us in the days ahead?

It’s hard when things are uncertain. It’s hard when I’m looking ahead to a time of loneliness and stress.

Sometimes I have to be reminded of how far I’ve already come.

I have to be reminded of all the times He has taken care of me.

Because when my focus is on this world I start to mis-step.

But when my focus is on my Savior my footing is sure, and I’m climbing mountains higher than I ever have before.

Jesus is real my dear friends. He can handle the impossible situations. He can give us the footing we need to climb over those tremendous mountains of this life.

Trust Him with your worries, your cares.

His love will never fail.

A Melancholy soul

I think I have a bit of a melancholy soul (is that the right word? Now I’m not sure…). I’m drawn to the sad, the heartfelt. I love rainy days and jazzy music. I like to brood a bit, and ponder, and write. In fact, I think that this very soul is what makes me a writer. I think it’s those pensive times, those introspective times that I write the most.

It’s on such days that I have to choose to be happy. I have to choose to look for the positive around me. It would be easy to become completely depressed, but I’ve traveled that path before and don’t want to get back to that place. Instead, I choose to use those days to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice and to see what He might have for me.

And often, when I’m quiet enough, He talks. Sometimes there’s a lesson involved, a person to pray for, or just an overwhelming sense of peace.

I think such days are good for me. They give me perspective. They give me a sense of connection with my Savior. They are a part of what makes me, well, me.

Do you ever have rather “melancholy” days? What do you do on such days? Does God ever speak to you during those times?