Saturday, November 11, 2017

Silence - An Lesson in Humility

For a few weeks the Lord has impressed upon me to be silent about a specific situation in my life. This is hard because I was feeling very hurt, angry, betrayed, and even humiliated. I asked “God, where are you in this?” and was quickly reminded of the verses He used to make His presence known while walking me through it.   

The first verse was Psalm 19:14, May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. (TLB)

It was a response to prayer for an immediate need. I looked down and there it was, the verse of the day on one of my phone apps. By repeating it silently to myself and jotting it down so that it was in front of me, I was able to step through an intense few days. After about a week I started applying this strategy to my words, ALL MY WORDS. Now, every time I start to say or start thinking negative thoughts about any situation, I’m reminded that God is listening. I recite the verse several times a day (some days, many times) reminding myself to keep my words pleasing to the Lord.

The second verse was Exodus 14:14, The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.

I believe the Holy Spirit confirmed that I must be silent about the situation, not in conversation about it, NOT AT ALL. This would only feed fear, pride, and unforgiveness (yes, that was there too).

While sitting at a red light I spotted the license plate on the vehicle in front of me. It was a simple thing God used to remind me that Christ died for ALL of us, so how can I withhold forgiveness FROM ANYONE. That was my breakthrough. I’m still waiting for the feelings to catch up but I’m on my way. In the meantime, I will continue to wait in silence while He works this out for our good (Romans 8:28)

Check out the Five Minute Fridays Writing Community here: http://fiveminutefriday.com/. Once a week, one word writing prompt, write for five minutes, and post. Unedited flat out writing. The prompt is this week is SILENT.

Friday, November 3, 2017

We Can Have Confidence in the Lord's Endurance

Check out the Five Minute Fridays Writing Community here: http://fiveminutefriday.com/. Once a week, one word writing prompt, write for five minutes, and post. Unedited flat out writing. The prompt is this week is NEED.



Hebrews 10: 35-36 Therefore, do no throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you  may receive what was promised. 

Start - 

We can have confidence in the Lord's endurance and thereby ours. 

A few years ago we were going through a very important project at work and for some reason, just never added the enough manpower. It got done but at an unreasonably high price for several key employees. I've always been a hard worker, but this was one of the hardest periods of my career. After a while I just didn't think about it and plodded ahead. The project finally launched. The result for many of those key employees was burnout. 

For about a year after launch, I was just toast. Work and home life suffered. I've been in other high-intensity projects before, but not for this duration. I didn't have the endurance I needed to get through. I didn't make the time to go to God with my needs. My confidence was misplaced in my employer and myself. Not enough rest and hyper-focus on the wrong things, not a good combination. 

We need endurance to do the will of God; to receive our inheritance. Without endurance we don't get to the finish ling He intends. His will, it will get done. If we don't rest in Christ and focus on Him we won't be the one doing it. Run with confidence the race set before you. He gives you what you need.

- Stop