Learning to Trust

What happens when you rely on your own strength?

Fear.

Depression.

Regret.

Freak-out moments.

Tears.

Pain.

Memories.

Ice-cream.

Low self-esteem.

Nail biting.

Seclusion.

Discontentment.

And the list can go on and on and on.  Even though some of these things are comical, they are perfect examples of fear.  If you are human, you have related to at least a few of these unwanted actions or ideas.  This is because sometimes we rely on our own strength and not that of God's.  I have been having lots of these moments.

Then, in one instant of realizing how silly I am, God showed me that He has got this whole thing (that little thing known as "my life") under His control.  My whole being is in the palm of his hands.  

A few nights ago, I was reminded of this love when I read an insert in Sheri Rose Shepherd's book His Princess Warrior:

It's time, my warrior, to surrender your fears, your insecurities, your pain, and your loved ones completely to Me.  I want your whole heart and mind and soul to be worry free.  I want your complete trust so you can focus on your faith and be free from the spirit of fear controlling you.  Give up the fight of trying to figure it all out.  Don't let your circumstances hold your heart hostage or cause you to lose your confidence in Me. I am asking you on this day to answer this one question: In whom do you place your trust? (p. 134)

This is what I read on a night when I was totally relying on my own understanding.  I don't know what you are dealing with right now.  Maybe it is the prison of depression, a unsettled marriage, a broken relationship, a lost job, a hopeless family, a scolded friendship, or any weight that is holding you from entrusting your thoughts to Him.  Don't be ashamed that you have come to this point.  We are creatures with an ability to learn.  God sometimes wants us to realize we have nothing without Him.  However, if we continue without His guidance, we risk a mediocre life - barren from any and all of God's goodness.  Surrender your fears today.  He is waiting.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NKJV)

Your Trusting Friend,
Elizabeth

 

 

 

 

Vulnerable Strength

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1 KJV)

Ya know, I was reading this verse last night before I went to bed and it hit me the two words He specifically placed in this verse...
  

REFUGE

 and 

STRENGTH

I looked up the definition of refuge some could understand it better.  Refuge means "anything to which one has recourse for aid, relief, or escape".  I don't know if you are like me, but I try to constantly be strong.  Throughout any hardship in my life, I try to stay strong for those around me (even if that means becoming a hermit until I have gotten over it). I don't like breaking down.  However, sometimes those hardships are just too much to take, and that's why I like this word "refuge".  

God can be our relief for a bit if we simply let Him.  For me, this involves an afternoon of listening to sad songs, cleaning out my closet of things I'll never wear but reminiscing on when I did, and bawling my eyes out for a few hours.  But this is OK.  If we rely on our own strength to get through the situation, then we really aren't handing it over to God.  I believe with all my heart that sometimes He wants you to be vulnerable so He can show you something magical at your weakest moment.  This magic is His overwhelming strength.

God's strength.  Think about how awesome that has got to be!  The One who created the universe wants to pick you up off the tear-moistened carpet and become the strength you need to pick up your bags and head onward in your amazing journey.  I don't know about you, but I want more than anything in this world to be held by His big 'ol arms, wrapped so tight that I can't feel the pain of the world any longer.  When we have the faith to grab Him, He will use us in spectacular ways!

I encourage you today to become vulnerable to Him.  Allow yourself to become weak in your own might, so that He can incur His strength into you.

Holding on tight,

Elizabeth 

Faith from a Sunset

A wonderful friend of mine once said that she believes God gives some of us a special gift to see His beauty in such a way that it fulfills a deep longing in our soul.  I have believed in that thought ever since.
I am a runner.  Some people don't understand the most amazing release and fulfillment of body, mind, and spirit from running.  Now, I can't say that while I'm huffing and puffing up the monster hill by my house that fulfillment is what I'm thinking about, but one in the same, it brings realizization that I can do what I thought I couldn't.  Anyways, I refuse to run on a track or any place that is vacant of beautiful landscapes.  It doesn't have to be an amazing view of a mountain side, a sunset or a fiels will do.  But I want to be able to take in all of God's creation for that particular area.
One day, I was running from gate-to-gate at the high school and middle school I grew up in.  It's got this killer hill!  I think it's something about the way the hill is swerving at the same time the incline is increasing (or maybe I'm just a baby haha).  But anyways, after I had ran it once, I decided to trek back up the hill.  When I got to the top, I turned back to admire the view.  And you know what?  The sunset was magnificent!  It is definitely on my list of my top five most beautiful moments.
I think my gift for beauty is one of the most precious gifts God has given me.  I take almost every moment of my life and try to turn it into nostalgia.  I prize those beautiful moments more than others because I see it as a chance to strengthen my faith.  It helps me to know that a great big Guy with a great big heart sees my achy brokeness and is ready to help me heal with a beauty beyond anything man could ever alter or produce.  It also brings me to a point to know that I am part of his precious creations and there is nothing I can do to make myself any more enter than He already has. 
As I thought about this moment, and many more that followed, I believe God places them in each of our lives as assurance to each of us.  Usually, they appear right when our faith is weary and our strength is drowning. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says,

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 

That first part of this verse says exactly what I understand.  "God has made everything beautiful for its own time". So this is cool, right?  God DID make that alluring sunset specifically for me on that very day at that very time.  The last part says, "People cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end".  We can not and will not ever be able to comprehend God's timing, but we can hold the faith to believe He performs little miracles for us.  A beauty in itself.  
Watch for God's little moments for you as your days grow weary and find a reason to celebrate His love for us.



With all my heart,
Elizabeth