All in Trust
Most of us don’t think of sacrifice as a place of safety. Sacrifice is where we feel fragile and vulnerable (aka, the opposite of safe). I don’t know about you, but I seem to have an obsession with safety in my life. I pick jobs that make me feel safe, I pick people who make me feel safe, I spend money in ways that make me feel safe…
Fear of failure.
Fear of people.
Fear of being different.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of being known.
Fear of death.
Fear of the future.
Doubts creep into my mind as quickly as weeds pop up in my flowerbeds.
I doubt my abilities, faith, feelings, God, and thoughts. Sometimes they are fleeting, but usually they result in anxiety.
Have you read a note to yourself from the past and later… it spoke to you in a new way?
This happens to me sometimes.
As I write to encourage others, months later the same message has a new meaning to me.
We were hiking in the middle of a mountain forest and our path suddenly… ended.
What do you do?
Do you go backward?
A test revealed I could have… cancer.
Then… there was a time of waiting.
This time of waiting… of not knowing… is the hardest part.
Was my life about to change? Or not?
I am, unfortunately, all too experienced at saying these goodbyes! But, I was not prepared for six granddaughters to simultaneously wail so loudly that their mothers came running!
The woman in Luke 7 that poured perfume on Jesus’ feet was called Sinner and Sinful Woman by the local townspeople. Jesus called her Forgiven.
Sarah was known as Barren and Disgraced. God called her Princess and Mother of Nations.
Mary Magdalene was labeled Demon-possessed. Jesus knew her as Healed.
The sound of silence… Do you know it?
There are times with God though… when it is too quiet.
I enjoy the crazy ride of a roller coaster.
All the surprises of things that you cannot see ahead of you… twisting and turning… ups and downs.
But to ride them… it is a step of trust.
Wait… can I try that again?
The gift of second chances.
God was so kind to Jonah. Do you know his story?
Is there a situation that you are facing that seems hopeless right now?
I have been there.
I looked out the back door window enjoying the country view of pine trees.
Something blurred my vision… I could see fingerprints.
I had just cleaned the glass… but there they were… again.
I recognized the hand pattern.
Hmmm… I knew who the fingerprints were from.
God has fingerprints…
It went with her everywhere… my daughter’s baby blanket was her security for years. They did everything together. She even named it “Bobbie.” When the blanket was over-loved, I repaired it several times. Eventually, it was packed in a family memory box.
Life with Jesus is like a puzzle.
There are all these pieces to life… but they don’t always make sense alone.
Change happens and sometimes we are happy.
Change happens and sometimes we grieve.
Change is certain.
Some changes I choose and some I don’t. Because God is always the same, we can trust Him, His Word, and be forever secure.
God never changes. Will you count on Him when inevitable changes interrupt?
