Yeah, sometimes we just don’t get what God is up to. Life seems complicated and chaotic and all outta sorts, but even still, amidst all of its conundrum, God has a sweet plan, a noble plan, a brilliant plan. Turns out, all we have to do is trust Him and follow His lead 💕
Psalm 28:7
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give thanks to him.”
So here we are about to close the curtains on 2019! I wonder, was it a good year writing happy stories and making warm memories or did it write sadness, anger and bitterness over things that went down that shouldn’t have? Oh yeah, so much ‘life’ gets thrown into our faces and when we least expect it! You know what I’m talking about because life happens to all of us? We’ve all been there, where it throws it’s curveballs into the game, or sideswipes us off balance, leaving us reeling about with hurt from losses, failures, and insecurities rather than successes, wins, home runs, and victory lines! Life has no guarantees for anything, So, here we sit, with a new year of 365 days soon to unfold and we haven’t even wrapped our heads around the old yet. Will we carry the baggage of failure and broken past the final sunset of 2019 and on over the horizon of 2020, only to drag it around just because we can’t let it go? Beautiful Soul, our failures do not define us. They are not who we are! Drop them! Put them down! Genesis 1:27, reminds us we are created in the image of God. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God He created them.” God has stamped His approval all over us even with our imperfections that show up all over the place and at the most inconvenient times. Yeah, we’ve all made mistakes, but that’s not who we are! We’ve had our losses and our wins but it’s not who we are! We’ve got our shortcomings but we also have our strengths, you and I and we and us, and they make our story but they don’t write the final chapter. Our Choices write our final chapter and the good stuff is that we can choose to pick ourselves up and move on with a new slate, a new pen, a new notebook and a brighter outlook with a positive attitude.
So beautiful people, let’s give it up and let’s give it over to the Sovereign God in charge! The all-powerful, omnipotent and omnipresent, Ancient Of Days, who sees all, knows all and orchestrates all. He holds our past year in His safekeeping, just as He holds us close to His heart! Our dismal failure or our height of success, is all the same to Him! His grace is lavished on all regardless of what’s gone down! Yeah, if we have breath, it’s our perfect opportunity to take it and run with it. So let’s run right into the arms of Jesus and let our Saviour save us from the sorrows and strife of this life.
James, a servant of God and the writer of this awesome book in the Bible, knew the joy of living for His Lord. He reminds us of it in James 1:2, when he pens the words, “Dear brothers and sisters when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” and in 1:12 he reminds us of how blessed we are under trial, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”
Our struggles help us write strong chapters in our lives, so let’s choose to endure, persevere in the race and write well as we live and make our way into a new year!
#SoulFire #NewYear
Hebrews 12:1, 2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.…”
Sometimes life just kinda gets right in our face doesn’t it? And it’s not always pretty and it’s not always fun or fancy or fine. Some days it can be flat out miserable with pain and problems and things that just didn’t go as planned. What do we do then, when the good stuff seems to have seeped through the cracks and the bad outweighs the good and we’re left hurt and crumpled and outta sorts? What do we do then?
David says it so well, doesn’t he? “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all His benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
#Soulnotetoself
So sometimes, just being honest here, we have to say we don’t have the faintest idea of what to do next. It just all came at once and now the mind is full of conundrum all on its way to nowhere. We just can’t be all to everyone, and we can’t do all that we want because we can just be so wrapped up so tightly in knots impossible to loosen. Anxiety, sickness, depression, misery, anger, aches and pains, and a whole host of things can hold us down and well ~ we need some kind of direction for sure! Some kind of down to earth guidance and some kind of solid advice with some kind of good insight and some kind of good plan! Yeah, some days that’s just about where we are in this journey and life looks incredibly long and dreary.
So, then, beautiful soul, get before your Maker and just be honest and ask for that direction! Take those knots into His throne room and lay them down at His feet. The Creator who spoke life into being. You know He’s got the next best move for your steps, and those doors? Well, they’ll open or close at His command if we wait honestly and patiently on Him. You gotta know that! The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 37:23, “The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delight in Him;”…..Such an awesome promise to stand those unsure feet on isn’t it? So take delight in our Lord and let Him lead your heart and your mind today into His perfect will and into His perfect plan of action.
Not only do our unsure feet need stability but our unsure hands and efforts need some kind of confirmation that we work in His will. I love the prayer of Moses, a man of God, who led God’s people from slavery in Egypt to Mount Sinai where he received the law and established a covenant with God. In Psalm 90:17, “And may the Lord our God, show us His approval and make our efforts successful.”
So yeah, today, beautiful one, ask for God’s favor to rest on you and your family! Trust Him to make your efforts work for His glory and your benefit. He’s got you and your story and you can know that! 
Psalm 37:23
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way.”
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 