Billy and I have ventured out to the back porch this morning to have coffee and do our devotions. The air is quite nice considering that North Carolina is going to have another scorching day. I love this time of day. He has been working out of town and time together is a precious commodity. I want to hear what the LORD has been doing in his private time. Changes are on the horizon and I want to pick his brain. I am the verbal one in this relationship and I have learned how to prod words out of him over the years. I will admit that he is getting better at expressing all that goes on inside that head. Let me just say, interesting territory for the thinker/analyzer type. If you are one or live with one, you know what I am talking about. Ideas and thoughts traveling at warp speed! Well, I am ready, I hope that he is.
My heart has been stirring within me and I am anxious. I know this feeling all too well. Sometimes, I am my worst enemy. I can sabotage the peace that Jesus has given me just by overthinking. Do you ever do that? Why do we do it? I know the results, still my over-controlling mind starts wandering down “Path What If” and peace disappears. I must stop and retrieve my mind back to its rightful place. I tell myself, “Focus! Focus on Jesus! Eyes on His promises. You cannot change or speed up the process! Get a grip, Sharon.” Am I the only one that talks to myself in this kind of way? I didn’t think so! I heard quite a few distant ‘Amens’ as I asked.
We are on the eve of completing the work at our third Interim. It is an exciting time for the church that we have been helping and for their new pastor. We know them both and it is so wonderful to see the LORD answer the prayers of everyone involved. This is one of the rewards of this type of ministry. It is a joyful experience to see the LORD yoke up the Shepherd and the Sheep. I LOVE IT!!! But the other side of this work is the unknowing for us. Where will the journey take us next? That is where my heart and my insides start gripping onto their long, lost enemy, Fretful! I don’t like this foe of mine, but sometimes fret comes suddenly and just hangs out to torment me. Like the buzzing of this bee that keeps revisiting me while I am writing. Pure evil!
In times like this, I am so very thankful for ‘Trust Reminders!’ I must put into practice what the LORD has been teaching me all of these years. I reflect. Reflection is GOOD! I am visiting the places that He has spoken, times that He has shown up and calmed my weary soul. I see His faithfulness and I can know, really know that He is for me. I see it on the page in Psalm 30:15, “My times are in Thy Hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.” Whom else can hold me and do all of that? No one! As much as I love my husband and know that he is for me, he cannot still my soul like Jesus. Jesus knows every speck of territory, every crevice, every nook and cranny that the enemy can hide. Jesus knows how to speak to those broken places, to that enemy of my soul and my heart. The enemy cannot stay, it must flee. He speaks life everywhere that He goes. He calms my soul and I can depart from ‘Path What If’. I can rest knowing that He knows, and ‘that’ will take care of everything.
“My times are in Thy Hand.” I cannot think of any better place to be. All that I am, all that I will ever be … He is holding it all. Have you ever really pondered the size of the Hand holding you? The strength of it? How can I fear? How can you fear when there is that much control containing all that we are, have and will ever be? I think about the times that I have held my children. I have cuddled and caressed my grandchildren, yet my love and comfort is so limited. My hands are so small in comparison to His. He LOVES His children and He desires to give His BEST! He is faithful and He alone is holding our times. What are you facing today? What path are you stepping out on? The LORD knows exactly what is needed to refocus your thoughts, your weary soul and your fretful heart. Trust Him with ‘your times’ and allow Him to deliver you from the enemies before you. Prove His faithfulness. Embrace His love and venture out wherever He is leading…even when the path is not visible. You will not be sorry. Friend, I promise when we get there, it will be beautiful!
