Learning to Lean and Depend on God

As God continues to hold my hand through this waiting period of life, I have been blessed along the way through the experiences that God is blessing me with. I had the opportunity to present a devotional on “Waiting on the Lord” to the ladies fellowship at my Church and was able to pull from all the lessons I’ve learned to date on waiting.

Though waiting on the Lord can be challenging because we live in a society that is groomed to expect an immediate response to just about everything – especially when it comes to technology – there can be immense blessings realized through total reliance on our Heavenly Father for our needs.

While we’re waiting, here are some things to keep us busy,

1)       God does hear us, so we can talk to Him.

a.       Psalm 116:1; I love the Lord, for he heard by voice; he heard my cry for mercy.

2)       God can be trusted, so we can trust Him

a.       And they that know your name will put their trust in you: for you, LORD, have not forsaken them that seek you. (Psalms 9:10)

3)       God is worthy of our praise in any circumstance, so we should praise Him

a.       Rev 4:11, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power.

4)       God is provides all our needs, so we should thank Him

a.       When we praise and thank God for what He’s done our thoughts will be diverted off our situation and onto God’s provision

b.       Philippians 4:19, And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

5)       God is working everything for our good, so we need to wait and watch for Him to be glorified

a.       Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

6)       We should seek out what God is teaching us in this waiting

7)       We ought to focus on God’s promises

a.       Examine & manage your thoughts/perspective

8)       We should meditate daily on God’s Word and replace impatient, negative thoughts with God’s truth

9)       Pray, pray, pray – express to God how you feel. Prayer is a demonstration of our reliance upon a Sovereign God

a.       When everything is going as you want the need to rely on God seems minimal compared to a situation where you feel helpless and God is the only solution to your situation. You will find as you commune with God, crying out to Him, praying to Him, that you know Him more.

b.       You will become stronger each time you come to Him. 

c.       Enlist others to pray with and for you.

10)   When you worry, you do not trust your Heavenly Father. That means you don't know Him well enough.

11)   Examine if your petition(s)/what you’re waiting on is consistent with the Word of God. Pray God’s Word back to Him in your prayers.

12)   Examine the condition of your heart and confess unrepentant sins

a.       Psalm 66:16-20

                                                               i.      If I had Cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened: he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

13)   Study the lives of those who waited & struggled with waiting (e.g., Job, David, Abraham, Sarah)

14)   Examine God’s track record in your life

a.        If you have any question about the future, look at the past. Did He sustain you then? Don't worry--He will sustain you in the future as well.

15)   Focus on the gift of TODAY

God gives you the glorious gift of life today; live in the light and full joy of that day, using the resources God supplies. Don't push yourself into the future and forfeit the day's joy over an anticipated tomorrow that may never happen. Today is all you really have, for God permits none of us to live in tomorrow until it turns into today.

God knows exactly what we stand in need of. Waiting on the Lord is not a sign on God’s inactivity in your life. As we wait on God and He molds and shapes us inwardly through our prayers, meditation, and examination of our relationship with Him, God will drive us to rely upon Him for our every need until He outwardly glorifies Himself through us in answered prayer.

Thankfulness

As God draws me closer to Him in this waiting journey of coming home to my family, He has blessed me beyond measure by answering a prayer that has been settled within my heart for a long time and is linked to my desire of coming home and homeschooling the kids.

I realized just a week or so ago that I’m with child again.

Over the years God has been softening my husband’s heart to the idea and as I’ve idly sat by and watched his desire for another child grow, I had been focusing my energies on transitioning home first before adding to the family. I guess God had other plans in regards to adding to our family first!

While we haven’t broadcast the news yet, we’ve been ecstatic as if we’re expecting for the first time. I’ve been through this before, but it’s like a new world again to me. To think that a new person is growing inside me gives me hope as we continue forward with bringing me home.

In the past few months I’ve remained encouraged through God’s Word. The "Jesus Calling" devotional continues to be an immense blessing to my heart and mind as each morning God’s Word is refreshed. I can relate to each entry and the reminders that each devotion brings has given this waiting experience perspective.

I understand that God has a purpose for every experience of my life and He’s drawing me to lean and depend on Him and on my husband. As I submit to my husband, I can see that my husband is dying to self by striving to align our life according to God’s Will. And, as he submits to God day by day I am letting the reigns go of trying to control situations and just let allow God and my husband to lead our family.

I’m learning so much about God’s provision in these times and what it means to truly depend on him. He will never forsake us.

Joshua 1:5, 9

as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Hope in a New Year

As we welcome a New Year, I come into this year not certain of how it will end.

None of us know how it will end.

I’m reminded in the Bible, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matt 6:34)

God wants me to lean and depend on Him and His Word explains that the more that I do that the more He is glorified from my complete dependence on Him. That can be so very challenging for a person who likes to have everything in order and together. I don’t do well with the unknown.

I received a neat Christmas gift from a friend. It’s a devotional book entitled “Devotions for everyday of the Year: Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. The book is written as if God were talking to you, calling out from His Word.

The January 6^th entry says,

“I am able to do far beyond all that you as or imagine. Come to Me with positive expectations, knowing that there is no limit to what I can accomplish. As My Spirit to control your mind, so that you can think great thoughts of Me. Do not be discouraged by the fact that many of your prayers are yet unanswered. Time is a trainer, teaching you to wait upon Me, to trust Me in the dark. The more extreme your circumstances, the more likely you are to see My Power and Glory at work in the situation. Instead of letting difficulties draw you into worrying, try to view them as setting the scene for My glorious intervention. Keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all that I am doing in your life.

Ephesians 3:20-21, Romans 8:6, Isaiah 40:30-31, Revelation 5:13

This reminder was just what I needed to keep hoping in God. That He hasn’t forgotten my heart’s desire.

When its Dark

The last time that I found myself in a “dark” place spiritually or I should say consistently consumed with the unknowns of how something would turn out it was helpful to document what I was feeling.

Eight years ago we built a home for our family. It was the most challenging experience of my life. What’s interesting was it was self-inflicted. No one MADE us build the house that we built, but we definitely felt led to do it and was confident that God would provide for us.

And, there were a lot of unknowns throughout that process. Unmet deadlines, questionable funding, unreliable subcontractors, etc. So many factors that contributed to daily stress. If I could put it plainly.

Now, 8 years later as I reflect back on the process its interesting to ponder over how God in His sovereignty brought us through that process. There were many moments that we didn’t know how we would continue on and God saw us through.

Many tearful moments and prayers lifted up for God to be glorified in the construction of our home and now there are many tearful moments and prayers lifted up to leave this place.

To move on to an even higher glorification of my Father out of sacrifice, pruning, giving up of something that God was so gracious to give to us.

I remain hopeful that God has a plan for our family and that He will glorified beyond measure.

Glimmers of Hope

On Sunday at Church we had a prayer session and for the first time I felt encouraged to open up to my Church family about our plans to sell our home and homeschool the kids. I knew that I’d cry. It’s difficult to talk about my kids and my desire to be home with them without crying. I felt a sense of relief in sharing the prayer request. It was as if I was unloading my burden on others to carry to the Father and that felt good. It’s nice to know that there are other believers praying.

Our agent called me on my birthday to let us know that an agent wanted to bring someone by to see the house. So, we cleaned up that night to have the house all ready and left the lights on, on Sunday. But, during Church I received a message that they were not going to come by.

We’ve received these “glimmers of hope” since listing the house on the market 01 September 2012 and initially I was confused by what was happening. For ~ 5 years I’ve struggled with understanding how God was working within my heart regarding His plan for me as a mother. And, now that we’ve finally come to the realization that He’s calling me home to homeschool and we’ve listed the house, do we have to go through a season of waiting? I didn’t see this coming. Oh, that’s right..I’m not God and can’t see into the future!

For now I’ll hold onto these glimmers of hope as a sign of God’s Hand in the Process and I’ll meditate on what I know to be true of my Lord and Savior. My God is a loving and kind Savior who tells me,

 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Regardless of how things seem to be materializing around you, when the Creator of Heaven and Earth says He has a plan for you, it’s a good plan. So, rest in the hope of what He has for you.

A Different Approach to Learning

Last night I did some reading in my book, “How to Homeschool : A Practical Approach ” by Gayle Graham. It’s one of those vintage old skool paper back books that has the basic homeschooling for dummies/101 level of information and just puts it to you straight on how to do everything from how to find time to wash clothes while you homeschool to how to develop a unit study. I picked it up at the 2012 Homeschool Convention from the hand-me-down shop. I like straight forward material and this book does just that. I was reading last night about the simplicity of homeschool and how you can tailor your day and curriculum based on your child’s interests, strengths, and ways to address their weaknesses. A unit study is defined as, A cross-curricular educational approach in which learning is focused around a central, common theme. For instance, a unit study on trains would teach the development and use of early trains (history), train routes (geography), different engine types (science), train-based literature (language arts), and so on. Unit studies allow children of different ages to study the same unit together but in different levels of detail. (http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/homeschooling_glossary.shtml)

With a unit study you are able to teach a specific subject from varying vantage points. What dawned on me last night was how I was taught in the public school system using textbooks as the main source of the curriculum. Textbooks are designed to cover a lot of material at a very high level over the course of the school year. So, you learn at a broad level. Homeschooling provides the opportunity to go deep in a specific area from varying vantage points (art, music, history, science, literature, etc.). When you learn about a subject using multiple senses you would assume that it would “stick” with you longer.

When we built our home one of the first things I did was find a good resource that I could read that I could educate myself on the process. But, after a year and a ½ of studying the floor plans, developing a budget, hiring and managing multiple contractors, coordinating with the bank for payments, and seeing with my own eyes the full process step by step I believe I could teach a course on the home building process! If I had only read the book I’m not sure how thorough my understanding would be. Well, when you compare that to the homeschool education using a unit study approach, there is the ability to go deep within a specific area of study and learn from varying vantage points. I would think that this approach would also foster the strengths of research in a student as well.

Oh, the joys of learning!

Praise Him in the Uncertain Times

I praise God that I was able to get away this morning and sneak a peek at my little ones while they were at school. I felt a little nudge this morning while getting dressed for work to visit in on their Chapel service and I received just the encouragement I needed. After taking them to the bus I got back home to tidy up and noticed that my oldest at left her binder for school. That was all the confirmation I needed to head to the school so that I could give her the binder and attend Chapel service. The topic of the main lesson was on prayer. The message centered on the attitude of the Magi when they lavished gifts upon the baby Jesus. Scriptures says they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy when as they saw the star while heading to Bethlehem. And, in that same manner we should rejoice with great joy when we come to the Father in prayer whether we are confessing our sins, petitioning him on specific prayers, and as we praise Him. This should be the attitude of our heart.

When times are uncertain it may not come as naturally to praise God, but the Bible commands us to do so. Rejoice always, again I say rejoice! It helps our mind from focusing on the problem as we instead focus on the Lord Jesus.

As I sat in that Chapel service and sung Christmas songs about the birth of Christ and my oldest peered back at me and smiled with joy knowing that I was there to rejoice in the Lord with her my heart rejoices at the little gifts that God gives me each day as a Mother. As I rejoiced in my children today I imagined the joy that filled the Father’s heart as He looked down on His son the day He was born.

There were certainly uncertain days ahead for Mary and Joseph but they all still rejoiced. To God be the glory for the things He has done.