Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares The Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."



Thursday, February 14, 2013

Curve Balls...

Do you ever watch baseball?  To be honest, I don't.. It bores me and my attention span is not long enough to sit for that long! BUT.. I do know about curve balls... In baseball, a curve ball is a ball that is pitched with the flick of the wrist causing the ball to drop suddenly and veer in the opposite direction. This leads the batter to "believe" the ball is coming his way and at the last second.. It veers the other direction leaving the batter wondering what the heck just happened! Wow... I think I've had a few of those thrown my way a few times.. but when I really stop and think about it, are they really curve balls or is it because I have stepped out of God's perfect will for my life?

It  never fails, I pray, seek God's will and ask Him to guide and direct my paths... but then the "human" in me wakes up, gets impatient and decides to "step in and take over the situation". That's when the curve balls come. Sometimes they are small and manageable but other times they are large and daunting leaving me trembling with fear. No matter the size, once they come my way I become fearful.

In that moment God never fails to gently remind me "I got this".. He just wants me (us) to totally, completely cast all our cares and fears upon Him and let Him take care of it.  Today was one of those days actually this last week has been one where I have been very uncertain of the events taking place in my life and I want to take control and "fix" the situations going on.. BUT I must decrease so He may increase.  I must seek Him, talk to Him, focus on Him and believe that He has a plan and He knows the path I am walking.. because He walked it before me. He sees all the nasty mud holes, pot holes, bumps in the road and the many road blocks.... but He went before me so He knows the way around them and through them.  If I allow Him to, He will guide me the way I should go. 

Today I got a gentle reminder while reading my devotion from Jesus Calling.  Usually I read it at 6:30 am but for some reason today I didn't, I read it about 12:30 pm and wished I had read it earlier..

"Do not give in to fear or worry, those robbers of abundant living. 
Trust Me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to
anticipate them.. Fix your eyes on Me, the Author and Perfecter of your faith,
and many difficulties on the road ahead will vanish before you reach them.
Whenever you start to feel afraid, remember that I am holding you by your right hand.
Nothing can separate you from My Presence!"
 
God is a "People Person".. meaning He longs to have a real, personal relationship with us, not just a Sunday morning relationship.  He longs to be involved in every aspect of our lives.. if we would just let Him.  Having a relationship with Him is not about religious exercises, religious traditions or just going to Sunday morning church.. It's about talking to Him like you would your best friend, letting Him invade every part of your life and just spending time with Him, worhipping Him..
 
Worship is about saying "Thank you" to God, because He gave it all for us....  God's not into "appearances"....  He's into the "heart"... He knows our hearts way better than we do..