A while back I had coffee with a friend. I was feeling like I had no purpose. I was feeling useless. I was struggling with the opportunities that were before me because they weren't quite what I had in mind for my life at that time.
I was discontent.
She listened. She didn't try to fix me. She didn't try to prove me wrong. She was the sounding board that I needed that night. I don't know how she knew to just listen and not speak. But the words of my discontented heart bouncing back at me were what I needed.
My sin needed to be confessed and exposed, laid out naked, so I could take a hard and heart look at it. I needed that sounding board to help me verbalize before God what was a jumbled mess inside.
I was discontent.
She listened. She didn't try to fix me. She didn't try to prove me wrong. She was the sounding board that I needed that night. I don't know how she knew to just listen and not speak. But the words of my discontented heart bouncing back at me were what I needed.
My sin needed to be confessed and exposed, laid out naked, so I could take a hard and heart look at it. I needed that sounding board to help me verbalize before God what was a jumbled mess inside.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
James 5:16
As I continued to process that weekend, I know my friend was praying. And God began to work.
And my honesty before the Lord continued to pour forth. I wrote out a prayer:
"This is the door you have opened up for me but it is not the door I wanted open. Why? Do you not trust me yet? Have I not proven that I am good enough or obedient enough? I know, Lord, I am angry, frustrated, and a complainer, please forgive me and lead me away from this foul attitude. . . lead me away from this place of self-pity into a place of joyful submission to you and your kingdom business. I do not want to be like the Israelites where you led them into freedom only for them to grumble and complain. I remember the miracle you did in my life. I rejoice in that. You are a good God. You are still working in me for completion, you rejoice over me, you will not forsake me, you have plans for me, O God. I will wait patiently for those plans to produce fruit through my life. . . I will trust you, Lord, and wait on you. Though I complain and cry, I will obey. Your yoke is easy, my sin makes it burdensome. Forgive me. Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit. Amen"
The Lord responded to my prayer through His Word.
I read Numbers 11 where the complaints of the Israelites let to death by plague and was contrasted by Moses' humility. I wanted to reverse my role and learn humility, to be called a friend of God. I didn't want to evoke the Lord's anger by complaining about what He hadn't done in my life, forgetting to be thankful for what He had done.
The Lord responded by a spoken word to the congregation of believers by another.
She said that doors were not open in our lives because we had not picked up the keys of THANKFULNESS .
THANKFULNESS was the theme spoken to my heart that weekend. I decided I really needed to go on a strict thankful indulgence.
It has been a year since that weekend.
I read the words of Solomon this morning.
And my honesty before the Lord continued to pour forth. I wrote out a prayer:
"This is the door you have opened up for me but it is not the door I wanted open. Why? Do you not trust me yet? Have I not proven that I am good enough or obedient enough? I know, Lord, I am angry, frustrated, and a complainer, please forgive me and lead me away from this foul attitude. . . lead me away from this place of self-pity into a place of joyful submission to you and your kingdom business. I do not want to be like the Israelites where you led them into freedom only for them to grumble and complain. I remember the miracle you did in my life. I rejoice in that. You are a good God. You are still working in me for completion, you rejoice over me, you will not forsake me, you have plans for me, O God. I will wait patiently for those plans to produce fruit through my life. . . I will trust you, Lord, and wait on you. Though I complain and cry, I will obey. Your yoke is easy, my sin makes it burdensome. Forgive me. Create in me a clean heart and a right spirit. Amen"
The Lord responded to my prayer through His Word.
I read Numbers 11 where the complaints of the Israelites let to death by plague and was contrasted by Moses' humility. I wanted to reverse my role and learn humility, to be called a friend of God. I didn't want to evoke the Lord's anger by complaining about what He hadn't done in my life, forgetting to be thankful for what He had done.
The Lord responded by a spoken word to the congregation of believers by another.
She said that doors were not open in our lives because we had not picked up the keys of THANKFULNESS .
THANKFULNESS was the theme spoken to my heart that weekend. I decided I really needed to go on a strict thankful indulgence.
It has been a year since that weekend.
I read the words of Solomon this morning.
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17
And I was reminded of that weekend a year ago.
I wanted to feel like I had a purpose in life.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
I wanted to feel useful.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
I wanted doors to open up for me in life and ministry that were not in His will for me to open, all the while, being ungrateful for the one that He had opened up.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
Only God really knows His purpose for our lives. Only He really knows the impact we have on others. As we work and labor "under the sun" for ourselves or for the Lord, His hand is working too. God has a purpose for each of us and will reveal it (or not) in His time. And the revealing of His purpose in our lives will bring glory unto Him, not us. Until that time I have learned that my purpose is to be thankful.
I wanted to feel like I had a purpose in life.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
I wanted to feel useful.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
I wanted doors to open up for me in life and ministry that were not in His will for me to open, all the while, being ungrateful for the one that He had opened up.
"Be THANKFUL" He said.
Only God really knows His purpose for our lives. Only He really knows the impact we have on others. As we work and labor "under the sun" for ourselves or for the Lord, His hand is working too. God has a purpose for each of us and will reveal it (or not) in His time. And the revealing of His purpose in our lives will bring glory unto Him, not us. Until that time I have learned that my purpose is to be thankful.
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:20
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:18
Some days it is a stretch to seek thankfulness in hard circumstances. But I have learned that my purpose is to respond to the good, the bad, and the ugly with Thankfulness. Sometimes it takes the setting of the sun and its rising once again to help me to see clearly and find something to be thankful for. But His mercies are new every morning. . .
that is always a good place to start!
Let's pray: God, you are good and have heard the cries of our heart, forgiven our sins, and have poured out Your mercy upon us. We are thankful for you, Father, and for this incredible relationship we have with our El Roi, the God Who Sees. Amen
Will you be thankful with me today? I will start...
I am thankful that you are here, reading the words of my heart, and I pray you are encouraged today.
Love, Rachael
that is always a good place to start!
Let's pray: God, you are good and have heard the cries of our heart, forgiven our sins, and have poured out Your mercy upon us. We are thankful for you, Father, and for this incredible relationship we have with our El Roi, the God Who Sees. Amen
Will you be thankful with me today? I will start...
I am thankful that you are here, reading the words of my heart, and I pray you are encouraged today.
Love, Rachael