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| Some of my journals and one of my prayer shawls. |
2/09/1997-
“In solitude,” Henri Nouwen says, “we can slowly unmask the
illusion of our possessiveness and discover in the center of our own self that
we are not what we can conquer but what is given to us.” I find that to be a powerful
thought.
The idea I get is that I am not made up to be who I am by
God to be victorious over my shortcomings by myself. But God make me as I am to
allow Him to work out the shortcomings and the frailties of who I am.
Back in
the early 1980's, I used to get very rattled, upset, and even frustrated very
easily. I began hearing the word “trust.” Every time I would see a passage of
scripture that contained the word trust, it looked like this TRUST. I believe that God was speaking to me at that time.
However,
I really did not fully listen as I should have. I went through a phase where I
realized that I lost a considerable amount of energy each time I got angry. It
was a while after that when I found Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust the Lord God with all
your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
him and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)
God does
not give up on refining us; He lets us go until we mess up. He accepts our
apology and allows us to grow from the experience. Thank You, Lord.
Update:
Whenever
I go through something, I try to reflect on the events and see if I could have
done something differently and maybe the outcome might have been more pleasant.
What I have learned amazes me. A lot of the events that happen in my life are
not necessarily about me-the majority of the time, I am there to help-kind of
like an extra in a play. I have learned that I am nobody special and harsh
things can happen to me.
Linking up with:beneaththesurface-dawn
Looking back at events and our reaction to that event certainly helps. I am always keeping journals for I tend to forget what I've learned :)
ReplyDeleteMarja: Thank you for stopping in. When I reflect I sometimes have to study how I handled the issue and also whether I did it in a godly way.
DeleteThankfully God is more full of grace towards us than WE are! Beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteSusie, thank you for dropping by. But for God's grace,our lives would be very different.Thank you for your kind thoughts.
DeleteTRUST...such a simle word, and yet so difficult to do. We think we are trusting, and then as soon as something happens we don't understand, we start panicking and forgetting about our resolve to TRUST. What I have learned in this life is when I am starting to fret and fear, look back at how God has provided and answered my needs in the past...He has NEVER failed me, so why should He start now? As we experience God in His faithfulness to us, our trust begins to grow. I am so thankful that He never gives up on me!!!
ReplyDeletePamela, thank you for stopping in. You are so right. We think we are trusting and then we find ourselves going to pieces over someething that shouldn't bother us.
DeleteHave a nice weekend.
I so appreciate that in you Cecelia...you whisper peace and quiet assurance into my life! Trust is like breath - a continuous process. Spiritually speaking this means life or death, yes? ! Rich share today!
ReplyDeleteDawn: Thank you for stopping by and for the kind words. God gives us opportunities to exercise our faith and trust in Him.
DeleteI read these same thoughts in the writings of the saints...and it inspires me to pray for faith to trust completely in all things.
ReplyDeleteAnnmarie: Thank you for your kind thought. As God's children, we have to trust Him completely.
DeleteYour entry today makes me think of how journaling is a journey. And that God is always at work in our lives. I love how he illuminates a word for us...like how you saw trust in all caps...like an invitation from God and then he gave it to you straight from the Word...I love how God speaks to us! He spoke to me through your post today...I will keep trusting and accepting my weaknesses and frailties as part of his refining work in my life. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKel; Thank you for your warm thoughts. Please feel free to stop in when you can. I usually post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
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