I sit here on the porch in the beauty of the day. It is my favorite place to spend time with the Lord. I love to sit there rocking back and forth on the bench reading my bible and listening to the sounds of His wonderful creation. I can hear many different types of birds chirping harmoniously, creating a wonderfully soothing melody. The sun shines brightly as it filters through the leaves of the many trees in our yard. The squirrels playfully scurry about as they chase each other around trees. I can see a couple of bees buzzing nearby. I can feel the peace in the Lord's loving creation all around me. It beckons me. I feel a sense of God saying to me, "I created all of this for you because I love you and I want you to enjoy all of the beauty around you." I think of this and all of the blessings the Lord has poured into my life and I feel truly overwhelmed by His goodness and grace. He has blessed me beyond what I could ever imagine. I feel humbled by all that the Lord has given me and done for me. I give all of my thanks and praise to Him. I acknowledge that everything that I have is from my Heavenly Father. He has saved my life. He has saved my soul. He has saved my marriage. He has blessed me with a healthy, happy son when I was told that I would probably never be able to bear children. He has given me a wonderful Christian husband who loves me with all of his heart. The Lord has placed me in a fulfilling job in which I am truly happy. I get to help others who are sick and injured while I work alongside a group of truly amazing coworkers. I feel blessed to work with people who care about others and will help them and me in our times of need. My cup runneth over. I continue to sit and enjoy the peace of God's creation. I can feel Him in the creation all around me. He is the gentle breeze blowing through my hair. He is with me always and He loves me. I am His daughter and He is my Father.
Psalm 23:5-6
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
I have had quite a week. Work has been extremely busy. I have to admit that I was still a little upset about the whole job thing. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can find out in my post "God's Difficult Will." It's not that I don't like my job, I really do. And I like the people that I work with. We all work well together as a team. We accomplish some amazing and very difficult things together. It's that my job can be absolutely exhausting on almost every human level. We have days that are so busy that I feel like there needs to be two of me. My work is physically, emotionally and mentally taxing. I have done this work for nearly 14 years now. I felt like this new job was the "promised land" and I assumed God would want me to go there. The Lord made it very clear that I was to continue his work in my current job. Naturally, as a sometimes disobedient child can do, I got mad. What about what I want? Do I not matter?
Well, the Lord continued to work on me this week. As I worked, I kept praying little prayers to the Lord. Lord, help me do this. God, I can't do this without you. I need you, Lord. He helped me keep up with the work and he gave me this feeling of peace that is hard to describe. It's almost like a feeling of someone loving you from the inside out. It starts in your chest and works its way up to your face and eyes. You almost feel like you are smiling even when you know that you aren't. You can feel this warm sensation in your cheeks, kind of like you are blushing. I knew that it was God and that he was saying, "I've got this. I've got you."
When we are right with God and following his will instead of our own, we can have peace even in the midst of all the chaos. I was surprised at how unsettled I felt while I was trying to figure out what to do about the new job. I continued to feel unsettled even when I thought the Lord wanted this job for me. Then when I followed his will and continued to submit to him and seek him in his will, I immediately felt peace about the whole situation. Pretty amazing, huh?
Matthew 8:23-27
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
If Jesus can calm a storm then he can calm our storms. However, he will only calm our storms if we seek him and ask him. And did you catch the other part? We must have faith. Not just any faith but faith in Jesus, that he can and will do these things if we ask. Do you have faith?
The Lord gave me these words this morning:
My child, you are right to seek me and put me first in your life. If you do these things, all other things will fall into place and you will have peace in your soul. You need not worry about the little details of your life. Give them to me and I will take care of them. Your only concern is me and my will. Follow me with all of your heart and all of your soul. Align your will with mine. I am pleased with you, my child, and the work you are doing in my name. I know it is difficult to go against the way of the world but many people will be blessed by the work you are doing for me. Continue to further my kingdom and you will be greatly blessed.
Matthew 5:7
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
As I sat and listened for God's words tonight, these are the words and the scripture He laid on my heart.
Seek Me and you will find Me, my child. I am always here waiting and wanting to talk with you. I am here in your times of joy. I am here in your hardships. I calm all fears. I dry every tear. I am always here with you, loving and comforting you.
Seek Me with all of your heart and all of your soul. If you seek Me, you will always find Me. I stand ready and waiting to hear what you have to say. I want to hear about you. I want to hear about your day. Tell Me your most intimate secrets. Tell Me of your fears, your hopes. I am your best friend, waiting to spend some time with you. Please don't ignore Me. Accept Me and embrace Me as I accept and embrace you. Come to Me now, I am waiting.
Psalm 34
1 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; 16 but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. 22 The LORD will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
Today I feel lead to share a journal entry from September 19, 2011. It describes a time when I strongly felt the presence of the Lord around me.
Sept 19, 2011
I am sitting outside on the front porch. The rain is gently falling, cleansing the earth. The summer was hot and dry. We had very little rain. I have learned to really appreciate the rain and be thankful for it. I am almost in awe of the gentle, soothing sound it makes as it hits the leaves and ground. The overcast sky with a fog-like mist adds to the peacefulness of the rain. I have never enjoyed the rain like I do now. I have missed the rain. I sense more than just rain. I feel like God is telling me that He is here, surrounding me with His love and peace as He gently cleanses away the filth of my sins. This same cleansing rain also serves as water that soaks into my roots, quenching my thirst for Him. This water provides the very life to my soul as well as my physical body. This water can only be provided by the Lord and it will sustain me forever - for eternity. The healing waters of the Lord wash over me and flow through me. The rain has picked up. It is coming down very hard now. The air is thick with rain and I can see it bouncing off the road in front of our house. I can feel it's mist on my body. I can hear it pouring off the roof, creating a stream on the ground.
The Lord is here and He will sustain me. He will fill me. He will quench my thirst. He will cleanse me. He renews me and makes me whole again. Without Him I am broken . . . I am nothing and can do nothing without Him. I will stand against the devil's schemes and put on the full armor of God. I will stand firm in faith. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 17:7-8:
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes: its leaves are always green It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
I felt the Lord interacting with me that day as I sat on the porch enjoying the rain. I could feel Him drawing me near. I felt like God was the rain, comforting me and surrounding me with his cleansing presence. I feel like every one of God's children can experience him in this personal way. He wants to know us intimately. If you have never experienced the Lord in this way and long to have this kind of relationship with Him, get down on your knees and pray what is truly in your heart. When you are done praying, sit and listen for His response. You may be very surprised about what He has to say to you, I know I was. Don't be discouraged if you don't hear from the Lord. We all have our own unique gifts and He reveals Himself to us in different ways. If you regularly pray and listen from your heart, God will meet you there. Go and see where your journey takes you! http://www.biblegateway.com/
