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By Posted on Posted in breakthrough, waiting on God No Comments

candy crush

Confession: I have been addicted to Candy Crush for a few months now. It’s a fun little game that is tough to put down. The trouble with this game, however, is that the higher you go in levels, the harder it gets. There are easy levels here and there, but some seem virtually impossible. When you get to level 181, where I have been stuck for more than a month, it ceases being fun!

I find myself wanting to give up. In the past month, I have probably tried over a hundred times to pass 181 and go up a level. Other folks have done it, so I know it’s possible. In my opinion, skill is only part of what one needs to break through. This level requires a specific type of candy arrangement that lends itself to multiple advantages in one round. Until that arrangement comes along, it feels impossible. In the midst of this frustration, you guessed it… God spoke.

When all of the conditions are right,

when My timing unfolds, I will unlock your future.

Stop trying to make things happen yourself.

You guessed it. He wasn’t talking about Candy Crush! I immediately saw a parallel between my life and the game. All of my attempts at level 181 are just that. Attempts. Until the conditions are right, and favorable arrangements are provided, the next door will not open. Not in Candy Crush, and not in life.

We often forget that the most important factor in a situation that requires a breakthrough is timing. In our flesh, we have an aversion to waiting, and often give up before His timing unfolds.

The Lord has given me many promises regarding the future and some things that He has planned for me. For years, the details have been a mystery. Only recently has He started to be more specific. My inclination is to approach my future as I would approach Candy Crush, getting my hands in there to move things around and expedite the whole process.

My hunger for the next level makes me strive,

perform, manipulate, plan, maneuver and so on.

I wish I was as hungry for Him as I am to be promoted! I can pretend this isn’t the case, but my actions, attitudes, and impatience tell me otherwise: I want to get busy. I don’t want to wait. However, the Lord operates in a different fashion, as outlined in these verses below:

prayer beach 1 peter

Our job is not to strive to make things happen. It is not our responsibility to make ourselves ready or worthy. Our job is to remain humble with the awareness that ONLY by His strong hand…

breakthroughs will come

doors will be opened

healing will come

provision will be poured out

dreams and visions He’s given us will be fulfilled

callings will become tangible ministries

In the meantime, we “can throw the whole weight of our anxieties on Him”. Let Him worry about the timing, the preparation, the provision, and the doors that still remain closed. If we remain humbly at His feet, we will be present the moment He unleashes His favor and flings the door open.

In the meantime, rest, learn, know Him. Abide in His word. The time will come.

.

photo credit:

candy: king.com/games

prayer: thecupcakecartel.blogspot.com (text added from J.B. Phillips’ The New Testament in Modern English)

By Posted on Posted in contentment, joy, motherhood 1 Comment

archivesLarger

I was reading through old blog posts and found the one you’ll see below. It’s very appropriate for me as I prepare to get back to schooling. Many of us are praying, thinking and planning as we anticipate getting back to more structured schedules.  August dawns next week and when it fades, summer will too.

The Lord revealed something to me about motherhood that profoundly changed my outlook back in 2010. Sadly, I realized upon rereading the post this week that I had forgotten what He taught me. I have, once again, found myself praying (begging would be more accurate) for JOY in the midst of mothering. It’s endless, often thankless, and there’s rarely a feeling of completion or accomplishment. This post reminded me that as I embrace the nature of motherhood, I will find the joy that I miss when I resent the tough aspects of being a momma.

I pray that you are encouraged in your mothering journey as you read this one, fresh from the archives:

June 2010

I just returned from a retreat for homeschooling moms. God took our simple plans for a refueling, reviving weekend and He blew it out of the water!  The theme was “From Empty to Overflowing”. We talked a lot about allowing the Lord to fill us. Several times we delved into Psalm 23 and listened to what God had to say about His plans to fill us and provide for all of our needs. I learned so much from Him this weekend.

I have to admit that one thing I resent about mothering is the constant serving, constant demands, constant turnover of laundry, dishes, messes, food, etc.  How futile and unappreciated many of my responsibilities seem. I have been praying like crazy for God to fill my heart with joy as I serve at home. I long to be filled with joy no matter how many times I have to clean something, cook something, put something away.

I realized this weekend that my problem is that I want to be filled by the Lord, but I do not want to be emptied out! Each moment that I spend seeking His face and pouring through the pages of His word results in the filling of my “cup”.  God showed me that the reason He fills me is not so that I can stay full.  He does it so that I can be poured out into the lives of others around me. Then I can go back to Him and be filled anew… to be poured out again.

water wheel

God brought to mind a water wheel, and I thought about how each nook collects water on the upper part of its journey and then pours the water out on the lower part of its journey. The wheel goes around and around, repeating the same actions over and over again. To look at one revolution of the wheel, one would not be impressed with the outcome. However, as it moves through countless cycles, energy is produced. The wheel shows its effectiveness by plodding away, hour after hour, never giving up on its assigned work.

What a picture of motherhood.

I’m asking the Lord to fill me with joy and to remember that the repetitive revolutions of my day are accomplishing the great work that He has called me to:   raising educated, respectful, passionate children that will love Him and go wherever He wants to send them.

So, here I go again….

.

photo credit:

archives:  The U.C.C. Quarterly – Spring, 1944

water wheel:  razpuskane.com

By Posted on Posted in direction, trusting Him No Comments

20130725-112050.jpg

Flying home yesterday, I saw some beautiful landscapes out the window. This particular sight really appealed to me. Any guesses as to why?

You probably figured it out: I love the perfect little lines. I love how the land is divided equally and exquisitely. How I long for my life to look like this landscape! It brings to mind a familiar scripture:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Until now, I never really noticed all of the criteria in these verses for straight paths. We must trust completely. It requires a consistent leaning on His wisdom and guidance instead of our own understanding. We must always submit to Him. Only then will our paths be straight, smooth, and level.

Let us not forget that since our lives are so intertwined with others, that straight paths are also contingent on other people trusting, leaning, submitting to the Lord.

When I looked out the window a bit later, God showed me that life is much more like this landscape:

20130725-112344.jpg

He drew my attention specifically to the river. Life is full of twists and turns as we operate in a fallen world, dealing with our own failures and those of the people in our lives. Like a river, our lives often double back over territory we thought we’d already covered. Sometimes it runs deep and we feel like we’re in over our heads, and sometimes it’s shallow and we find a rare ease.

The problem lies in expectations. I continue to long for perfect little lines. I anticipate predictable territory laid out in one mile squares. So much of my disappointment comes from my desire for ease in the midst of a challenge or adventure with twists and blind turns.

This morning it occurred to me that God has the great advantage of seeing things from this aerial, heavenly perspective while I see it only from the ground. I can’t see where I’m headed like He can. Since life isn’t laid out in perfect little lines, I can’t see what’s coming next. I just have to keep trusting that He is guiding me and getting me back on track when I lose my way.

God says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3) If our lives were laid out like that first Kansas landscape all nice and straight, then we would clearly see what is before us. However, God has managed to use the twists and turns to show us great and mighty things that we would never know otherwise.

Cause my heart to trust You, Lord, and release me from my desire for what is safe, orderly and predictable. Increase my desire for You, for Your Word, and all of Your ways.