Jesus be my floatie

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:29-31 (NIV)

How strong is your faith? What is it that will make you try anything knowing that whatever you try, you can’t fail? It’s the feeling of knowing that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, you’re in the will of God and as long as you stay there, you will succeed.

Recently I was on vacation and we were at the beach, and my grandson who is 2 was completely terrified of the water and the sand. I mean he would not stand in the sand or get his feet wet. Even when he was being held he would cry hysterically. My daughter forgot to bring his floaties so I went to the store and picked some up for the next day. My daughter was convinced that he still wouldn’t get in the water. But we put them on him anyway. We went back to the beach, and believe it or not, they made all the difference! He was no longer afraid of the water. In fact he loved being in the water so much that when it was time to go, he didn’t want to leave and cried to get back in the water! I said to my family, who knew that 2 little floaties could do that. It got me thinking about life and how we struggle with faith on a daily basis. We all have moments when we don’t want to get in the water or even put our feet in the sand because of fear. Fear is very powerful, real and it can also keep us from God’s best if we don’t use His Word as our floaties and realize that if He put the dream in us, He’ll do His part, and we need to do ours. Don't just sit back and say 'I'm waiting on the Lord" Faith without works is dead, If God told you to do something, then do it. I understand that having faith can seem so easy, but with so many thing coming at us blindsiding us, our faith sometimes falters, and that's okay. But don't live there. Have your moment, then get busy! You've got a lot to do! 

I want to challenge you today to not give up even in the face of adversity. When you’re terrified, turn to your life-jacket. The Lord Jesus and even when it still seems impossible, just remember, nothing is impossible with Him to those that believe. 

Timing is everything

ECC 3:11 NIV ~ He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Timing is everything. How many times have we heard that? Being patient is not something most people today are willing to be. We live in a society of right now – this minute! We don’t want to wait for anything. As I write this, it brings back one of many memories regarding not only being patient, but trusting God while you wait. This may sound silly but it’s true. I have a thing about my bananas not having any brown spots on them whatsoever! My mom used to always tell me that if there were some brown spots, the banana is ripe and therefore sweeter. She said we needed to wait for them to ripen. It didn’t look perfect on the outside but on the inside it was just the way it was made to taste. She used to drive me nuts when she wanted to make banana pudding. They would be so brown! But her banana pudding was always great, and it was one of my favorites.

While we don’t like waiting, God has us where we are because we may not be fully ripe yet. He wants us to be that sweet delicious and perfectly ripe piece of fruit so we can handle all He has for us. I encourage you today not to give up if you’re in the “ripening” phase. God will bring you out better than you were before!

Sometimes I look back on my life, and I think about the times that I’ve begged, pleaded and cried out to God to bring some of His promises to pass and I would get so discouraged, but now I understand God’s perfect timing and His perfect will for my life. So I don’t get discouraged or upset as much. Instead I pray and let God do His work.   

Staying in peace

Peace. What does it mean? The definition of peace is: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety an obsession, etc. tranquility, serenity. What your ideal situation be like if you were in total peace? What does that mean for you? For me it means a lot! Being in peace means even though my world may be crashing around me, I know whose I am. I know it's just temporary. Our mind and emotions play such an important role when it comes to having true peace. You can't have peace in your heart if you don't have it in your mind. It's easy to say I can do that, and of course it's easy when nothing is going wrong. But what about when it's not? What about when your world is crashing in, and you don't feel like you can go on? This is when our faith comes in. The key is to remember that God is here. He's always with us, even when it feels like He's not. He can keep us in perfect peace in every storm in our life if we let Him. Part of our problem is that we want total control. Relinquishing control means total surrender. Then the peace comes, because no matter what happens, you know that God has already gone before you. 

When Peter walked on the water, he asked Jesus if he could. Jesus said yes, and Peter was doing great at first. But he took his eyes off Jesus when the water got rough, and he got scared and took his eyes off Jesus. He started sinking, he wasn't sure if he could fully put his trust in Him. Peter cried out, He put his hand out and caught him. You see, the wonderful thing about God is even when we don't trust Him completely, He's still there.

God is Jehovah-Shalom - our peace.

John 14:27 (MSG) ~ I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.