Transitions

There comes a time in life when you realize it's not about you. At the time, it can be an earth-shattering revelation. Really, though, it's just something everyone else who has survived their teenage years and young twenties already knew. But then you have to face the question: WHO IS IT REALLY ABOUT?

Duh! It's about God. Wow ... God. The tiniest, most insignificant detail in our lives is just as essential to Him as the major crossroads we face. And if it's really about God, then our focus needs to shift. The question is no longer, "What is the right choice for me?" and is now, "What is God requiring of me?" or "Where is God leading me?"

A large part of this journey is trust. Trust in the Almighty God, the Great I AM, the Lover of our Souls. As the centurion in Mark 9 said, "Lord, I believe but help me not to doubt." God, help our doubt; help us as we seek You and endeavor to trust you more fully! When we walk in this trust and something in life occurs that seemingly wrecks our little world or even seems to be totally out of what we "knew" God had planned -- WE MUST TRUST.

Recently, I've been feeling overwhelmed by changes in my life. And all God has spoken when I bring it to His feet is, "Thank Me for this." Most recently, He has begun to show me how critical it is for me to trust Him as well as thank Him. When relationships change, finances go haywire, my plans go completely awry and everything familiar begins to crumble, it is then that I must say "God, I trust You ... and thank You for this!"

I encourage you to trust your godly authority and believe that God has everything in His hands. God has promised us a new thing, a pathway through our wilderness and streams of refreshing in the middle of the barren desert (Is. 43:19). However, in order for Him to accomplish this new thing, we have to relinquish the old and familiar. Let's embark on this exciting journey of change and transformation and do what so many in the Bible were told to do at the bank of the Red Sea: STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF OUR GOD!

What If...?

What if we prayed? I mean really, really prayed. What if we didn't just tell God everything we want Him to fix and ask Him to bless our meal ... what if we took time from our day to talk to Him ... what if we waited and rested in Him, listening for His answer ... what if we engaged in conversation with the Almighty, building a relationship instead of performing a ritual? It would change everything!

Prayer is an act of communication ... give and take ... meeting with God ... romancing with our Beloved ... it is seeking God's face, then waiting around to gaze at it and then taking the time love on Him and be loved by Him. It is climbing up into Daddy's lap, sitting next to His heart and catching His vision. It is spending so much time in His presence that we begin to pick up His mannerisms and seeking His glory so intently that it begins to shimmer in our day to day lives. Prayer = Intimacy.

So what if I change the way I pray? Will it really make a difference? I know it will, and I am so excited by it. I know that I want to be something different, so I must do something different. In the last few days I've spent more time just sitting than I have in a long time. Just resting in Him, letting His love wash over me, His peace surround me, and His Word encourage me. I can't help it ... the more I spend time with Him, the more I want to. I find myself beginning to resent things that keep me from my Beloved and rearranging my life so that I can lose myself in His presence on a regular basis. I am learning that it's not enough to fit in my devotional time, but that I have to have my time with God and fit in everything else on my to-do list. WOW ... and already I can feel a difference. There is an anticipation that is born out of a desperation to know Him better, to love Him more and to find Him fully! What an exciting journey to be on; every day is just a little bit better and a little closer to His presence than I was yesterday.

My Heart, My Desire, My Passion

Heart: "the vital center and source of one's being; the core..."

Desire: "a longing or craving for something that brings satisfaction..."

Passion: "a strong or extravagant desire...the state of being affected by something alien to one's nature..."

God ... the vital center of my life and the source of my being ... the core of my 'all' ... the One I long for ... the only One who satisfies me ... the object of my extravagant desire ... the One who affects me in ways I cannot even explain ... God: my heart, my desire & my passion!

Lord, You're my all. Let my heart beat in time with Yours. Let it beat a staccato by which I march the steps of my life, in tune with Yours. Let my passions be centered only on You and let them affect every hidden aspect of my thoughts, dreams and realities. Let me desire you extravagantly and with abandon. I crave more of You. Lord, let me be Yours ... not only desired by You, my Relentless Lover, but desiring of You relentlessly!