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I have observed lately one of the ways that the Lord causes me to come into agreement with His will. Put simply, he makes me hungry for the thing that He wants me to have.

I’ll give you an example. A short time ago, I became unmotivated in regard to my alone time with God. I slept in and then rushed around trying to find a few minutes to read my Bible and pray. Sometimes I would get up early, but check my email and facebook, and then spend a few quick minutes reading my Bible out of duty rather than true desire to spend time with the Lord. Then suddenly, my morning “quiet” time was interrupted when my toddler began waking up at 5:15 am. After a few days, I was beside myself. I was desperate to have my little boy sleep until 6:30 so that I could have some time alone with God. I became very hungry for those quiet moments in His word. I longed to hear God speak to me in the early morning hours. I was begging God to make Levi sleep so I could have time with Him. How clever He is to use circumstances to get me where He wants me to be!!

This morning, I was reading in Psalm 22:

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

I have been reading this passage quite a bit in the last few months. I love how the Psalmist says that even though God appears to be quiet, He is still on the throne. He is still my God. He is still the only One who will save me. He is quiet sometimes, but never abandons me.

The Lord chooses to be quiet sometimes. It is always for good reason. I realized this morning that He is often quiet to make us hungry for His will.

I’ll give you another example from my own life. A couple of years ago, I went through a very dark time in my faith. I went through some serious loss, and in that time frame, I had a misunderstanding with the Lord. I thought that He told me something specific, but it didn’t pan out. I was devastated. I really questioned my ability to hear from Him and I began to run from Him. I didn’t want to read His word or allow Him to speak to my heart because I couldn’t go through another misunderstanding like that.

I see now how the Lord began orchestrating circumstances to make me hungry for His guidance and His voice again. My pain and disappointment created such fear and resistance to intimacy with Him. However, through my heartache and stubbornness, He made it clear that my children were to go to private school the following school year. It was a crazy notion… we were in such financial hardship at the time. I couldn’t make it happen, but I knew it was what He wanted. I just kept praying. I waited and waited all summer, and the Lord became very silent. I prayed and prayed… crying my heart out. I was desperate to hear from Him. I needed confirmation. I needed provision. I needed for Him to talk to me! I was hungry for His will and His voice. When He finally spoke, and finally provided… what joy I experienced! It was a real breakthrough experience for me.

I could never understand that period of silence until today. He was silent on purpose. Not because He was angry, or disappointed, or gone. I am so grateful for that silence… as awful as that time was. He was silent in order to create a hunger in me for Him and Him alone.

 

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Well, today was our first day of homeschooling. As I’m blogging, the girls are behind me relishing their art assignment….  scrapbooking today! I thought it would be a treat for our first day.

I had the morning all planned out. I realized two weeks ago that my sweet cleaning lady was scheduled to come on the first day of school. No worries, I thought. We’ll do some schooling at Panera while she’s here.

I got up at 5:00, enjoyed my bible reading, and was getting ready to exercise when my baby boy woke up at 5:59 am. I went up to see if I could coax him back to sleep… to no avail. As I rocked him in his room, I started to worry. The schedule that I had mapped out in my head was ruined. It was impossible to put together a new schedule now that Levi would need to nap at 9:00 am!!!

I began to pray… thinking back to what God has been trying to teach me. I needed to be flexible. I had to let go of my agenda. Instead of mourning the loss of my agenda and my plans, I needed to look for what God had planned for me today.

I sensed that God was assuring me that Levi would be wiped out by the time we got to Panera, and he would sleep in his stroller while the girls and I tackled lesson 1 in each of their math books. Seemed like a long-shot, a sure-fire miracle… but God loves to do those kinds of things.

I marched on through the morning… did my exercise with a little boy underfoot.  (I know that you would have loved to see that one.) Finished the last minute pick-up around the house in anticipation of my cleaning lady. Coached the girls through their bible lessons. Packed up the car… and we were off to Panera!

Levi was slow to slumber at our off-site classroom, but we were finally able to get through math. Afterwards, we enjoyed a little excursion to the Mission Inn looking for pamphlets to use in California History this year. We came home for lunch and each dove into chapter 1 of some great novels.

I think back to my crisis in the rocking chair this morning. If not for Jesus, I would still be there crying over my lost schedule for the day. I am grateful for His lessons in flexibility. I would have loved for Him to schedule that lesson on another day… but alas, I am growing and He is pleased.

Maybe since I passed the test today, tomorrow will be easier….

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Well, I thought this post would have gone up last week. I did host a 10 year old slumber party last Friday. There’s my excuse….

I shared last time about one of the two most important things I have learned to do in my Christian life. Again, I’ll say…  it’s not the action that has any power, but it is what God does when I keep up this habit. He uses it as a tool to speak to me and to pour out His love and grace.

The first habit is visualization during prayer and worship. The second one is the personalization of scripture. I’m sure you would agree that the Bible is God’s communication to the world. There are different kinds of literature within the pages, as well as many writers with different points of view. However, God is the inspired author of the entire book, and each page has a message for you, for today.

What the Lord has taught me to do is to take every passage, no matter the tense, the pronouns, or the audience, and make it a personal message from Him. Here is an example of a personalized passage originally from the Amplified Version of the Bible:

Psalm 23

I am the Lord your Shepherd.

I will feed you, guide you, and shield you.

You shall not lack any good thing.

I will lead you to lie down in fresh, tender, green pastures.

I will lead you beside the still and restful waters.

I want to refresh and restore your soul.

I will lead you in paths of uprightness and right standing with Me.

You cannot earn it or find it on your own.

I do this for My own name’s sake.

Yes, though you walk through the deep, sunless valley of the shadow

of death, you will fear or dread no evil, for I am with you.

My rod will protect you and My staff will guide you.

Take comfort in this.

I will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies.

I will anoint your head with oil, so that your brimming cup runs over.

Surely goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow you

all the days of your life, because I go before you and behind you.

Through the length of your days,

make My presence your dwelling place.

I was reading the psalm, and as I rewrote the words, I allowed God to lead me. He inspired me to change the pronouns so that it would be His voice speaking to me. The truth of the passage is still intact. He also suggested to me the added details which you will not find in the Bible passage.

The purpose of this would be to transform my regular Bible reading into a personal exchange. Often, I begin my study & prayer time with the Lord by running at the mouth. Sadly, in that case, our time begins in a tone that reflects my attitude, my emotions, my shortcomings. However, if I begin by reading His word and letting Him personalize it for me, then our time begins on His terms. According to His love and care.

By no means am I suggesting that we can take scripture, add words, and twist it to suit our wants and needs. I am simply suggesting that we personally receive the message that God has spoken in the pages of the Bible. This practice has allowed me to hear God more clearly as He speaks softly in my spirit.

This habit also provides the opportunity to learn to pray more effectively. The Lord has shown me that I can personalize scripture and make it a prayer to Him. I’ll take the same Psalm and show you what I mean:

Lord, You are My Shepherd.

I don’t need anything else but you, Lord.

Thank you for providing green pastures for me to rest in.

Help me to follow Your leading to quiet waters.

You have restored my soul, Lord.

You guide me in paths of righteousness… Help me to follow.

You lead me according to what will bring glory to Your name, not what will make me happy and comfortable.

When I walk through the valley, I won’t fear, Lord.

I know You are with me. I know that You never leave me.

Your rod of correction and your staff of guidance bring me comfort.

Help me to surrender… instead of resist them.

You have prepared a table to honor me and provide for me.

I know that the enemy will come and try to steal from the bounty you have provided for me.

However, You have anointed me. Your covering is over me. I belong to You.

My cup overflows because You have provided so perfectly for all of my needs.

I am confident that goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

I cannot wait to dwell with you forever in heaven.

Maybe the Word of God has become dry for you. It’s possible that you are reading it because you’re supposed to… but you aren’t allowing yourself to receive anything from it. I challenge you to find a journal and start writing out passages of scripture in a personal way. Let God speak to you and love on you. It will change you forever!