Tag Archives: Future

Faith, Five Minute Friday, Write 31 Days Challenge 2018

Day 15 – When?

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The one question I always get asked, surprisingly, is when are you due? You might as well ask, “When is God going to turn up?” Well, how long is a piece of string? In other words, I have no idea when the babies will come…or when God will turn up!

My official due date is 16th January, but I have been advised we’re going try and get me to 37 weeks. This makes my due date Boxing Day…of all days! The most loveliest time of the year, but yet the most frantic one. Let’s just say I already started buying presents and wrapping them a few weeks ago.

I don’t know when the big day will happen. It could be tomorrow (hopefully not though), or it could be Boxing Day. I don’t know when God will turn up either. (Notice I said when God will turn up and not if God will turn up). I know for sure in my heart, that just like these babies will be born, God will surely be there too!

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

You are reading day 15 of the Write 31 Days Challenge in conjunction with The Five Minute Friday Community. Today’s word prompt is ‘when’.

Faith, Midst, Patience, Trust

Holding On in the Midst of Waiting

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I think we all have seasons where we don’t understand what is happening. Something in our life is not going the right way, and no matter how much we pray, it just isn’t happening. We can be down on our knees begging God to show us what we are waiting for, or we can be throwing our fists in the air angry at why He has not provided answers.

I’ve been there.

I’m still there.

Continue reading Holding On in the Midst of Waiting →

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, Five Minute Friday

The Future Is Now

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The future is now.  I know this might seem like a contradiction because the “now” is the present.  The future is something that is going to happen, not something that is happening.

When I say the future is now, I mean that what we do, what we say and how we behave affects our future and those around us.  So really, we should live like we are in the future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Every time I would hit a rough patch in my life, I would always think of this Bible verse.  It would give me hope because I knew that God would not let me suffer forever…sooner or later, I would prosper.

I have recently learnt though that this Bible reading doesn’t mean what I thought it meant.  It was one of those “Really?” moments.  You know, when it comes as a shock to you that what you thought something was for so long, has actually turned out to be something completely different.

My hope is not lost though.

Here’s the gist of the story behind this verse…

Whilst the Israelites were in exile, there was a false prophet called Hananiah who stated that God was going to free them in two years.  Well, as we probably know, God doesn’t kinda work like that in letting people tell Him what to do.  It kinda goes the other way around. **wink**

Now, in steps the good guy, Jeremiah, to tackle this. **Sound the trumpets** He approached Hananiah and basically says, (and I’m paraphrasing here) “What do you think you are doin’?” Jeremiah then gives him a bit of a truth bomb and reveals that they are going to stay in exile for 70 years – a bit different to two years.  Some of them probably won’t even live that long to see them being free!

The Israelites will prosper in the future, but only after they learnt to seek God where they are now – in their current situation.

“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7

If we can learn to seek the good things in the situation that we are in now, and be at peace with it, then we will prosper from it.  You’ve probably read this and thought…

How on earth, in my current situation, can I think positive and look for something good? Seriously? I am just too tired and it takes up too much energy.  It’s so much easier to just carry on with the way things are. Nobody cares anyway if I am a bit grumpy.

Does this sound about right?

Friend, God knows the plans He has for us and He will give us a beautiful future. But for now, as we are in this world living our crazy-filled lives, keep in mind that as we persevere through our difficulty, it will bring us hope and success.

Something to think about

Can you think of something that you are facing right now that you are finding difficult?  If so, hold on to the true meaning of what Jeremiah 29:11 brings.  Not hope that He will take away your difficulty and give you a better future, but that He will provide hope during your difficulty to make your future better.

Not hope that He will take away your difficulty and give you a better future, but that He will provide hope during your difficulty to make your future better. Click To Tweet

Prayer

Lord, you know what I am facing right now, and I will be honest with you…I’m not liking it very much.  Be with me Lord, right beside me and give me the hope that I need to persevere through this hard time. Open my eyes Lord, to what is around me and help me to grow through my trials.  In Your Name. Amen

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 “future”. (Everything before the line break shows what I wrote in five minutes.)  If you are interested in taking part or reading other people’s inspiring writes, then hop on over to the site.