Tag Archives: Following God

The Difficulty of Blessings

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by Lydia Floren

Blessings can be much harder to handle than hardship. When God blesses us, if we do not immediately (and often) acknowledge that it is Him at work, we can quickly come to believe one of Satan’s whispered lies:

“You know, God had nothing to do with this. You did this yourself. You deserve this.”

We abandon God’s leading and return to our old way of thinking: God is not good, He does not care. We reject our growing connection with Him—our focus on following Him– and resort to self-dependence.

“I must do what I think will make me happy, and will make me feel good about myself.”

So, in good times as well as hard times, it is helpful to remember:

What we think will make us happy—pleasure, power and pride—only makes us more miserable. The momentary rush from these things is replaced by long term emptiness and gnawing discontent.
When our lives are spent trying to impress or please others–or ourselves–we are enslaved in the worst kind of way.
The only way to joy, contentment, peace, purpose, and long-lasting blessing is to follow the Father who loves you more than He loved His own son’s life. And to do so with an attitude of anticipation and trust.
That means accepting “no” and “not now” exactly in the same way we accept “yes”: with gratitude, knowing that God IS good, and DOES have your best in mind, and fervently wants you to overflow with joy and contentment and the passion of a high calling.
God loves, loves, loves to give good gifts to His precious children. And He knows what is truly good.

God loves you. He really does.

What do you do to remind yourself that God truly has your best interest at heart?

The Barnacles of Busy-ness

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sunrise_beach Busy-ness is a persistent parasite, like barnacles on a sea shell. Busy-ness attaches itself to my life through “extra” expectations and goals and plans. If I allow these barnacles to grow and multiply, my priorities and my calling become almost unrecognizable. I come to believe that these embellished plans are God’s will for me, and I convince myself that no one but I can accomplish these plans–not even God. My time is consumed by either working on these altered plans, or worrying about them. Gone is my willingness to begin each day in God’s presence, and to seek His guidance throughout my day. There is no time. I must hurry. There is much to do.

Through Psalm 23 my Patient Father, My Shepherd calls me back to reality, to the truth deep within me. He calls me to remember, rest, reflect, restore, and refocus:

REMEMBER:

The Lord gives me plenty–more than enough—of everything I need to do what He calls me to do.

plenty of time.
plenty of resources.
plenty of His love and acceptance and grace.

He has done this before, and He will do it again. And again.

REST: Being still—resting—allows me to…

absorb His presence, and
remember His provision, power, guidance, faithfulness and love.
be strengthened for the day ahead.
step back and see the big picture, instead of being caught up in meaningless minutia.

REFLECT: His quiet waters allow me a safe place to…

see my reflection,
face my recurring tendency to wander, and
re-clarify truth, and recognize what barnacle-lies might be attached to that truth.

RESTORE: He refreshes my soul with…

His grace.
His love and acceptance.
His affirmation of my identity, value, belonging.
His calling for me
- to be loved, and
- to love,
- and to let go of everything else.

REFOCUS: He guides me to…

freedom from the barnacles of busy-ness—those expectations of myself and others that attach themselves to my life, keeping me from seeing and following God’s true plan for me.
increasing understanding of truth, and the exposure of lies I have long believed to be truth.
new ways to love Him, myself, and others who cross my path.

Every day, in hard times and good ones, when I follow the Lord my Shepherd He guides me to Joy— the hallmark of an abundant life.

Do you ever feel like you have collected barnacles of busy-ness? How has God been leading you to joy, and freeing you of the barnacles of busy-ness? We would love to hear from you!

barnacles of busy-ness By Lydia Floren

Those Things You Do

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I must always leave room in my heart, and my plans, for the unexpected – those “God things” He does. He sometimes shifts direction, or changes timing, or offers new possibilities, or paths. These things can seem like detours, or delays, and my response is frustration or impatience. But I can count on this:

God works ALL things to good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

I can relax. If there is a delay, or a detour, or a change in direction, there is a very good reason for it. The more I accept and anticipate that there will be these sorts of things in my life, the more at peace I can be in the present.

Who is so blind as the servant of the Lord?

I don’t need to know – and often don’t have the capacity to understand – why He does the things He does. But I can trust Him. Implicitly. Completely.

Thank you Father, for those things you do, that can seem like obstacles, or delays, or detours, but are really very much a part of Your plan. Thank you that I can be at peace, no matter what comes my way, knowing You work all things for my good.

Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant of the LORD? (Isaiah 42:19 NASB)

Has there been a time in your life when you were frustrated by the unexpected, but later saw God at work in it?

Please share with us. We would love to hear from you!

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