Photo Credit goes to Siim Lukka
Have you ever been reading something that really “struck” you so profoundly that it shifted your thinking and put you in a whole new paradigm? Well, I have and it was last year. I was at this particular point in my journey and was thinking about certain scenarios -all being played out in my mind. I was thinking; “it could go this way, it could go that way, or it could possibly play out like this!” When my thoughts were rambling around in my head like the balls on a pool table I came upon this article about a couple who had been praying concerning some issues in their lives that they needed solutions to. The Lord was trying to show them but at the time they were oblivious to His answer or they thought…it should go like this>>>> ever been there?
What I was reading about was just where I was at, so I read on. Oh how interesting! The lady was looking back and getting some serious hind-sight. It seems like the Lord was pointing out some things to her that were “faulty” in her thinking and He was showing her that she didn’t have all the facts. In one of her scenarios she was basing her poor outcome from her previous experiences and that wasn’t good and if she continued along those lines she would get the same thing. In another scenario she had factored in someone else’s possible actions which she knew she would definitely not like and what would she do then? And her “what ifs” were driving her crazy!
Now I wasn’t quite to the “what ifs” yet but I was getting there in my own thinking patterns. I paused and kept on reading because I wanted to get to the answer and avoid the tough lesson I might have to learn myself; the hard way. Her husband was dealing with a health issue, his answer had already come but it seemed to him “too simple” and he thought, that can’t be God! He is telling me to “rest?” “Oh, I can’t do that, I have too much to do!” So he went on his merry way and he got worse. She was role-playing in her mind and so she went on thinking; it has to be this way, that way or another.
The Lord was trying to get His solutions through but it came down to this when He finally got their attention…..”You two are not letting Me be God!” “You are not letting Me be who I am for you.” “Neither of you are listening.” Wow! And my answer came as I paid attention to what they had learned. She was shown by the Lord that both of them in their own ways had “control” issues; they were displayed differently, but it was the same issue. Her’s played out in the constant drama in her mind so she consequently couldn’t hear, see or even receive His answer with all the racket going on in her head. In her husbands issue, he just could not accept the simplicity of that answer and he mistakenly thought that he needed to handle personally every little and big thing in his life; he couldn’t possibly delegate anything to anyone else because they could never handle it as good as he could, etc. so he was over-worked and stressed to the max and on the verge of a heart attack. Oh wow, this was serious! He also told them that they were “playing God” in their own ways and taking His role -ouch!
This really resonated with me! My oh my! Was I trying to do the same thing? Sure looks like it, sure feels like it! I concluded that I was reading this for a reason. The Lord was showing me the same conclusion -to let Him be God. I didn’t need to be told twice and I sure didn’t want to learn the hard way. This couple didn’t see it or get it right away so they suffered some consequences. I definitely didn’t want to go that route so I got quiet and I listened……I had already asked so I knew I would be receiving His answer. Thank you Jesus! He really was saving me from myself!
I love this verse…..”Be still and know that I am God!” Psalms 46:10
This article I have never forgotten because it was quite a lesson and I took it to heart. The thing is, when the Lord God is correcting His children He is so gentle and patient about it and also so “personal.” He tailors His correction to who He made you to be. I love that about Him! All He had to do was show me where I erred in my thinking. For me it was like Him showing me; “You need to get out of the driver’s seat here.” I pictured it this way- I have like a white-board of my mind and I would tend to write on it my scenarios of how I thought that things should go; duh! When things didn’t go that way I was rather disappointed and wondered why. Well, that’s because I set myself up to be disappointed….I am not God, He is and He knows best. I’m better for that lesson because I let “Him” do the writing and let it be His way, then the responsibility is not on me for the most part and I can learn to partner with Him instead. It’s a relief to let Him be God if I think about it and I don’t have to “make” things happen to my tune of things; know what I mean? This lesson totally shifted my thinking, it really did.
Here is another Big God picture by Garrett Carroll
Here are some Scriptures that come to my mind when I think of the profound ways He impacts my life.
James 1:5 & 6 says; “If any of you lacks wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him be sure that your faith is in God alone.
Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ this vs. in Isaiah 11:2 says; “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him- the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
And in Isaiah 55:8 & 9; “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
And this one; “I know the plans that I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. Now this one is the most encouraging and by now I know that it doesn’t mean I will never have problems or challenges but….He is with me! He is there all of the time! How great is that!
My hope is that my sharing this little story-a true one from the best of my memory has helped you in some way to overcome any stuck areas or misunderstandings that are going on in your head because you thought a certain way or you are just a little stressed at the moment; if that is the case I have one more verse to share; “Call on Me and I will show you great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” KJV I believe in Jer. 33:3.
And one more picture to end this fellow travelers….taken by Trent Szmolnik
Till next time…….I’ll try not to wait so long between posts……..
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