Category Archives: Trust

Faith, Patience, Trust

The Work We Are Doing Now Is Part of God’s Mighty Plan

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I think it’s safe to say that most of us, if not all of us, had a dream of what we would be when we were older.  A nurse?  A firefighter? A princess? A footballer?  My dream was that I would be a teacher.  I use to sit in my room and pretend that I was teaching my teddies, and sometimes I even roped my brother into playing!

For years I had this longing that I wanted to help other children to fulfill their potential.  I completed pre-teaching courses at college and did a number of work experiences at local schools.  I enjoyed every minute of it and I passed with flying colours.

My dream didn’t quite turn out as I had planned.

I only just got through college with my A-Levels and I never went to University.  The government changed the way that University fees were to be paid, so it was just too much for me to even consider.  So, yes, I wasn’t even going to get a degree!  Trying to sort out what I was going to do with my life was hard, especially when I didn’t have a degree.  I found the options open to me very limiting.

I decided to take a year out to do some voluntary work and to try and get some idea of what I wanted to do with my life.  It was only by chance that I ended up working with the Church Army in one of their Volunteer programmes, and I moved to London.  Now, 17 years later, I have a lovely family with a wonderful husband and three gorgeous children.

What about the dream?

Maybe, some of us still have that dream though?  What do we do?  I think that there is only two options we can do.  We can either do something about it, plan out how we can live our dream and go for it. Or, we can sit here and accept what has happened.  Believe me, I have planned out what I wanted to do…and started it…but it’s just not going anywhere.  I’m not the type of person either to sit around and accept things.

So, maybe there is a third option?

Maybe, it’s not my dream that I should be following. Maybe, this is God’s dream and God’s plan.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  Isaiah 55:8 

What God wants with me and what He wants me to achieve is probably, and most likely, different to what I would like to do.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.  Proverbs 19:21

It’s hard to keep this in mind as a positive perspective though when situations don’t go as well. Especially when family and friends are gone, homes are lost, dreams are shattered…the list goes on.

How do you keep going in the work you are doing then?

I keep this in my mind…

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus Philippians 1:6

God has started something in our lives, and He’s not about to stop now. Our life is not over until He says it’s over, despite of how we may feel and no matter what we are going through. Our best days are not what has happened in the past. With God, our greatest days are yet to come!

God has started something in our lives, and He's not about to stop now. Click To Tweet Our best days are not what has happened in the past. With God, our greatest days are yet to come! Click To Tweet

Wherever God leads us, He will provide for us, and He will meet our needs. We just need to remember that it’s not the things that matter — our job, our house, or what we achieve. We are God’s product, and we are made up of the moments that made an impact for God’s Kingdom – the moments that we are going through now! Hang in there. Your work that you are doing now is in God’s mighty plan.

Something to think about…

Are you in a place where you feel you shouldn’t be? Try and keep in your mind that it may not be for our benefit why we are there. It may be that we are impacting someone else’s lives without realising, and it will be for a greater good…God’s amazing plan!

Prayer

Lord, I have no idea what you have planned for my life right now and what work you want me to do to fulfill your bigger picture. I ask that you send your Holy Spirit to fill me with strength to help me through the times when I find it hard to see what your plan may be. Help me to realise that whatever is happening, it is for your greater good. Amen

I originally wrote this post as a response to the Five Minute Friday word prompt “work”. Click here to see what other people wrote when they were prompted with this word.

I couldn’t stop at five minutes though as this topic is just so close to my heart at the moment. The waiting period that you go through is heart wrenching at times, but I do believe that what we go through now is part of the bigger picture later on.

Faith, Trust

You Are Not Alone

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It’s funny how kids remind you of the simplest of things. My son cried out during the night, waking me up from a deep sleep. I was irritated at first. I love my bed! I got up though. What mother wouldn’t if you heard your child crying?

I clambered out of the bed and stumbled into his room. He was sitting up and grumbled that he felt a bit sick. I comforted him and reassured him that he will be ok. He stuck out his bottom lip and gave such the cutest look (you know the look that Puss in Boots gives in Shrek? It was cuter than that!)

He started crying and said he felt lonely. Lonely? It’s the middle of the night, my son is crying and he feels lonely. I gave him one of his favourite teddies to cuddle and settled him back down. I stroked the bridge of his nose and gently whispered to him that he is never alone. Why? Because God is ALWAYS with him. With this in his mind he smiled, hugged his teddy tightly and gently went back to sleep. My son was at peace again.

Getting back into bed I carried this same thought with me. Me reminding my son that God is with him is just as relevant for me as it is for him. It’s the same for you too! God is with us people. Sometimes we may not feel it, but He is. Just like a favourite teddy bear and a gentle whisper will comfort my son, God is there with us in our midst gently whispering to us…I love you.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:3-4

Whether you are going back to work after a holiday, starting a new job, have a new venture, starting back to school again, or even starting a new school…you are not alone.

~~~oO0Oo~~~

Something to think about…

Are you facing a new season right now? Are you feeling scared? Hand it over to God and leave it in His hands. He has this…and He has you! You are not alone in what you are going through.

Hand it over to God and leave it in His hands. He has this...and He has you! You are not alone Click To Tweet

Prayer

Lord, I am scared for what I am about to face today. You know what my situation is God and I am leaving it in your hands. Take away any feelings of insecurity that I have and help me to deal with whatever comes in my path. Thank you for the promise that you have given to me that you will always be by my side. I know that I am never alone. Amen.

Faith, Trust

God Guides Us Through Troubled Waters

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Rocks by the sea

I am currently on holiday with my family on a cruise around the Greek Islands. It’s been a beautiful time away with my family resting and relaxing with no worries. I have left everything behind – the stacks of dishes to wash, the piles of laundry, the endless amount of cooking, and the neverending to do list. This has been the one thing I have been looking forward to, as well as spending time with my family of course (and maybe soaking up a bit of sun!)

I don’t even have to plan how we are going to get from one place to another. This is all done for me. All I need to worry about is what time to get up in the morning and what will I wear!

One day, as we were traveling to our next port on the final leg of our journey home, I was sitting on the open decks reading a book (It was Love Idol by Jennifer Dukes Lee if you want to know). Suddenly, a cloud of thick mist fell around us. It was literally like sailing through thick pea soup (although it wasn’t green mist!) We could no longer see the sea around us.

I then started to wonder if we were going to be alright out at sea as we couldn’t see the path clearly ahead of us. I don’t like it when I am not able to see what is in front of me as it brings about uncertainty. All the “what ifs” start running through my mind and I plan for the worst to happen.

Misty waters

I forgot momentarily that I am actually safe. There are people on the bridge of this ship that are trained for every eventuality. The ship slowed down so that we would navigate the seas more safely. It then started to sound its horn to warn other ships that we were here. The Captain of the ship will do everything in his power to make sure that we are safe, despite what troubled waters we may sail into. We just need to trust in his guidance.

Ship in cloudy seas
Ship in cloudy seas

This got me thinking about my own life. How often do I travel along in misty waters not knowing where I am going or what will happen next? I often try to see if I can navigate the waters myself, but more often than not I struggle to stay afloat, the waters get rough and I start to drown.

Momentarily, I forget Who I need as my lifeguard and Who is The Captain of my ship. He will not let me drown in these deep waters I sail in. He will always navigate a clear path for me so that I am safe. This got me thinking to that amazing miracle when Jesus calmed the stormy seas in Luke 8: 22-25.

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

This is what we need to remember when we are in times of troubled waters. We just need to call on Jesus to save us and He will calm the waters still.

Thought to think about…

Are you going through a time in your life where you are struggling to get your head above the waters and see clearly where you are going? God knows everything we are going to go through, just like Jesus knew the disciples were going to go into a storm. He wants us to have faith though. He will always be there with us through the thick of it and He is there even before we realise it.

Prayer

Lord, help me to remember when I am going through stormy seas that you are there with me. Help me to rely on you as my Captain to navigate me through the rough waters. Thank you for being my constant guide, even when I don’t realise that you are there. Amen.

Faith, Trust

Trusting In God To Define Our Path

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You are reading a Five Minute Friday word prompt. This is hosted by Kate Motaung and is where a group of people write about a given word for that week. This week the word is “define”.

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To define is to give something its true meaning, which would hopefully make it more clearer for you. Hopefully! Defining something also creates boundaries, something that is clearly set out.

Sometimes we do this with our walk with God. We want God to clearly define the path that we walk on. We want Him to specify exactly what our lives mean, where are we heading to and how we are going to get there.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5

God doesn’t always clearly define what we are to be doing on this earth though. Well, He doesn’t define it in the way that we want Him to, and waiting around for things to become just that little bit clearer is really hard.

However, if we trust in what God is going to do for us, and not trust in our own thoughts and feelings (which often mislead us down the wrong path anyway) then He will define what our path is to be.

Patience, Rest, Trust

Inadequately Waiting

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I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got out of the car one morning.  With my hands full of shopping, there he was perched on my fence. I had to get a picture, and I had to do it quickly. Who knows how long he was going to be there for. I’m fumbling around for my phone in my pocket, juggling my keys as quiet as I can be so not to scare him away, whilst I had shopping in the other hand. I forgot to bring a plastic bag with me when I went shopping, so yes, my hands were a little bit full. No, I didn’t buy a bag either, to save me all this stress. He stayed there though for me to make one shot…

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He got me thinking though. That little robin has no worries, but yet God provides for him. Matthew chapter 6 v 26 says this…

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Me? Valuable? I am in a waiting season at the moment and it has left me feeling really inadequate. It’s like I don’t quite reach the mark and I don’t fit in with other people around me. I am sitting here thinking that I have so much that I want to give, but I feel like I am not good enough. I look at other people and see where they are in their lives and what they have achieved to do…what they are achieving. They are doing what God has called them to do and they are doing it so well.  And yet, I am still waiting. Am I not good enough to do Gods work? If I am, then what is the wait for?

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I know that God has His plans and that everything happens in His time. I know that! I am just so flippin’  impatient. I feel like a little child that is waiting for that special desert. I can see all the good things that will happen, but I can’t have any of it until I have sat through dinner and taken the time to eat and savour everything that is on my plate. But, like that little girl, I just want that sweet thing now.

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I know that God is teaching me something at the moment. With the help of a book called “Rhythms Of Rest” by Shelly Miller, I am learning that spending time with God is giving me moments where my heart is open to what He wants to show me. What He wants to teach me.  This book is not out to the public yet, and God has been very good to me in giving me the opportunity to be part of a fabulous launch team. I am learning that even just spending 5 minutes with Him helps me to bring everything back into focus.

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If making rest a rhythm in your life sounds like something you need, then come and take a look at Shelly’s website to find further information. Although the book is not out yet, you can pre-order it at Amazon by clicking here.