Funny....

This post is more on a personal note, but I have a semi crazy story.
Very soon [freakishly soon] after writing my last post, my computer was stolen from my kitchen table.
It was quite an interesting situation. Very unnerving. But the Lord definitely showed His faithfulness and His goodness through the situation, and once again showed me He will provide for all my needs.

So, my computer was stolen Wednesday morning. By Saturday afternoon, God had provided the money for and I had purchased my new computer. My dad helped me pick it out, and it was a great computer for a great price! I was so grateful for the people who helped make it happen (my grandma and my dad) and for all of the people who were there for me.

It was a stressful situation because I had spent hours working on a study guide for my earth science midterm (which was 50% of my grade) and it was lost, along with all my notes for that class. Also lost was history notes, including from the class day that none of my friends went to and were all relying on me for the notes. In addition to that, none of the music or pictures from this school year were backed up (though everything that was on there at the end of last summer was backed up). I was working on compiling a list of lines from hymns that were powerful, and often the hidden lines we sing without noticing. I had almost two pages of those, and added new ones all the time. That too is lost. I'm so bummed because I worked on that for months and was getting close to having enough to post on here.

But here's the thing - God is sovereign over the situation, even in lost documents that were an encouragement to me and potentially to others, too. I have to keep reminding myself of that. Yes, it still affects me and was/still is a huge hassle and bummer. But really, I do have so much to be grateful for - He was watching over and taking care of me throughout the situation, nothing else was taken, He answered prayers for a)finding a good computer and b)being able to afford it. Though it made my spring break...interesting (and made it very hard to answer quickly when people ask how my break was), I have so much to thank God for.

I just find it that all of this happened so soon after writing a post on prayer...I think the Lord was seriously trying to tell me something!

Bow the Knee

There are some times in life when everything just makes sense, and you know you are following the Lord's will in your life. And praise the Lord for His guidance and clarity in those times! So often, I find myself wishing things were that easy, because most of the time, things are not so clear-cut. Usually, I find myself needing to call on God and ask Him for wisdom, guidance, comfort, deliverance, patience, etc. I have been taught all my life that when things are tough or unclear, it may be because God wants to draw us to Himself so that we can become dependent on Him through prayer. Sometimes this is just head knowledge though. But the past couple days, I have seen such a lack in my prayer life, and I am learning once again that when I don't pray and ask God for help, I am basically telling Him I don't need His help. Which couldn't be further from the truth. I know I need it, it is just so easy to be lazy and just sit around doing other things rather than spending time on my knees.


This morning I was listening to a song that I first heard in high school. Will Gaulkin's evangelistic team came to our school for a spiritual emphasis week, which meant that we had chapel every day. His team ministered to us through solid preaching of the word and beautiful special music. Will's wife Christy is an incredibly gifted violinist and vocalist. She sang this song during one of those chapels, and it has stuck with me ever since. Here's first verse and chorus, please read (though I usually don't read song lyrics in blogs).


Bow the Knee
There are moments on our journey following the Lord
Where God illumines every step we take,
There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us
As we try to understand each move He makes.
When the path grows dim 
And our questions have no answers, turn to Him.


Bow the knee
Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.
Bow the knee
Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.
And when you don't understand the purpose of His plan
In the presence of the King
Bow the knee.


I'm going to close with some quotes on prayer. I did not intend to include so many, but there were so many good ones I just had to force myself to stop. 
[if you want to read all of the ones I read, go to http://www.christian-prayer-quotes.christian-attorney.net/ -you won't regret it]


On discipline with prayer:
 - "Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees." Corrie ten Boom
- “Therefore, whether the desire for prayer is on you or not, get to your closet at the set time; shut yourself in with God; wait upon Him; seek His face; realize Him; pray.”  R. F. Horton
- "The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." E.M. Bounds


On personal benefits:
- "He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life."  William Law
- Prayer should not be regarded "as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty."  E.M. Bounds
- “Time spent alone with God is not wasted.  It changes us; it changes our surroundings; and every Christian who would live the life that counts, and who would have power for service must take time to pray.”  M.E. Andross
- "Those persons who know the deep peace of God, the unfathomable peace that passeth all understanding, are always men and women of much prayer." R.A. Torrey


On temptation:
- "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."  John Bunyon
- "If the Christian does not allow prayer to drive sin out of his life, sin will drive prayer out of his life. Like light and darkness, the two cannot dwell together."  M.E. Andross


On Satan's feelings toward it:
- “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.”  Samuel Chadwick
- "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on his knees." William Cowper


On intercession:
- "Our prayer must not be self-centered. It must arise not only because we feel our own need as a burden we must lay upon God, but also because we are so bound up in love for our fellow men that we feel their need as acutely as our own. To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them." John Calvin
- "If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.” Robert Murray McCheyne

On the power of prayer:
- "...[the] power of prayer can never be overrated. They who cannot serve God by preaching need not regret. If a man can but pray he can do anything. He who knows how to overcome with God in prayer has Heaven and earth at his disposal." Charles H. Spurgeon
- "Prayer is weakness leaning on omnipotence."  W. S. Bowd


Other things to remember:

- "One should never initiate anything that he cannot saturate with prayer." Unknown.

- "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." Oswald Chambers
- “The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says ‘Amen’ and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas.” Frank Laubach
-"Prayer is not learned in a classroom but in the closet."  E. M. Bounds

Beware: The Bible Is About to Threaten Your Smartphone Focus

Click on this link! It's from John Piper's blog, Desiring God. Really interesting to think about..and quite convicting!

Beware: The Bible Is About to Threaten Your Smartphone Focus

Just Listen

Well, I have realized that much of this blog has been about my walk with the Lord/general things that I have learned. But that was not the purpose of this blog- it was to write about what I've been learning about God's intention for women. I think that that I will still write about that sometimes, but I think that much of the Christian life is mortifying sins and humbling ourselves and trusting the Lord-things that apply to both men and women. So I still want to write about that stuff too. But something has been on my mind lately that applies to women especially (but really to everyone).

As a girl, I know exactly how easy it is to talk-and talk, and talk, and talk. We talk about friends, boys, clothes, school, families, life, goals, jobs, experiences, dreams, emotions, regrets, theology, and the list goes on and on. We are all avid talkers, talented at sharing what we're thinking and feeling. But how good are we at listening? I don't just mean in a conversation where we're going back and forth with a friend, interjecting our thoughts when we consider it necessary. I mean the kind of listening where, while another person is talking, all we do is hear them and  think about what they are saying. We need to not sit there and plan our response, but give them our full attention, and think of a response after they have finished speaking. And, we need to recognize that we don't always need to give our input. Sometimes when people need to talk, they just need someone to listen. They don't need our advice or opinions.

Another thing- we need to listen to wisdom. When talking with parents/people older and more wise than us, rather than thinking that they are out of touch or weird, we can listen to what they have to say. Proverbs 22:17 says, "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise..." Often, older people have amazing advice. If we would just sit down and listen to them, we could glean their insight into particular situations.

I'm not saying that I've perfected either of these things-I haven't. But I know I need to work on them, and I'm probably not alone.

The Lord Provides

Something that I have constantly been reminded of lately is the fact that God provides. Isaiah 58:11 says, "And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones, and you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." These are just two of the passages where God says that He will provide everything we need. We can always rest assured that not only will He always be faithful to fulfill His promises, but He is also "able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

But this morning I was thinking of this and realized something else. One name for God that I remember learning about even back in early elementary school is Jehovah Jireh. This name translated means "the Lord provides". God is not our Provider because He provides, but He provides because He's our Provider-it's who He is. Excuse my lack of more profound words or in depth thoughts. This is just what I was thinking this morning as I got ready for church, and it was an encouragement to me so I thought I'd share. :)

A Consistent Inner Struggle

There are several things that I am constantly struggling with. I often fight with myself about one thing or another. The question of God's will is often on my mind-what is His will for my life? It's something that has caused me to worry too much, and though it can excite me at times, it can also make me stressed.

Matthew 6:34 says, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Often there are verses that I find very comforting, but at the same time hard to apply. This is one of those verses. It is so comforting to know that I do not need to worry about tomorrow, and that all I need to focus on is today. But that is so hard to do! It's so easy to worry about what's going to happen tomorrow. It's so hard not knowing God's will for my life. No matter how much I pray about it, I still worry about it at times. But recently I have begun to understand how to change this.

Lately I have been journaling nearly every day and it has been great. I can go back to specific days and see what I read in my devotions and what I was struggling with or learning on top of that. January 12, I was particularly frustrated with the question of what God's plan for my life is. Here is part of what I wrote that day:

Again I feel the pull to be anxious over things in the future...[God] will make my path abundantly clear as I acknowledge Him (Proverbs 3:5-6)...God is faithful and has never let me get out of His will so much that it can't be reversed. He will guide me and all I need to do is do the right things for today. As Betsie ten Boom said, “the center of His will is our only safety.” As along as I'm seeking His face and obediently doing His will for right now, the long-run things will fall into place.

 Another thing that has helped is what I remember hearing quite often from my junior high Bible teacher. Mrs. Johnson was one of the best teachers I've ever had, and she had many sayings that were memorable and would be life-changing if lived out. One of the things she always said was "Just do the next right thing." Often we get caught up in what to do about the big things in life. But if we daily do just the things for that day that need to be done, the bigger picture things will work out. This is not to say that we never plan for the future (remember the ant in Proverbs). An example of this is finding a job. People often worry about working and making money, especially in this economy when it's hard to find jobs. But the "today" thing to do would be to fill out applications, and leave the rest to the Lord. As He opens doors, He will make it clear what to do. But rather than worrying about it, just do the right thing (fill out applications, do interviews, make sure your resume is updated, etc.). The rest is the Lord's job, and it is important to remember this: He will always provide what you need. But His idea of what we need is often quite different than our idea of it. 

Yesterday afternoon this subject was brought up again. Some older friends encouraged my friend Abby and I to seek the Lord and do the things He requires of us to do today. One of them talked about how usually when the Bible talks about the will of God for our lives, it's not about a career, spouse, or things like that. He reminded us of one thing the Bible says about God's will: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification..." (I Thessalonians 4:3, emphasis added). God desires our sanctification, and as we walk with Him and obey Him, the bigger picture will be revealed and will work itself out.

I am not claiming to have mastered this by any means, but it is a way that God has been teaching me to rely on Him more, so I thought I'd share it. :) 

p.s. In the excerpt from my journal I talked about never going outside of God's will so far that it can't be reversed. Not that I completely understand the will of God, because I believe that no one does or ever will, but here is what I meant: I know that God is sovereign and will work things out the way He plans in His own time. But I also know that He gave us a free will, and that we have a sin nature. These two things combined mean that we can go outside of His will in the smaller picture, by sinning. But I don't believe that we can really mess up the bigger picture, even if our small "mistakes" seem like they could ruin our lives.

Quotes

It's been forever since I have posted a blog. Rather than giving excuses for it, I will just continue.

God has taught me so much about Himself and about myself and my sin this past semester. Christmas break has been a time of great reflection and refreshment. I thought I would share several quotes that have impacted me. Though it is more impersonal than taking the time to write out the various things I've been learning, these quotes have had profound meaning to me. So, it really is personal, at least to some extent.

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see." 

-Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

"There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety. 

-Betsie ten Boom, quoted in The Hiding Place

"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."

-Martin Luther

"Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church."

-C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

[If you are unfamiliar with this book, the premise is that one demon is writing to his nephew, also a demon, about how to gain the victory over a man's soul. It's great read but it requires your full attention.]

"You must therefore conceal from the patient the true end of humility. Let him think of it not as self-forgetfulness, but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character." 

-C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

I'll end with not a quote, but a verse that has also been an encouragement.

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I have hope in Him.'" -Lamentations 3:21-24