Letting Go and Letting God

One of today's scriptures will be Proverbs 3:5-7, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil." (NIV)

Let me start by asking, what does this scripture mean to you? I know some of you are probably like... "Ugggh... Not this verse again. I've heard it like a thousand times!" But this scripture is very relevant to me at this point in my life. Have you ever had one of those life verses, or a verse that just goes really well with where you are in your life? For me this is one of them. ;)

Other key scriptures for this post:

Psalms 62:1 and 5, "1 My soul finds rest in God alone... 5Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." (NIV)

I want to find rest in God alone. He alone can provide what I need! "Every good and perfect gift comes from above!" (James 1:17)

Philippians 4:11-13, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (NIV)

I want to be content in every circumstance. Giving God all my burdens will help in this process. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful." (NLT)

God will give us the peace we desire if we just trust in Him!

I have recently given my entire collection of thoughts, worries, control issues, and future plans to God. This has been an extremely wonderful experience. I had been afraid that God might not ever want me to get married, so if I gave it all up to Him maybe I would be surrendering to a future as a single. But in giving all my thoughts and worries to God, I have found an amazing peace. I haven't been worried about my future. I am at peace that God will provide everything I need whenever the need arises. If that means that I will need to wait a few more years for a husband, then so be it. I am excited to let God have control over my future. He is definitely the One who should be in charge anyway. Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" I am trusting God with my future. Are you?

What things do you worry about? Do you want to control your future like I did? Do you believe that God has the best for you in your future? What can you begin to do to make a change and give God your worries, cares, and future plans?

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

~ S*

How Much Do You Know?

This week I decided to share a personal experience of mine.  Let me know how you relate, or what you may have discovered through your own experiences!

Verses for This week:

Philippians 4:4-8

Psalms 91

2 Timothy 1:7

Proverbs 3:24

Psalms 118:6-7

I have struggled with fear a few times in my life.  I've had bad dreams, or just not been able to sleep at all because of certain circumstances that didn't allow it to be an easy thing for me...  I often times quoted these scriptures (listed above) while I was in bed getting ready to fall asleep. (my dad had a huge part in training me in these scriptures... Often times he would stay up at night with me if I had a bad dream or was scared for some reason.) Growing up, I learned very quickly how to quote these scriptures.  I also became pleasantly aware that the devil doesn't like it when we praise God.  So while I would lay in bed bothered by fearful thoughts, I would begin to praise God until I fell asleep. Believe me; it works.  Often times I would wonder why I continued to have a struggle with fear, little realizing that I had truly made a ton of progress over the years.  I was finally made aware of the progress/leaps and bounds I had made in my walk with God (especially when it came to resisting the spirit of fear.) one summer during my high school years...

I was talked into (aka conned) becoming a camp counselor that summer after attending a performing art's camp.  The leaders of the camp I had attended a couple weeks before needed counselors for the younger "creative art's camp" that would be held just two weeks after the camp I attended.  My sister should have been the counselor, but she wasn't old enough... Thus I was the "counselor", and she did a lot of the counselor activities with (or for) me...  (If any of you know me very well, you would know I'm not a kid person at all, so this was WAY out of my comfort zone...) Long story short the week went well.  We had a few drama queens (I and one other girl from the "performing art's camp were the counselors), but we managed pretty well to keep everything under control.  There were a few Awesome moments when God used us all to minister to the girls at opportune times!

Then the last evening came around... The creative arts campers (and counselors) were forced to attend the final event: a night hike followed by a bonfire... None of the girls wanted to attend, but we had to do it anyways.  A couple of our most dramatic girl had some issues and weren't feeling well, which led to our decision of leaving them to sleep in the dorm.  WE all had our flashlights and gathered around the leaders of the camp for our departing instructions.  They, in turn, made us give them all our flashlights.  So as we head off towards the woods to begin our night hike, the two youngest girls ask to hold my hands. (This is a highly unusual thing for me...) I, of course, let them; they were already scared about going into the woods in the dark.  (It was extremely dark in these woods... and raining with a bit of heat lightning...) As we began the hike I was already praying and asking God for wisdom and help for this "adventure" quoting scripture throughout..  Part of the way in a guy with a bright blue light saber popped out.  Tons of yelps and screams were heard all around.  The two girls were clinging to me, and I was trying to keep them calm and tell them everything was going to be alright.  In this "hike" you pretty much just followed the crowd of people in front of you.  I was in the back half while my sister and fellow counselor were in the front half.  Well, the back half somehow became separated from the front and got lost in the woods. We were finally stopped by someone with a cell phone (LIGHT) before walking into a swamp.  The girls were freaking out, some boys kept making scary noises just so they can hear the little girls terrified screams...  Well, the guy with the cell phone got us turned around and I followed that dancing little light all the way out of the woods... meanwhile dragging the little bawling girls behind me.

Somewhere in the middle of the screams, cries, and getting lost, I realized that I had complete peace and that I wasn't afraid.  I knew everything was going to be alright, and I knew how to convey this to the little girls clinging to me for dear life.

God is pretty Awesome!  He brought all of those scriptures on fear to my attention at just the perfect time, and I was prepared because I had put them into practice on a regular basis.

Blessings!

~ S*