GOD'S MASTERPIECE
Many of you know the events that have been taking place in my life, from a dream coming true of getting a house to my reality check of "Faith With Out Action is Dead". And how every time I HEAR God's voice I question "Was that really meant for me", but time after time God has been patient and even re-confirmed to me the things HE was telling me. Well, this weekend my little sister told me "How it was" (if you know what I mean) in a few areas of my life. You see it always been very easy for me to walk the straight and narrow, believe in GOD, obey the rules, people please, and pretend I have it all together. So it wasn't easy to hear that I may be all talk and no walk in some areas of my life and it was harder to hear that I may not like the process of being "pruned" and that in some ways I would feel naked as the layers would have to be stripped away in order for God to find his masterpiece He created long ago.
My sister encouraged me to read,study and even memorize the book of James. But as the enemy would have it, Monday morning I woke up feeling very much under the weather and I didn't have my quiet time. When I got home Monday from work, Jason took care of all the evening responsibilities. Jason and Olivia even ran a special bubble bath for me, in none other than Mermaid's Cove (aka Mommy and daddy's bathroom). As I soaked in the tub I started to think about all the events taking place in my life and what Sarah had told me. I realized that I had been putting a wall around all of the gifts God has given me because I was ashamed and even embarrassed of my past. But isn't my past, my trials, my hardships and even my mistakes MY testimony. And if I continue to live in FEAR of rejection, FEAR of failure, FEAR of judgement then I would never really be able to experience the life God meant for me to live. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9 ..." My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And even in the margin of my Bible I have written that "Our strength can be God's rival BUT our weakness can be His servant." How can I have highlighter all through my Bible and notes written off to the side but still unable to comprehend the message. So this leads me to my next side note.
About a year ago I did something out of the norm (for me at least) and approached a parent in the waiting room at my work to see if she was the same person I had seen on a blog I follow. Ends up she was and we engaged in a divine conversation, which produced lots of tears ( yes, I was crying in the waiting room with a complete stranger)!!! She is the kind of women who you can instantly sense God's presence and joy in her life, and has the kind of beauty that radiates from with in. So over the past year we would talk every time she came in for her children's recall appointments, but this fall we engaged in a conversation that was straight from God. I was telling her about the things going on in my life (trying to buy a house, Jason's fish tank, questions about parenting,etc..) It was at this moment that she gave me a perspective that no one else had ever given me. She told me that I should view Jason's fish tank as a sign to be "fishers of men" (umm doesn't she understand that all I have been doing is trying to convince Jason to get rid of the fish tank) and that maybe God was preparing us for a house beyond our expectations. And that maybe her reason for bringing her children to our office wasn't just for great care for her children BUT for ME. I couldn't control the tears. She encouraged me to begin to plant myself in the Word, like a tree planted by water.
So as God would have it she came into my office on Monday ( I mean really out of all the days to come in she comes in the day after my sister gives me a lecture-umm can we say a God thing), we only spoke briefly, just long enough for her to let me know she was sending me an email that she thought was perfect for me. So as I was in the tub I started to make a connection about recurring themes in my life lately. Lori encouraging me to be planted in the Word, Sarah telling me it was time to prune my spiritual garden and even at work we have been using the concept our growing our "crops". This whole thing was very moving for me, was I finally starting to get "it". That night as I checked my email, I got to Lori's. I had no idea what I was in store for...... she sent me a link to check out a video on GodTube, called God's Chisel Remastered.
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=K7GKLWNX
The tears did not stop for quite awhile, lets just say me eyes were swollen at work the next day. On the inside of my Bible I have written that "We often find God's will when we do what's next and obediently respond to the normal duties of life. We can not spend our time wishing we could get out of the season of life we are in, but rather spend time looking for God's hand in the situation. "Do the next thing". God is a God of RIGHT NOW. HE tells us not to be regretful over yesterday or worried about tomorrow. He wants us to focus on what HE is saying to us right now, and to remember that the enemy's voice will focus on the past AND the future,but God is a God of right now", by Priscilla Shriver. So I remind myself that FAITH is the foundation of OBEDIENCE, either you believe it or not!!!
My sister encouraged me to read,study and even memorize the book of James. But as the enemy would have it, Monday morning I woke up feeling very much under the weather and I didn't have my quiet time. When I got home Monday from work, Jason took care of all the evening responsibilities. Jason and Olivia even ran a special bubble bath for me, in none other than Mermaid's Cove (aka Mommy and daddy's bathroom). As I soaked in the tub I started to think about all the events taking place in my life and what Sarah had told me. I realized that I had been putting a wall around all of the gifts God has given me because I was ashamed and even embarrassed of my past. But isn't my past, my trials, my hardships and even my mistakes MY testimony. And if I continue to live in FEAR of rejection, FEAR of failure, FEAR of judgement then I would never really be able to experience the life God meant for me to live. One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9 ..." My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And even in the margin of my Bible I have written that "Our strength can be God's rival BUT our weakness can be His servant." How can I have highlighter all through my Bible and notes written off to the side but still unable to comprehend the message. So this leads me to my next side note.
About a year ago I did something out of the norm (for me at least) and approached a parent in the waiting room at my work to see if she was the same person I had seen on a blog I follow. Ends up she was and we engaged in a divine conversation, which produced lots of tears ( yes, I was crying in the waiting room with a complete stranger)!!! She is the kind of women who you can instantly sense God's presence and joy in her life, and has the kind of beauty that radiates from with in. So over the past year we would talk every time she came in for her children's recall appointments, but this fall we engaged in a conversation that was straight from God. I was telling her about the things going on in my life (trying to buy a house, Jason's fish tank, questions about parenting,etc..) It was at this moment that she gave me a perspective that no one else had ever given me. She told me that I should view Jason's fish tank as a sign to be "fishers of men" (umm doesn't she understand that all I have been doing is trying to convince Jason to get rid of the fish tank) and that maybe God was preparing us for a house beyond our expectations. And that maybe her reason for bringing her children to our office wasn't just for great care for her children BUT for ME. I couldn't control the tears. She encouraged me to begin to plant myself in the Word, like a tree planted by water.
So as God would have it she came into my office on Monday ( I mean really out of all the days to come in she comes in the day after my sister gives me a lecture-umm can we say a God thing), we only spoke briefly, just long enough for her to let me know she was sending me an email that she thought was perfect for me. So as I was in the tub I started to make a connection about recurring themes in my life lately. Lori encouraging me to be planted in the Word, Sarah telling me it was time to prune my spiritual garden and even at work we have been using the concept our growing our "crops". This whole thing was very moving for me, was I finally starting to get "it". That night as I checked my email, I got to Lori's. I had no idea what I was in store for...... she sent me a link to check out a video on GodTube, called God's Chisel Remastered.
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=K7GKLWNX
The tears did not stop for quite awhile, lets just say me eyes were swollen at work the next day. On the inside of my Bible I have written that "We often find God's will when we do what's next and obediently respond to the normal duties of life. We can not spend our time wishing we could get out of the season of life we are in, but rather spend time looking for God's hand in the situation. "Do the next thing". God is a God of RIGHT NOW. HE tells us not to be regretful over yesterday or worried about tomorrow. He wants us to focus on what HE is saying to us right now, and to remember that the enemy's voice will focus on the past AND the future,but God is a God of right now", by Priscilla Shriver. So I remind myself that FAITH is the foundation of OBEDIENCE, either you believe it or not!!!
posted by Emily at
7:59 PM
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