Do You Want to Get Well?

Rather than trying to write God into our stories, we would be wiser to sit patiently with our Father and let him tell us his. ~ Redemption, Mike Wilkerson

I have a silly personality trait: I like to do math.  I like to figure out formulas on spreadsheets; I like to do calculations.  I used to play Yahtzee again and again just so I could figure out the average of my scores.  I like to play with numbers.  This silly trait of mine has helped in budgeting our family's money and writing a personalized debt-freedom plan.  When curve balls come our way, I actually like to sit down and figure out how to get us back on track.  But then I read the above quote and it's been poking at me ever since.  In fact, the other day, I was getting antsy, because I couldn't figure out how God was going to make it all work out; I couldn't make it make sense in my head.

On our way to church yesterday, we were talking about plans again and my husband said, "You can't figure out all of God's plans. Sometimes, you just have to have faith."  When we got to church, they were running through the end of the sermon and I heard Pastor Randy talk about getting a rhema--or personal--word from God.  So I figured the message was going to be great!  Perfect timing.  All I had to do was wait for the moment when God would speak to me.  I sat all through service and waited and didn't get "it."  At the end of service, when the emcee was bringing the service to a close, he told a brief story about a man who'd been crippled and had an encounter with Jesus (see John 5).  Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6)  To me, that seems like a pretty silly question, but the point is that we think--I think--we know how God's going to make it happen and the point to that story is that things are not going to be the way we can figure out, we must have faith.  I must have faith and "sit patiently with [my] Father and let him tell [me] his story."

According to Your Promise

May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. ~ Psalm 119:76


I've heard many pastors say that the Bible is God's blueprint for our lives and His Word holds the answer to every question we will ever ask.  In fact, several authors have tried to simplify things for us by writing books that contain 365 promises from God's Word and Q&A books written by topic, so that you simply need to look up a topic and several scriptures will be listed regarding that topic.  These little books are great and make nice gifts.  But these books, like the Bible, will be worthless if no one ever opens them up.  And if we never read God's Word, we're missing out on so many things He wants to tell us and teach us.


God wants us to know, for example, that we are made in His image; that He chose us when He planned creation; that it is His desire to lavish His love on us; and that He has always been and will always be our Father (Genesis 1:27; Ephesians 1:11-12; 1 John 3:1; Ephesians 3:14-15).  And that's just a small sampling of the things we will miss if we never open up and read His Word.  The Bible, like an elephant is a big thing to try to devour all in one shot.  But the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time.  The same is true for reading God's Word.  If you've never read much or any of the Bible before, don't try to do it all in one sitting, or even in one month.  Do a little bit at a time.  I encourage you to get on a reading plan.  Christian bookstores have many bibles that have reading plans written into them.  I follow a reading plan from 66 Books (www.66books.wordpress.com).  


One other thing I would encourage you to do is to get a journal; it doesn't have to be fancy, I use a lot of spiral notebooks.  In your journal, record your conversations with God.  Record His answers.  Record the promises He makes to you, personally.  Record the things He teaches you.  In the back of every journal, I've got pages of the things He's taught me and the promises He's made to me.  With each new journal, I copy those things into the last pages, so that I can add to them and carry those things with me.  What promises and teachings will you carry with you?


Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. ~ Psalm 119:73
~Heather Potts~

He Notices

When we are more concerned with the opinions of other people than with what God thinks, we start drifting away from intimacy with Him…’I, even I am He who comforts you.  Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies…that you have forgotten the Lord your Maker…’ (Isaiah 51:12-13). ~ Jack Frost, Experiencing Father’s Embrace

We live in such a fast-paced society that more often than not, we will stop a supervisor, manager, etc. to tell of how an employee wronged us in some way, but rarely do we stop to tell an individual of how they were a great help to us.  We all want to be recognized for our hard work and great effort.  We all have these thoughts: I want to do a good job.  I want to be approved of.  I want my work to matter.  I work hard and I want someone to notice.

Father God wants you to know that He notices and He's proud of you.  No matter the kind of day you've had, He loves us just the same.  On our “good” days and our “bad” He is very proud to be called “Dad.”  He wants nothing more than  for us to spend our time with Him.  So the next time you are fed-up and throw your hands up, ready to give up, all because you think you screwed up, remember that Father God looks at you and He sees beauty.  He loves you and doesn’t care about the rest…and thinks you shouldn’t, either.

For the Lord is pleased with and accepts His [sons and daughters] favorably; He will adorn with beauty those who are afflicted, bowed-down, and downcast and He will raise them up into deliverance and great victory. ~ Psalm 149:4

Trust

We know our fears. 

We know our circumstances. 

What we don’t always know is what God is doing in the midst. 

When the outlook is bleak, when things take a turn you weren’t expecting, when you feel like the world all-around you is crumbling, what do you do?  Where do you turn? 

In His darkest hour, Jesus cried out to God.  But this was not a distant, unseen stranger.  This was His Abba Father, someone who was close to Him, someone He knew and knew Him with great intimacy.  Jack Frost, in his book Experiencing Father’s Embrace, calls intimacy “into-me-see,” because it’s being completely open and naked to another, just as Adam and Eve were before the Fall.  Jesus had that completely open and honest relationship with His Father so that in His darkest hour, He could say—without fear of punishment or abandonment—I’m afraid… ”Father, I’m afraid and I don’t want to go down this path.  But, Father, I know You so well and I trust You.  So Father, let it be Your will, and not Mine.  I trust You completely,” (see Mark 14:36). 

Do you have that relationship with your heavenly Father?  If not, you can.  It takes adopting an “into-me-see” attitude with God.  It takes trusting Him and talking openly and honestly with Him.  It takes listening to Him and following what He has to say.  Like with any relationship, trust takes trust, but the more you trust Him, the more you will trust Him.  If you trust Him with little issues, you will trust Him with big issues.  If you turn to Him in times of peace, you will turn to Him in times of distress.  Allow Him to be your Abba Father, with whom you share everything.  He longs to have the relationship with you.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment…We love because he first loved us. ~ 1 John 4:18-19