One-liners

So apparently the Lord is the King of the one-liners this week.  LOL  He's keeping it short and sweet and to the point.  It's so funny, we sometimes forget that God can be humorous while still getting His message across.  And I love the way He just answers the questions of my heart. 

Tuesday I wrote about dreams and goals, the fact that setting them scares me because past hopes have not materialized in my life and I fear continued disappointment.  But my heavenly Father had a different answer. 

Next month it will be my turn to teach our Ladies Bible Study.  I've mentioned we are tackling the topic of "Redeemed" by digging into a study by Angela Thomas-Pharr.  In the beginning of the lesson I am charged with she included a quote from C.S. Lewis.  So I went on an internet search for C.S. Lewis quotes.  And the very first one that appeared was, "You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." 

Excuse me?  Did I read that right?  Set another goal, dream a new dream?  Are you talking to me Lord?  This is too scary, too crazy, and too direct!  LOL  Well, okay then.  I'm guessing Daddy God is telling me to do some soul searching and be bold, be brave and put myself out there, push past my fear of failure and disappointment and let HIM give me goals and dreams.  This is a rough one for me.  You have no idea how much I shake and quiver inside at the thought of this.  Everything in me rebels against the idea.  It's so much easier to just go through the day, living to just do my best for that day, week, month.  Long term, short term goals.....nah, not liking this.  But God.....

On to the second one liner of the week.  I guess this is a big "succinct answer week" for the Lord.  LOL  At about 5:30 Wednesday (who made up the spelling for that word anyway?), morning there was bumping and banging coming from my tenants apartment upstairs and it woke me out of a dead sleep.  I had only fallen asleep around 2am, so I was still quite groggy and bleary-eyed.  Darn...I was finally sleeping so good and now this.  As I tried to fall back to sleep one of the smoke alarms chirped.  And then chirped again.  Oh no, I thought to myself...one of the batteries needs replacing. Geez!  Why do the batteries in smoke alarms always decide to need changing in the middle of the night!! 

Alright, maybe it'll go away.  LOL  So I closed my eyes and of course, a few moments later, chirp.  Chirp. And then I tried again...still holding out hope it would go away!  Chirp.  Chirp.   UGH!!!  So I drag my exhausted, worn out body out of bed and check the one in the bedroom.  Chirp.  No, not this one.  Onto the next, and then the next...I check all of them except the hard wired (I have 5 including the hard wired, but that is another story).  Now, to do all this I have to go to the garage, get the step stool, drag it from room to room, area to area, up the stairs....All when I should be sleeping and my eyes are barely opened!!  To say that I was not a happy camper is an understatement.  All the while, talking to the God...WHY??  You know how tired I am.  How overwhelmed and exhausted I've been.  WHY?? 

Well I finally figured out it was indeed the hard wired, battery supplemented one in the hall that needed changing.  So I pulled the battery, (I'll deal with it later) and trudged back to bed.  And now, guess what!  I can't fall back to sleep!!  AAAAAAAHHHHH!!  As I type all this it almost seems comical, but believe me, it was not at the time, nor was I happy about dragging through my day yesterday, living on caffeine.  But God....

Since I was up, I decided I may as well get started on the lesson I would be sharing next month.  As I was reading through our workbooks I came to this one line (well technically it's two sentences, but I'm taking poetic license here) that just stopped me in my tracks.  From Angela Thomas-Pharr's study book, "Sometimes the why questions of God do not find their complete answers.  Remember yesterday and the unbelief that came to Eve because she wanted to know why when God had asked her to trust?

But we want to know why.  We want answers.  I want to understand why I had to exist on 3 1/2 hours sleep when I had already been running on fumes for the last few weeks.  What does this have to do with the kingdom of God, was my question.  And I still don't have an answer.  But I don't think I'm supposed to have an answer to that question, or a lot of others that run though my head every day, any time something doesn't go my way, or work out the way I want it to.  Why is not the real question.  It's "will I trust, when I don't know why, don't have the answers."  These seems to be a recurring issue for me and I am thinking I am not the only one that has difficulty learning this lesson.  TRUST

Lord, You know the beginning from the end.  You know each of our days, each of our lives.  Whether it's the small discomforts, the big dead dreams, You hold all in the palm of Your hand, and You hold us as well.  Thank You for that.  Nothing is without purpose or meaning to You.  Lord, help me, all of us to be at peace not matter what we find happening around us.  You hold us,  and our past, present and future in your very capable, very loving hands.  Teach us to be content knowing this truth.  You got this!!!  In Jesus Name, amen.

Let go of each moment, trying to control them...and let God lead, whether it's the next minute or the next year or the next decade.  Let's learn to trust, together.