Stones of Remembrance... Joshua 4:2-7

Joshua 4:2, 6-7

“‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm... that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

My life has been filled with things that I now look back at as memorial stones...

 God has protected and delivered me numerous times. The biggest time that comes to mind though is from this past year. It was my crossing the Jordan. I was living a completely hypocritical lifestyle; completely backslidden and blatantly running away from the Lord. I don't know why, but the Lord broke into my life and plucked me up out of that lifestyle of sin and placed me in a safe place. What the Lord has done in my life is something that I could never do on my own.

 Since then, God has shown me many things. He has provided. He has loved me even when I'm confused, scared or angry and I just want to run away. He has broken the me that I had made and started to mold me into who He wants me to be. He has provided me with so many memorial stones so that when I start to doubt, I can look back and remember what He has done and what He brought me from. The memorial stones are also there so that I can point others to His faithfulness. When they doubt or are afraid, I can tell them about what He has done in my life. One day, I'll be able to tell my children about what God has done. I can tell them of His love, grace and forgiveness. 

My application this week is to draw a picture of what these verses mean to me.

Lessons Learned In The Waiting... Proverbs 19:21

Proverbs 19:21 says,

“There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.”

I am a planner. I love to be prepared. I don't naturally like surprises or changes. God knows this about me. He knows that I like knowing details. Before this year, I didn't fully understand what it meant to be flexible. I've learned that being flexible is thinking that you're going to do one thing and at the very last second, being told that something else completely different needs to be done, and then being 100% okay with that no matter what changes that brings to your plans. This is something that He has been teaching me this year and I know that it is to prepare me for the future. You see, I planned my future. I've made plans for myself tons of times. I'm gonna be a masseuse. I'm going to be a counselor. I'm going to college. I'm going to be married by 22. I'm going to Africa. I plan and God laughs. I can imagine Him saying, “Doesn't she know by now that my plans are so much greater than anything she can ever imagine?”

Isaiah 55:8-9 says,

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

But still I plan. The past few months have been difficult because I can't plan. I don't know exactly what is happening after this program. I can't answer questions about the future with anything more than, I'm really not sure what is happening but I know that the Lord is in control. I know that He has placed a calling on my heart and I'm not sure what the future looks like but I know for sure that He has a plan. God is teaching me to trust Him. There are certain burdens and desires that have been placed on my heart just recently but I don't know when those things will happen. And I'm learning to be content in waiting. I know that God is good and that He has placed desires in my heart and He will not withhold these things from me when I am walking in His way.

Psalm 84:11 says,

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

A friend of mine was sharing something with us the other day that really stuck out to me. God gives us promises. Sometimes we can see those promises and so we do things to make the promise come to be sooner than God's plans because we get impatient. “I can see it so I must be able to have it!” When I learn to wait on the Lord and His timing, I learn to focus on the here and now and I learn so much more than when I am looking so far ahead into the future. God has lessons to teach me here and now. He has things He wants me to learn so that I can be ready for the future that He has planned for me.

My application this week is to submit my plans to the Lord. Whenever I start thinking too far into the future, I will give those thoughts to the Lord and ask Him what He wants me to learn right now in the waiting.

His Burden is Light... Matthew 11:28-29

Matthew 11:28-29

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 

Heavy. That is the best way to describe how I've been feeling the last few weeks. Not just heavy, but ever increasingly so. Different situations have been coming to light that just break my heart. God is opening my eyes to how evil this world actually is. I can't just stop seeing it anymore because he's bringing it right to my doorstep. It is apparent to me that the Lord is truly breaking my heart for what breaks His. It seems that He is preparing me for whatever He has for me in the future. And that is exciting. But man, it's also really hard. And just, heavy. 

And then the Truth steps in. The burden of this world is heavy. It's hard and scary and overwhelming. This world is fallen and evil. So many bad things happen constantly. But Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light. I am meant to have compassion for this world and a heart for the lost to be found. But it isn't right for me to bear that burden alone. I need to give it to Him. I was talking to a leader today and she said something that really helped me. Cattle and oxen have yokes on them but it isn't too heavy and they are able to keep working because it is balanced. The yoke is designed so that even though it is heavy, they can bear it. Jesus balances us when we let Him. We just have to give our burdens to Him.

My application this week is to lift up the people that the Lord has been laying on my heart and allow Him to lift the burden off my shoulders as He takes care of them.

Be Steadfast in All Your Ways... Proverbs 4:25-27

Proverbs 4:25-27 says,

“Let your eyes look straight ahead;

fix your gaze directly before you.

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet

and be steadfast in all your ways.

Do not turn to the right or the left;

keep your foot from evil.” 

I get easily distracted. I get bored or scared or nervous or many other things and I let myself veer off of what I am supposed to be focused on. I am in a year long program which means that at this point, at least the next 5 months are pretty decided. I don't know the detail of what will happen in these next five months but I do know that I have dedicated this year to getting closer to Jesus and serving in whatever ways He has for me while I am in this program. After that, I really have no idea what God has for me. I have ideas and plans but nothing is firmly decided or set in stone. I don't know for sure where I will be or what I will be doing a year from now. Quite honestly, that scares me. But I keep having to go back to the fact that God has me. He knows me and He knows the plans He has for me. He made me and has prepared good works for me before the beginning of time that He desires me to walk in(Eph 2:10). 

So lately I've been fretting about things. “Lord, what am I going to be doing after IGNITE?” “Where am I going to be living and am I going to have a car?” “God, when am I going to get married and to who???” “Jesus, how are things going to work out?” I think God probably just looks at me and shakes His head, thinking, “If she would only trust me and focus on what I have for her to do right now. I'm holding her and I know exactly how everything is going to play out.”  So this morning, I read this passage and it smacked me upside the head. “Mak, stop fretting. Stop getting distracted. Stop trying to make your own plans. Focus on today. Focus on where you are right now. Focus on the opportunities that you have right now.” In our commitment statement that we made as a class during training, we wrote that one of our goals was to “be where we are and commit to where we are sent.” That means to focus on the ministry and the people and the team that God has put me in right now. If I just focus on where He has me and the path He has me on right now, all the other things will work out. God laughs when I make plans so I might as well quit trying. He knows so much better than I do because He see everything start to finish whereas I only see what's going on right now. 

I also need to make sure that I don't get bored or lazy and instead of looking straight ahead at the path that God has me on right now, start to veer off into sin. “I would rather focus on this over here. I would rather see what would happen if I did this.” I need to be steadfast; immovable. Determined and focused to stay in God's will for me. 

My application this week is to draw a picture of what this verse means to me and put it on my wall.