Showing posts with label Romans 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romans 8. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Finding a Piece of Peace…

I woke up around 4a.m. & I couldn’t get back to sleep. My brain kicks into gear & then it just swirls from one thing to another… a spiral of anxiety woven very rapidly! I knew I had to get it under control before it went too far, so I began to pray. Lately there have been so many times I really don’t even know what to say when I pray… sometimes all I can say is, “I trust You, Lord.” Sometimes I just say the name of Jesus! There is power in His name! Jesus tells us in John 14:13 that whatever we ask in His name, He will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. For me… just calling out His name brings peace of mind!

In my “grown-up” life I have pretty much always played it safe… although the last 10 years has brought a little more unpredictability at times. I guess that happens when you choose to step-out in faith… our move to Lake City 10 years ago was a big step for me. Then deciding to follow a God-given dream to move to Ludington was a “crazy” giant step! Through these times I never felt unsafe or insecure of the future… not that any of it was easy… hope was always at hand… I could see it, because God had given me a vision for it all!

I am not sure why this business adventure Luke/we are trying to get off the ground is knocking me for a loop! I know my dear hubby has searched for wisdom from God… I believe that Luke will do excellent as a crop consultant… it is perfect for his gifting! So why am I letting fear of the future consume me at times???

I know many people can’t understand why we are doing what we are doing… I don’t understand it either, from a human point of view… and for the most part peoples’ opinions really don’t matter to me! We are both in our 50’s! How crazy is it to start down this unpredictable path???

All of a sudden, I was just wondering why am I writing this & what is the point… but as I’m writing down these thoughts, I am seeing more of what is really going on with me… it all goes back to TRUST! With the B&B God gave me a very clear vision of how it should be… He painted pictures in my heart & mind… it was all very real & tangible to me! With Luke’s business, which he has named “Shining Legends Agronomy”, is all in his heart & mind… I can’t see the vision or even understand much of what he does or how it all works! The only real part I can play in it is to support Luke & trust that he is following what God is guiding him to do!

Oh man! Why does it have to be TRUST???!!! You can’t touch it… you can’t taste it… you can’t hear it… you just have to surrender to it! That is really the only way to have peace of mind! It sounds so easy… but it’s not… it really is not!

I came across something I wrote 4 years ago today:
“PEACE – complete surrender to God’s will; letting His breath breathe life into my soul; trusting completely that God has it all under control, regardless of what it looks like to me… there is no PEACE without faith.
For He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek PEACE and pursue it. 1 Peter 3:10-11”
This is a battle for me… I know God is stretching me & growing my faith. I am not trying to whine… I am just trying to be honest & real… hoping that whoever reads this might get a glimpse of what God has for them through my testimony! I am just a work in progress… I must be because I have big old growing pains!
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword?... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” ~ Romans 8:35 & 37

Rejoicing in Truth!
Carin

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Cracking the Safe...

Most of my adult life I have always lived my life in a safe way. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I think out my next move before I do it. I have to plan to be spontaneous! Ha! As a child, my mom would probably say I was a little sneaky & found interesting ways to get into trouble at times. But even then I thought those moves out, just maybe not using a lot of common sense. I did things that were not always safe for me, but I always had this underlying feeling of being secure in my family… no matter the punishment afterwards!!!

I was reading John 10:7-30… it led me to think about stuff I am dealing with right now. So here’s the question that came up… Am I being too safe?
Over the last 3 years we have changed our life drastically… we allowed God to do a work in us that is definitely out of the “box”, so to speak. But you know how it goes, you start to get settled & comfortable… maybe even a little spiritually lazy… you start to play it safe! Living “safe” does not bring God glory!
“The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.” ~ John 10:10
Do you see the difference between being safe & being secure? As followers of Christ we cannot afford to live our lives in a safe way! We just can’t! There are too many people out there that do not know the love of Christ! There are too many souls that need God’s healing touch! And there are many Believers that also could use some encouragement! We have no right to be safe when we are secure in Christ!
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” ~ Romans 8:35
What’s God asking of you… of me… right now? Has Holy Spirit been prodding your heart about a new godventure (that is what I call this wild ride God takes me on)? If you know you are secure, which you are if you have put your faith in Christ… why are you living a safe life? Is God asking you to step out of your comfort zone? Be brave! Live in the courage that you have through security in Christ the Lord!
“… in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 8:37-39
Rejoicing in Truth! 
Carin