Monday, August 17, 2009

Praise God for Friends

My dear far-away friend Amy sent me a devotional that so applies to my life. This is from Sarah Young's book Jesus Calling...

"COME TO ME when you are weak and weary. Rest snugly in My everlasting arms. I do not despise your weakness, weakness stirs up My compassion-My yearning to help. Accept yourself in your weariness, knowing that I understand how difficult your journey has been.
Do not compare yourself with others, who seem to skip along their life-paths with ease. Their journeys have been different from yours, and I have gifted them with abundant energy. I have gifted you with fragility, providing opportunities for your spirit to blossom in My presence. Accept this gift as a sacred treasure: delicate, yet glowing with brilliant Light. Rather than struggling to disguise or deny your weakness, allow Me to bless you richly through it."

Scriptures for today :Isaiah 42:3; Isaiah 54:10; Romans 8:26

My friend says "It's hard to think of the complexity of our lives as a gift, isn't it? It hardly seems fair. I don't understand it." And boy, do she and I have complicated lives!

But 5 days ago Sarah Young wrote,

"UNDERSTANDING will never bring you Peace. That's why I have instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding. Human beings have a voracious appetite for trying to figure things out, in order to gain a sense of mastery over their lives. But the world presents you with an endless series of problems. As soon as you master one set, another pops up to challenge you. The relief you had anticipated is short-lived. Soon your mind is gearing up again: searching for understanding (mastery), instead of seeking Me (your Master)."

I struggle with wanting the understanding and searching for the why. I do it at work, I do it at home with my girls. I want to understand all the why's. God is asking me to trust in him and lean not on my own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6) I need to trust moment by moment and not look at this afternoon or tomorrow.

Another scripture that this devo brought to mind is II Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in (your) weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." I need to thank God for my weaknesses because he shows his awesome power in and through me in these times when I am at the end of myself.

Thank you God for your faithfulness and your provision of encouraging friends in my desert!

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