Be still...

It's one of those days again.  The noise is driving me crazy.  The people are irritating me.  The situation is too much for me.  I have such a deep need for a quiet place.

I have been amazed many times in my life at how my spirit will connect with God without any interference from my brain.  Let me explain - it happened now again.  I was focused on this endless drone in my ears wishing I could just be somewhere else when I started singing the song without thinking about it.

Sometimes I just need to be still

Knowing You will

Reveal Your heart to me

And sometimes I just need to lay back

Knowing You'll take me back

To lean against You again

Sometimes I just need to go hide

In Your bosom so wide

Take me to the place where I'll find true love

Father, let me hold on to You, let me hold on to You

Through the song, I got the calmness I needed.  I know He is holding me.  I know He will reveal His heart to me.  I know when it all gets too much, I can lean against Him again.  With him there is true love.

Lean against God today.  Find a place to become quiet just for a minute or two, while you open your heart to hear His voice.  He will guide you through whatever you are struggling with.

An instrument in His hand

Lord make me an instrument
An instrument of worship
I lift my hands in Your name

Lord tune now this instrument

An instrument of worship

I lift my hands in Your name

I have played and sung this little chorus many times in my life.  It's an old chorus and well-known.  I never really realized what I was singing until yesterday.

An instrument in God's hand is not necessarily a musical instrument.  It can be anything.  Anything that will fulfill God's purpose is an instrument in His hand.  And being the instrument is seldom easy.  It's usually painful.  You see, we don't understand God's purposes.  We don't see the big picture.  We are so absorbed in our own little worlds and our comfort that it is difficult to sacrifice ourselves to be the instrument God wants.

You could be chosen today to be an anvil.  You may be taking serious blows so that God can shape another person against you.  Painful job.

You could be used as a rake today, to clean a path for another person that will take your place.

Dirty job.

I can think of many examples.  What are you today in God's hand?  Lift your hands and pray that you will become the instrument He wants you to be.

Pruning Time

Yesterday I realized that we hadn't yet pruned the rose bush.  We are quite sentimental about this rose bush - it was a wedding gift.  So my husband got the shears and with our youngest daughter watching, we pruned the bush.

When we were finished, she looked at the rose bush and said: "Shame, I feel so sorry for it!"  And so the door opened for a life lesson to be given.

The rose bush still looks beautiful at a glance.  But if you look closely at the rose bush, you will see aphids in some places.  If you check the leaves closely, you will see some spots.  The rose bush is not that healthy even though we still adore its roses.  It has to be pruned and sprayed in order to look gorgeous again when spring comes.

We are like the rose bush.  We think we are beautiful and so do some other people.  We seem so spiritual after all.  Others think we are wonderful Christians.  God is not fooled.  God looks closer to the aphids of secret sin sitting somewhere in our lives.  He sees the spots on our leaves that is evidence that our characters are not so Godly after all.  We need to be pruned.

Pruning is not nice.  It's sore.  You know you are being pruned when you are challenged on every side and you battle to keep a Christian character.  You know you are being pruned when you have to say a silent "ouch" to every sermon you hear.  You know you are being pruned when every scripture you reads speak right into your heart - no matter where you open your Bible.  You know you are being pruned when you are pleading with God for a change in your life and the only answer you get is "My grace is enough for you".

Don't run from the pruning.  Submit to God and allow him to change your heart so that you will be even more beautiful than before.  You will have an abundance of flowers and others will marvel at God's character that surrounds you like a sweet aroma.

A new harbour

I heard a teaching many years ago and it came to my mind again today.  How will you know which door that is open for you now, is the one you should enter?  Some people have difficulty understanding the concept of waiting on God for guidance.  If that is you, this teaching will be useful.

There was a harbour that was very dangerous to enter.  Many ships ran aground because they entered the harbour from the wrong angle.  After a lot of investigation and planning, an engineer came up with a brilliant idea.  Four high and strong lights were put on carefully chosen places on the shoreline.  Captains were told that they should see all four lights lined up before they can attempt to enter the harbour.  If all the lights were lined up, they would enter from the correct angle and it would be safe.

We are Christians should do the same.  There are four things that must be lined up before we can enter a new harbour.

1.     What you want to do must be in line with God's word.  In other words, what you want to do must not be illegal or sinful.  Don't try to justify something that you know will be wrong.  God will never lead you into temptation.

2.     You must have peace about it.  If you have the slightest feeling of unrest or hesitation - you can't see this light.  Don't do it.  The Bible speaks about the peace that surpasses all understanding - that is what you need.  Complete peace.  Don’t confuse this with peace around you – that might not be there.  In fact, you will most likely in the middle of a huge storm in your life when there is change taking place – that’s okay.  As long as you have peace about your new venture inside you.

3.     Everything must fall into place.  If you need to intervene somehow, it's not right.  You should not have to convince people or manipulate a situation in order to get what you want.  If it is in God's will, He will make it all happen.

4.     It must be confirmed.  God will confirm His plans to you through word from other people, scriptures He gives you, dreams, visions etc.  The Bible also says that a word will be confirmed through the mouths of two or three witnesses.

As a last resort, read the story of Gideon.  He needed confirmation from God and he got it.  The easiest way is to ask God to close the door is the opportunity is not from Him.  If the door slams in your face, be thankful.  Don't try to kick it down! 

Out of the wilderness...

It's a wonderful experience to wait for the Lord to make a way where I couldn't see a way.  It's even more wonderful to suddenly see a door open in front of me that had not been there before.  The first reaction is automatically one of joy and excitement.  But, there is a but...

The devil is walking around like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour.  Be careful if you are in a situation like this.  He will also open a door for you, just to get you on a detour so that God's will cannot be fulfilled in your life.  You need wisdom and discernment to decide which way you should go.  Don't just assume the first door that opens is from God.  Wait on Him, ask for confirmation.  He said in his word that He will confirm His word.

Pray for wisdom and discernment and hold on to this promise:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21(NIV)

Not my will....

Have you also noticed that this is one of the most difficult prayers to pray?  "Not my will, but Your will be done".  We all tend to go to God in prayer with a list of what we want, how we want it and when we want it.  Why we are so demanding and arrogant, I have no idea.  Maybe it's part of the inborn sinful nature.  We demand things from God and we get angry at God when He doesn't do what we wanted on the time we stipulated.  How stupid of us.  How arrogant of us.

You will know that you have grown spiritually when you can pray the prayer above and mean every word of it.  Without fear that God will not meet your needs.  When you can pray the prayer above with a peaceful feeling, knowing that God will give you exactly what you need, when you need it, you have matured spiritually.  It's not a prayer for baby Christians.  It's a prayer for Christians who can persevere in faith, waiting patiently but excitedly for God to move and make a way where there seems to be no way.

If you need a way out of your wilderness today - trust God.  Pray that His will be done.  He will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Good and faithful servant...

The corporate world can be very cruel.  I know I am not alone feeling like this.  I know you have also felt like this at some stage in your career.  Some companies give awards and the awards always seem to go to the people we all know didn't contribute much.  The one that always seeks out the right people to mingle with.  The one who invites himself to meetings where executives will be so that they can notice him.  But work?  Oh no - other people always have to cover his behind.  He rarely contributes anything worthwhile.

The Pareto principle applies to the workplace too.  20% of the people do 80% of the work and somehow, people in the 20% category always get the employee awards and the promotions.

It's demotivating I know.  You slave away for weeks on end to come up with a solution to a major problem in the company and nobody notices.  No pat on the back.  No hand shake.  After all, you got your pay at the end of the month, so they don't owe you anything.  Will they even miss us when we are gone?  Will they even notice we are no longer there?  I wonder.

But yet, we don't need their congratulations and comments.  We have somebody that is watching us every day.  In His word He said we must do everything as if we do it for Him alone.  He also said we must not get tired of doing good - in due time we will be rewarded.  He will one day give us the pat on the back and say "Good and faithful servant".

Hold on to that.  When you feel unappreciated at work, know that God will reward you in due time.  Your efforts are not unnoticed.

Who is God to you?

For years as a young girl, I was afraid of God.  And it was not a holy fear!  My image of him was one of a mean old man with a whip in his hand waiting for me to do something wrong.  The reason for that image is not important now - I have dealt with it a long time ago.

My husband read me a story a few days ago of a man who said to a Griqua: "I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow".  The Griqua responded: "It's going to be a beautiful day!"  "How do you know that?" the man asked.  "It's simple" the Griqua said.  "Everything God gives us is beautiful".

I have been thinking about this for a few days now.  It's true.  Everything God gives us is beautiful.  He loves us so much that He gave His Son.  He loves us so much more than any earthly father can ever love a child.  Like a hen with her little ones under her wings, He wants to protect us.

Sometimes He says 'no' to things we asked.  Not because He doesn't want us to be happy, but because He has something better in store for us.  We need to learn to trust Him and to wait for His plans to come to being. 

Corrie ten Boom said that she got excited every time every time something went wrong in her life.  She was excited to see how God was going to sort it out.  You see, her expectation of God was right.  Many of us don't have the right image of God and our expectation of Him is altogether wrong.

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jer 29:11