Barely Surviving or Thriving

For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you," says the Lord. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land." (Jeremiah 29:11-14 NLT)

Walking with God is a beautiful adventure, giving our hearts to Jesus, doesn't mean we will always have an easy time at life or a walk in the park - it means that we will always have a guide, a defender, and a protector.  Not until we get to Heaven (our true and final home) will everything be perfect.

"...He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." (Revelation 21:4 NLT)

Until we get to Heaven, we have to live here on Earth (our temporary home) and that means we are in enemy territory.  As a Child of God, you are an enemy to the devil and he will do whatever he can to keep you from receiving the blessings and favor that God has planned for you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)

Our Earthly home holds many seasons for us, the key to not just surviving the seasons of life but thriving are found in our walk with God. How close do we cling to our guide - is it wholeheartedly? Or only when we encounter bad times?  Have you noticed that when life is going smoothly, no bumps in the road, no turbulent weather, we tend to drift on the path laid before us; sometimes to the left or to the right, not so intent on following closely to our Guide, our God - instead we're distracted by the buzzing around us and losing focus on the Light that has been shining on us. It's not until the clouds roll in, the conditions get harsh, that we notice we haven't been paying attention to our Guide, and have somehow gotten off path - then we call out to God, only to learn that He never left us, no matter how far we got off our path, He was there all along, waiting patiently for us.

Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them, for it is the Lord your God Who goes with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6 AMP)

The enemy deceives, he entices, he lies, and uses our own pride (the very thing that got him cast out of Heaven) to convince us that we don't need God.  Sometimes the devil wants us to believe we've messed up too much to return to God, that He would never take us back, so we might as well continue with our diversions or maybe just figure out this problem on our own and the further we get away from God, the easier the lies are to believe and we become more like those who never knew God.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT)

Pride blinds - our pride tells us that we can fix it, we don't need anyone's help, we got ourselves in this mess, we can get ourselves out - God doesn't want our pride, He wants our obedience. When we make mistakes, He wants us to ask forgiveness, but He wants us to humble ourselves and acknowledge that He is God and that we NEED Him, not just to help us out of our problems, but that we NEED Him everyday in every situation. 

Know whom you're dealing with!

   God alone is powerful enough to create the earth.

He alone is wise enough to put the world together.

    He alone understands enough to stretch out the heavens. (Jeremiah 10:12 VOICE)

God isn't a 'Cure-All-Your-Problems' solution to be taken out only when needed, God is our Heavenly Father - He desires a relationship with us, He wants to be a part of our everyday lives, He wants to share in our joys and comfort us in our sorrows. God is the Almighty Creator of the Universe, we were each created for a purpose, we each have that stirring within ourselves that until we've fulfilled our calling will leave a void that cannot be filled. 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; (Jeremiah 1:5 AMP)

We each have a purpose, we each were created by God - for God, we each have been given God's promises, we each have been given the opportunity to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We can navigate this life blindly without our Guide and Light, or we can call upon our Lord and God and follow Him - follow Him ALWAYS, through the seasons of plenty and the seasons of plight, just barely surviving or thriving - the choice has always been ours. 

A New Direction

A little bit about my family – my husband works away from home (Afghanistan) and is only home a brief amount of time every few months. He was just home and we had a wonderful time together, our sons (8^th & 4^th graders) are always anxious and excited for when Daddy gets to be home, so the time when he has to leave are always very hard on us – especially so with the holidays. While hubby is home, I take a break from my blog and any other volunteer activities to concentrate on him.

Two years ago, I became a stay at home mom, which was a huge scary step for me. I had always worked, but with my husband gone for 9 months out of the year, our sons getting older and my full-time work consuming so much of my time, I felt God was leading me to stay home. Instead of obeying what God was telling me, I asked my husband if I could work just part-time – I thought that might be ‘good enough’; but if you didn’t know, when God tells us his plan for us, He doesn’t change His mind or say, ‘you know what, I didn’t think of that, maybe your way is better’. So part-time didn’t really work, instead I was doing the same amount of work in less time and even more stress, with less pay – so after ‘letting go and letting God’, I quit working all together. When I had prayed on this, God gave me a word (or direction, if you prefer) He basically told me that my new ‘job’ was to raise our sons the way God intended them to be raised, to be godly young men – not of this world.

Several things have happened in the time since, I’ve grown spiritually and I know I’m far from done in that capacity; I also started this blog and my Facebook page, and every blog I’ve written has increased my faith on how God can use someone like me, to reach and teach people all over the world. Now I believe God has given me the next step to this adventure – homeschool. It’s a big step of faith and it’s one I believe God has been preparing me for, no way would I have been able to do this when I first quit working –but now, I believe I am at the place where God wants me to take on this challenge.

My boys and I are all home sick today with the flu and since we couldn’t attend our church services, we had church at home. In the lesson today we talked about Matthew 14:22-32, where Jesus walked on the water and Peter stepped out of the boat in faith. I was able to use the example of Jesus telling Peter to ‘come’ and how his faith was strong while he focused on Jesus but when he let the distractions of the world overcame him, he began to sink; as an example of God giving me the word to quit working, raise my children as godly men and now to homeschool. When I made the mistake of just part-time work, I began to sink - it was when I focused on God and quit all together that I began to grow in faith and have come to where I am today. I can’t be distracted by what I, others or the world thinks, God’s given me direction – I’m to focus on Him and His Word and follow His direction.

God doesn’t lead us into trouble, He leads us to blessings; yet the devil will do his best to distract us - to try and get us off the path we’ve been given. This path might not be for everyone so remember – God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I’ve been praying for continued guidance and subtle little things have been given to me to confirm the direction we are going, my sons are excited and anxious to start homeschooling – we’ve discussed what it will be like and what is expected of them and of myself. We know this will be a huge change for us all and we know this is not a task to be taken lightly, but I’m so thankful for this wonderful opportunity. I’m not sure of the direction of my blog in all of this; but I know that no matter where this adventure leads us, our faith will only grow stronger and blessings will follow.