I had a tough day yesterday. I listened to two Beth Moore teachings and went to our last Dave Ramsey class last night. In the tough day and in the pressing into the Lord I listened to Beth ask, “In the darkest of the dark place do you believe God gives or takes?”
Wow.
What do you say to that but to look deeply inward and ask yourself, “Do I really trust Him?”
Am I Abraham?
Do I believe and trust in miracles unseen?
Am I Job?
Do I believe God gives, He can take, and then He gives back ten fold? Always.
It’s his character. He’s a giver.
I want to trust Him and see myself as His manager. I manage His children, I manage His money, I see after His house, I drive His car.
Thinking of myself as His manager takes a lot of pressure off of me. Ownership implies a more powerful holding on. Managing implies an openness, a flowing, a giving and a taking.
I don’t want the responsibility of ownership even though I sometimes take it upon myself without even realizing I’ve done so.
I want to be free. Free to love, trust and obey.
Free to swing barefooted with my pant legs unbuttoned and my head spinning from the love and the grace shown to me by the one who knit me together in my mother’s womb.
“Lord, set me free.”
Beautiful. I love the pictures with those words. God gave us everything already! There is no more to give because we have it, we just need to let go of the other things that fill our arms so we can take what is valuable. CS Lewis wrote something once, don’t have it in front of me, but he said something like that God being similar to the Sun: It shines out on everyone. There is nothing to search for, rather whomever doesn’t feel or see it only has to open his curtains or step outside his dark room.
God is Love. Thanks for the great thoughts.
In the darkest of dark places, God definitely gives. The question is are we ready and in a position to receive. If we have no hope and faith, it is difficult if not impossible for God to do anything. My pastor in Jacksonville told me one time that God does not respond to need but to faith. I have never forgotten it. It has been true in my experience. When I cry to God to take away my pain, the pain stays and seems to gain depth. When I go to Him saying that I believe what His Word says, and I am standing on that and counting on Him to keep His end of the bargain, I experience a release, a wash, and strengthening of my Spirit. There is no doubt that we need God in every area of our life every minute of the day. The question is are we going to utilize our weapons of warfare and what God has already given us to trust Him to be faithful to his Word. I have been lately thanking God for being faithful even when it seems as if He is not there. God gives and He loves. In Him is no darkness at all….Smoke and mirrors is Satan trying to get us to focus on God not doing His job. That is darkness…..a place where God is not. Why do we have the darkest of the dark? We cannot see God when we are looking at the waves. God is present IN the darkness, but we need to uncover His light. We are allowing our lens to be clouded and out of focus. I am not saying it is easy to do that. It is extremely difficult at times to wait on God and choose to believe when we appear to be surrounded and the enemy has more troops and seemingly better weapons. Smoke and mirrors…..The trials of our faith works patience. I tend to think that God is a fairy godmother ready to whisk all the bad away. It does not work like that. It does not require any patience. True freedom is giving up control and resting even when the firey darts of the wicked are at their worst. Jesus was asleep on the boat when the storm was brewing. That is freedom. He was walking on the water when the disciples thought they were going to die. That is freedom. Freedom is peace of heart and soul. Freedom is not being bound by the storms of life. We do not need a fort or a stronger boat. That implies that we are defending our real estate. Defensive…..We hide under His wing not in a fort. Freedom is outward ever expanding. Offensive position….So I guess I am agreeing with you and saying thanks!