"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." ~Isaiah 55:8 NLT
So, recently I have found myself in a situation that makes no sense to those closest to me, and quite frankly, sometimes it makes no sense to me either. There are so many variables to this situation that look different from what I prayed for. However, the most important things on the list that is the prayer I prayed a few months ago (and placed on one of the walls of my "war room") are very present in this new situation in my life. So, why then have I been more disheartened by the voices that are not the voice of God more than I have been excited by seeing the answers to the prayer I prayed?
I know why.
I have been placing more value on the voices of others (and the negativity of my own voice) more than I have been placing value on the voice of God in my heart, spirit and soul.
But, if I want God to get glory from what He is wanting to do in my life I have to trust that His hand is working all in and through this unexpected situation, right?
Don't we as believers have to trust God's voice even when it makes no sense?
Isn't He the God of Ephesians 3:20? You know, the One Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than I could ask or think according to His power that is at work within me? Yes, I know this to be true. It's just, how do I trust that He is really working and speaking to me in this unfamiliar territory I am in?
I have to trust His voice, that's how. Some of the ways He's moving in this situation are being spoken to me in another language, literally, but He's speaking. Through my fears, through my doubts and in spite of the voices in my head, God is speaking and I am fighting to make sense of what He is saying and doing.
I have been learning over the past year that the things, gifts and people we think God will use to help us reach our destinies in Him are usually NOT the ones we thought He would use. Often they look nothing like what we thought they would look like. In these moments of revelation we have to lean on His word, His will, and His power so that we can obtain the blessings He has for us and complete the tasks He has assigned to us. If we lean to our own understanding, or the understanding of others, we may very well be talked out of receiving love, step away from our God breathed dreams, or miss out on blessings that only God Himself could design specific to each of us.
Our key verse for today says "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8 NLT
Could it be that what we think is good or bad, or right or wrong for ourselves or those we love, is the total opposite of what God thinks? Could it also be that the safe, expected and normal paths we want to travel in life often look different from the paths that God chooses for us to bring His name glory and to bless us?
When God does a thing that looks different from the norm most of us choose to walk away because it's unfamiliar to us, or we are too concerned with what other people will have to say about what we feel, in the depths of our very souls, God has spoken into our lives. Do you know how many people have died missing out on love, dreams, or their assignments from God because they did the exact opposite of what Proverbs 3:5-6 says, and, instead, did what made sense? I am sure that number is devastatingly huge.
I wonder why we seek God for blessings and guidance in making decisions for our lives, but once He has given us the blessings and clear answers we talk ourselves out of the blessing and following His direction.
I know it is scary for us to think we may make the wrong decisions when we come face to face with making choices that will affect us for the rest of our lives. But, what if the choice that makes no logical sense is the one God wants to bless mightily?
Fear and logic play such huge roles in why we don't follow the paths God has created for us. But don't you remember God's command to Abram (before his name was changed to Abraham)? God commanded him to leave his family and his father's land to go to a place that God would show and give him (Genesis 12:1-2). Isn't that a scary thought? I mean, it is for me because my family has always been such an anchor for me, and I can't imagine God making me go to a place without them. However, what if that place He leads me to is the very place where my blessings await? This was certainly the case for Abram.
I can imagine when Abram shared what God told him with his family and friends he got all sorts of feedback from them. "Are you sure God told you that?", may have been the question from one. Another may have said, "Abram you shouldn't go. Why would God instruct you to walk away from this life you have built in your father's land?"
God's instructions to Abram were out of the norm. And anything God asks us to do that is out of the norm and makes no sense is hard for the human mind to conceive, accept and obey.
Later in the book of Genesis, after God changed Abram's name to Abraham, He instructed Abraham to do something else to prove that he trusted God. He asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son's life (Genesis 22:2). "Yikes, God, that seems so harsh! Why would you fulfill this promise and then take it away?" I can imagine this being Abraham's thought's when God first gave him these instructions? I know it would have been mine. But, the point of God asking Abraham to do this was for him to show God that he valued what God said, even above his own son's life. I think God tests us in this way still today.
Maybe He isn't asking us to lay our children on a throne to slaughter them, but He does ask us to trust Him as He leads us deep into the unknown. He wants to know that we will follow the where, the why and the how in His leading of our lives. Unfortunately, this may come at a great cost to us. But, I had to tell myself this morning that there is no crown without the bearing of my cross. Likewise, sometimes God asks us to sacrifice the promise we have long been waiting for, which makes no logical sense to us, so that He can bless that promise even more through our willingness to desire nothing greater than Him, the Promise Keeper.
Side note: We know of several instances in the Bible where God changed the names of those who walked with Him. Each time it was because they had a significant encounter with God that changed their identity forever. Wouldn't it be great to follow God so deeply, even when it makes no sense, and know that our identities have been changed as well? I'd like to think my new identity is Overcomer or Obedient or how about this...Game Changer because I went against the grain and did something unheard of for the glory of God and to receive an unlikely blessing wrapped in a package different from the way I thought it would come.
If we read further in Genesis 12 and Genesis 22, we see the promises God made to Abram/Abraham become realities because of Abraham's obedience and his choosing to listen to God above all other voices echoing in his heart and mind.
Let me point out that it is wise to listen the counsel of the Godly (Proverbs 37:30). Sometimes, God will instruct others to speak life into us. It has been my experience, though, that the Holy Spirit won't minster something to others regarding you that He hasn't at least already whispered into your own heart and soul. Even when listening to the counsel of others, you need to make sure that their concerns are plucked right out of the Word of God, not based on how strange the situation looks to them. For we know God to be a God Who turns situations that the world views as impossible into possibilities (Matthew 19:26).
Today, if you are in a situation in which God has already given His authority of approval but you find opposition coming from all other fronts, ask God to give you peace alone with His word and approval. Do not doubt what He has said, and think of the many people who will be blessed by your willingness to do and receive what God has ministered to you.
Take heart, there are always, always blessings in trusting God to lead you. His thoughts and ways are so high above our own. With that being said, expect to be pleasantly surprised when God calls forth those things you have been praying for. Even our prayers for the greatest things we desire cannot compare to the reality of God's thoughts and ways about how He will bless us. The only way to obtain your blessings, though, is by listening to His voice, and His voice alone...even when it makes no logical sense.
I know why.
I have been placing more value on the voices of others (and the negativity of my own voice) more than I have been placing value on the voice of God in my heart, spirit and soul.
But, if I want God to get glory from what He is wanting to do in my life I have to trust that His hand is working all in and through this unexpected situation, right?
Don't we as believers have to trust God's voice even when it makes no sense?
Isn't He the God of Ephesians 3:20? You know, the One Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than I could ask or think according to His power that is at work within me? Yes, I know this to be true. It's just, how do I trust that He is really working and speaking to me in this unfamiliar territory I am in?
I have to trust His voice, that's how. Some of the ways He's moving in this situation are being spoken to me in another language, literally, but He's speaking. Through my fears, through my doubts and in spite of the voices in my head, God is speaking and I am fighting to make sense of what He is saying and doing.
I have been learning over the past year that the things, gifts and people we think God will use to help us reach our destinies in Him are usually NOT the ones we thought He would use. Often they look nothing like what we thought they would look like. In these moments of revelation we have to lean on His word, His will, and His power so that we can obtain the blessings He has for us and complete the tasks He has assigned to us. If we lean to our own understanding, or the understanding of others, we may very well be talked out of receiving love, step away from our God breathed dreams, or miss out on blessings that only God Himself could design specific to each of us.
Our key verse for today says "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8 NLT
Could it be that what we think is good or bad, or right or wrong for ourselves or those we love, is the total opposite of what God thinks? Could it also be that the safe, expected and normal paths we want to travel in life often look different from the paths that God chooses for us to bring His name glory and to bless us?
When God does a thing that looks different from the norm most of us choose to walk away because it's unfamiliar to us, or we are too concerned with what other people will have to say about what we feel, in the depths of our very souls, God has spoken into our lives. Do you know how many people have died missing out on love, dreams, or their assignments from God because they did the exact opposite of what Proverbs 3:5-6 says, and, instead, did what made sense? I am sure that number is devastatingly huge.
I wonder why we seek God for blessings and guidance in making decisions for our lives, but once He has given us the blessings and clear answers we talk ourselves out of the blessing and following His direction.
I know it is scary for us to think we may make the wrong decisions when we come face to face with making choices that will affect us for the rest of our lives. But, what if the choice that makes no logical sense is the one God wants to bless mightily?
Fear and logic play such huge roles in why we don't follow the paths God has created for us. But don't you remember God's command to Abram (before his name was changed to Abraham)? God commanded him to leave his family and his father's land to go to a place that God would show and give him (Genesis 12:1-2). Isn't that a scary thought? I mean, it is for me because my family has always been such an anchor for me, and I can't imagine God making me go to a place without them. However, what if that place He leads me to is the very place where my blessings await? This was certainly the case for Abram.
I can imagine when Abram shared what God told him with his family and friends he got all sorts of feedback from them. "Are you sure God told you that?", may have been the question from one. Another may have said, "Abram you shouldn't go. Why would God instruct you to walk away from this life you have built in your father's land?"
God's instructions to Abram were out of the norm. And anything God asks us to do that is out of the norm and makes no sense is hard for the human mind to conceive, accept and obey.
Later in the book of Genesis, after God changed Abram's name to Abraham, He instructed Abraham to do something else to prove that he trusted God. He asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son's life (Genesis 22:2). "Yikes, God, that seems so harsh! Why would you fulfill this promise and then take it away?" I can imagine this being Abraham's thought's when God first gave him these instructions? I know it would have been mine. But, the point of God asking Abraham to do this was for him to show God that he valued what God said, even above his own son's life. I think God tests us in this way still today.
Maybe He isn't asking us to lay our children on a throne to slaughter them, but He does ask us to trust Him as He leads us deep into the unknown. He wants to know that we will follow the where, the why and the how in His leading of our lives. Unfortunately, this may come at a great cost to us. But, I had to tell myself this morning that there is no crown without the bearing of my cross. Likewise, sometimes God asks us to sacrifice the promise we have long been waiting for, which makes no logical sense to us, so that He can bless that promise even more through our willingness to desire nothing greater than Him, the Promise Keeper.
Side note: We know of several instances in the Bible where God changed the names of those who walked with Him. Each time it was because they had a significant encounter with God that changed their identity forever. Wouldn't it be great to follow God so deeply, even when it makes no sense, and know that our identities have been changed as well? I'd like to think my new identity is Overcomer or Obedient or how about this...Game Changer because I went against the grain and did something unheard of for the glory of God and to receive an unlikely blessing wrapped in a package different from the way I thought it would come.
If we read further in Genesis 12 and Genesis 22, we see the promises God made to Abram/Abraham become realities because of Abraham's obedience and his choosing to listen to God above all other voices echoing in his heart and mind.
Let me point out that it is wise to listen the counsel of the Godly (Proverbs 37:30). Sometimes, God will instruct others to speak life into us. It has been my experience, though, that the Holy Spirit won't minster something to others regarding you that He hasn't at least already whispered into your own heart and soul. Even when listening to the counsel of others, you need to make sure that their concerns are plucked right out of the Word of God, not based on how strange the situation looks to them. For we know God to be a God Who turns situations that the world views as impossible into possibilities (Matthew 19:26).
Today, if you are in a situation in which God has already given His authority of approval but you find opposition coming from all other fronts, ask God to give you peace alone with His word and approval. Do not doubt what He has said, and think of the many people who will be blessed by your willingness to do and receive what God has ministered to you.
Take heart, there are always, always blessings in trusting God to lead you. His thoughts and ways are so high above our own. With that being said, expect to be pleasantly surprised when God calls forth those things you have been praying for. Even our prayers for the greatest things we desire cannot compare to the reality of God's thoughts and ways about how He will bless us. The only way to obtain your blessings, though, is by listening to His voice, and His voice alone...even when it makes no logical sense.