Lately I have been reminded to wait or be patient or be still...sometimes I am like "come on, God, seriously!!" (oh how foolish I am). About a year and half ago I really liked the song "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller and now I cringe and change the song when it comes on. My thoughts then were "ok, God, I know I am suppose to be waiting but HOW LONG but in the meantime I'm letting you do your thing." Now I feel like I am doing better with my patience (in most areas :) and God was starting to prepare me for something else. I cannot even count how many times I have STILL be reminded to wait, be patient, or be still...so I'm going to do a list of 10 ways/signs of God telling me just that.
1. A message from Campus Church by Ergun Caner a while back--James 5:7-9 "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming...You too, be patient and stand firm...Don't grumble..."
2. Repeatedly hearing the song "While I'm Waiting" (ugh) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y
3. Psalm 130:5-6a "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my HOPE. My soul waits for the Lord..."
4. My trip to PA in May where all I could do is drive and talk with God...no music, no texting, no distractions but just me and Jesus
5. Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."
6. Then when I was driving up to Erie, I really felt like it was God's turn to talk to me through song and the song that hit me was "Be Still" by Kari Jobe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__vx_X4XB_s
7. Psalm 38:34 "Wait for the Lord and keep His way."
8. It's a very simple song but there is SOOO much meaning behind the words "One Pure and Holy Passion" by Passion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I17edLkBDCo
9. Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God..." My mom has this saying above one of the doors in her house.
10. On my trips over the last couple weekends, I have had to practice my patience in a different way by being stuck in traffic...UGH..oooh how I hate it.
God teaches us many things in SOO MANY different ways or through SOO MANY different people. I know now I have the mental state of "Are you serious, God...or Come on, God, not again" but I ultimately know that what God is doing to me know I will be a better person because of it. He has a marvelous plan for me and I have NO clue what it is but I put my trust, faith, and hope in Him that every thing is for the best and His glory.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Spiritual Insomnia
I was driving the other day looking around at the beautiful creation God has blessed us with...and I heard something on the radio that made perfect sense to me (especially after all the traveling I've been doing).
Sleep Insomnia is the lack of sleep and if we are lacking sleep a lot of our other abilities (mentally and physically) start to become skewed. An example of routine abilities being distorted can be related to experiences while driving... Some roads have the rumble strips on the edges and when you go over them you are well aware of it. (yes, I had one of these near death experience due to lack of focus and in this case there was no rumble strips to refocus my attention so I was off roading...sorry friend ;) The rumble strips cause you to wake up and refocus your attention to driving which can being the same way we need something to do that for us spiritually. It is different for each individual but lately I have felt like I am struggling with "spiritual insomnia"...I was getting comfortable but I knew my heart is thirsty and hungry for more...Things started to become routine, therefore, I was lacking the spiritual drive behind it.
I can almost sense when this is going to happen because my mind goes into mental fight mode. I have a battle going on mentally and I know that it is Satan feeding me negative or absurd thoughts...so I cry out for Jesus that much more...I want thirsty and hungry for more of Him!! In Psalm 34:17-18, it says "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Our God is good and He definitely does His thing to save us and lead us where we need to go...but I pray that I refocus and "seek His face" so I will be filled by His his love, mercy, grace, and joyfulness.
"Teach me your ways, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors." Psalm 27:11
Sleep Insomnia is the lack of sleep and if we are lacking sleep a lot of our other abilities (mentally and physically) start to become skewed. An example of routine abilities being distorted can be related to experiences while driving... Some roads have the rumble strips on the edges and when you go over them you are well aware of it. (yes, I had one of these near death experience due to lack of focus and in this case there was no rumble strips to refocus my attention so I was off roading...sorry friend ;) The rumble strips cause you to wake up and refocus your attention to driving which can being the same way we need something to do that for us spiritually. It is different for each individual but lately I have felt like I am struggling with "spiritual insomnia"...I was getting comfortable but I knew my heart is thirsty and hungry for more...Things started to become routine, therefore, I was lacking the spiritual drive behind it.
I can almost sense when this is going to happen because my mind goes into mental fight mode. I have a battle going on mentally and I know that it is Satan feeding me negative or absurd thoughts...so I cry out for Jesus that much more...I want thirsty and hungry for more of Him!! In Psalm 34:17-18, it says "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Our God is good and He definitely does His thing to save us and lead us where we need to go...but I pray that I refocus and "seek His face" so I will be filled by His his love, mercy, grace, and joyfulness.
"Teach me your ways, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors." Psalm 27:11
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