This is What My Grandma Told Me...

I opened my grandma's bible the other day for the first time in a while. After she passed away I had gotten one of her bibles and since then I have not touched any of the bookmarks. I wanted to keep it just as she had for so many years. Flipping through it, seeing what she underlined or had marked out you start to feel even closer to her! What she may have struggled with in her walk with God, how she may have gotten through trying times, what passages brought her peace. I go back to those verses in the midst of a trying time and this is what I have been reflecting on.

Romans 8:26-28

In the moments where we feel we have done all we can do and we struggle to see our actions getting us much of anywhere, God is still working in the waiting. When weakness overtakes us the Spirit intercedes and the will of God is still present and active. All things will be worked out for good even if at the moment it does not seem so. I've noticed that say one negative event has happened in our day and maybe two or three positives, what does our mind seem to focus on? If yours goes to the positive, great! I wish I could say that is always the case for myself but many times the negative lingers. I begin to dwell on the fact I am not always where I want to be or what I wanted to happen has not come true yet.

While reading through this I began to think of my grandma and how she may have taken the verse, did she too see the negative, or had she been able to see the positive in all things? The fact that God does work all things out for our good and knowing her faith and dedication to the Lord I would have to think she chose to see the positive more often than not!

Psalm 100 & 103

As these seasons of waiting come and go and our timeline is not always aligning with God's, it can start to allow doubt and insecurities to creep in. Turning to these Psalms we see the truths of God appear! We are His, the Lord is good and faithful! The Lord forgives all, heals all, is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounds in love!

Relying on these truths we can get out of the funk that the Lord is not with us, that He is not at work in our lives. Instead of feeling we are not on the right path, we can take a pause, take a breath, and know God's will and purpose will prevail!

Joshua 23

When we wait, sometimes impatience grows and we begin taking control and doing more work instead of trusting the process. We put in work and then we just keep on doing more and more, burning ourselves out, all for what? Thinking we can speed up the results, speed up the timeline? All in all, we need to do work because faith takes action, however, we need to find the balance of doing our part and then letting God get us the rest of the way. We cannot outwork God, so settle in and let the Lord fight for you. As we see in Joshua, not one thing has failed us of all the good things the Lord has promised us, so what must we do? Pray. Wait. Trust.

Do you have anything from a loved one that serves as a reminder for you to hold tight? Have you received advice from someone that you cling to in times of waiting or times where your faith needs a little boost?