God was with me...

I just have to say it's been wayyyyyy too long since I've written.

I've either been busy with work or I've been sick and my brain just hasn't been functioning like usual. Lyme problems.

Anyway, I'm back and I'm hoping to be back more!

My family and I have been watching "The Bible" series on the History channel. Have you seen it?

 

 

via

 

Maybe it's just me, but I've been pretty impressed. It's not like one of those corny Jesus movies where the actors are stiff and the scenery is fake. That's just my opinion though, maybe you would disagree and that's okay!

Anyway, I think that the series has done a good job for us visual learners to actually see the Bible story come alive, BUT I don't think that the series should take place of actually reading the Bible. This TV series is man-made and when things are man-made, flaws are sure to occur. The word of God (Bible) is THE word of God and nothing can get better than that. I hope and pray, however, that this TV series has found it's way to TV screens in the homes of those who are questioning the faith and has awakened a hunger to research more. I know as I was watching last night, I was thinking, "Oh I need to re-read that passage".

 

Last night, as I was watching the story of Samson and Delilah, King Saul, and David come alive, something stood out to me. It was a phrase that was being repeated by the different characters....do you know what it was?

"God was with me."

Whenever there was a discussion about something good such as when Delilah was asking why Samson was so strong, he would reply with... "God is with me"

or

when David went to King Saul with the proof of the 200 Philistines, he stated, "God was with me."

How often do we give the credit to God?

Instead, do we give all the glory to ourselves?

I won't answer for you, but I'll answer for me...

Most of the time, I'll bring glory to myself.

Not proud of it, but it's true.

Maybe you could agree with me.

 

They were so quick to say, "God was with me" and they didn't say it with their head down, kicking dirt, they said it with pride.

Why can't we do the same?

We get a raise at work.

Instead of saying, "I deserved it. I worked so hard for this,"

 why don't we say, "God was with me. He gave me the knowledge I need to do my job" ?

We run a marathon.

Instead of saying, "I trained so hard for this. I'm awesome,"

why don't we say, "God was with me. He gave me the strength and endurance to finish"?

The fact is everything good comes from God.

Not from us. We need God to do good.

James 1:17 says, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

He is in the business of doing good.

That's just how He rolls or rules (corny, I know).

So when something good happens in our lives, we should give all the credit to God and say "God was with me."

1 Corinthians 1:31 says, "So that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

Waiting for the storm to pass...

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in my sister's screened in porch and I noticed something different...the sky was divided. One side, bright sunshine...one side, raining. A clear line divided the two. I've never seen that before!

This made me think. It made me think how we all have times of sunshine and times of storm. Often, sunshine is linked to happiness and storms are referred too as bad times. 

Reality of it is, we will never experience sunshine 24/7 nor we will experience storms 24/7 (yay!). The weather is always changing. It's always moving. Let's step away from the literal thought and relate it to our actual lives. 

I'm sure you have a faced a "storm" or two in your life, right? I know I have. So what do you do when it's storming? Do you hide under a blanket and wait for it to pass? Do you do something about it? 

Just like if we were to face an "actual" storm for days, it's often hard to get everything we need to do, done. We may face some challenges like slower traffic on our way to work, football games cancelled, power outages...and more. When these difficult things happen, do our lives stop? No. They continue. It may be hard...it may not be enjoyable..it may change our plans, but life keeps going and the sun always comes out. 

Instead of shutting down when a storm comes our way, we have to continue to trust in God. We can't throw in the towel. We have to remember that His mercies are new each morning. Lamentations 3:23 says, "Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." 

Instead of giving up, find the good in the storm. Just like in an "actual" rainstorm, it may push us to slow down. I don't know about you, but I love to cuddle up on the couch with a book during a storm. Rainstorms can force us to slow down from our busy lives and rest (which is a good thing!). Also, rainstorms nourish the land. So just like an "actual" storm, we should let our "spiritual storms" grow us too. It may not be our ideal experience, but God wants every season in our lives to bring us closer to Him. Use God as your safe place. Deuteronomy 33:27 says, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." 

Be thankful for the storms because they grow you and be thankful for the sun because it strengthens you for the next rainstorm. Be thankful at all times for there is a season for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." 

What helps you get through the storms in your life?