Panning for Gold

So... when I sat down to watch the live stream from Rez at 8:30 am Sunday in the living room of my parent's house, I had just finished having quiet time in which I prayed that Daddy would show me what I needed to be doing with my life. As always, He was faithful and had perfect timing.

When Pastor Mike Olson started his message he said "this message can be life changing if you let it." Then we went over to a tub where he had dirt, water and a pan (a gold panning pan that is). He said that almost a year ago, God had said to him pan for gold. Not knowing what He was talking about at the time, Mike wrote it down and went on with his life waiting on God's timing to reveal His meaning.

Now have you ever been panning for gold? Yeah... me either, but when I was in New Zealand, a couple of my friends went to "Shanty Town" where they panned for gold and subsequently, became obsessed with it. They bought pans and proceeded to tell me the elaborate plans how they were going to make their millions in the streams.

Although I doubted that they would be millionaires like they were planning, they did know what they were talking about when it came to the basics of panning. As Pastor Olson explained, the first step is believing there is gold to be found. Next, you submerge the pan and pull up water, dirt and hopefully some gold flakes. Then, by carefully shifting the pan back and forth or side to side, you begin to kick out the dirt and part of the water until hopefully, you are left with gold. This cannot happen however without the movement of the water in the pan that washes away all the dirt. Because gold has a higher specific gravity... aka nerd speak that it's heavy so it sinks.... this precious element will stay on the bottom of the pan. And that's how you pan for gold and make millions........

But Pastor Mike wasn't there to show us how to make millions of dollars. Instead, he was using this illustration to parallel gold with glory.

Now, what is glory? We sing about it, we read about it and use it all the time, but WHAT IS GLORY?

According to dictionary.com, Glory is a noun meaning:

1. very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle.

2. something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a distinguished ornament or an object of pride: a sonnet that is one of the glories of English poetry.

3. adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving: Give glory to God.

4. resplendent beauty or magnificence: the glory of autumn.

5. a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity.

Although these are decent definitions, I love Pastor Mike's definition that glory is "the essence of His existence; the expression of God's self." If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. God is perfect and every good thing comes from Him so if anything is worthy of praise or "glory" it is a glimpse of God's character.

In Isaiah 6, the creatures in Isaiah's vision say “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.” And in Romans 1:20 it says "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

So what does this mean? The whole earth is full of His glory, His essence, glimpse into His character because He created everything out of the existence of nothing but Himself so everything had to come from what He poured out of Himself. (Reread that last sentence. It may be confusing but it is truth.)

Blah blah blah... we already know that everything comes from God but how often do we actually see the good in the world? When we look around at our lives or watch tv, it's easy to see all the things that at bad and miss out on the glimpses of God's glory, but they are there because they "have been clearly seen (...) so that people are without excuse."

In my own eyes, it's easy to see God's glory in a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a Rocky Mountain sunrise or a little kid’s finger paint art but when someone is rude, hateful, or hurtful, I often find myself wondering how there could be glory inside of them. And when I look at myself, at the way I've acted and treated others, I sometimes doubt that this glory is inside of me. But the truth is, there is a "special" glory inside of people and here's a verses from the book of truth to prove it.

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

SEE! Humans are special. God didn't just create us of Himself, He created us in the IMAGE of Himself. (Get excited people, this is awesome!)

 If you’re still not convinced of this glory here are a few more verses:

Psalms 3:2-4

Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”

But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

Isaiah 43:5-7

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth--
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

So we were made from the Glory of God FOR the Glory of God. Since we are full of glory though, why do we keep seeing others and ourselves as junk?

Romans 1:21-23

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

By sinning, we cover up the Glory within us and since "all sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3) we all cover up this shining glory.

If you think back to panning, this is the perfect illustration. When we don't take the time and believe that there is glory in others, we just walk by the stream and miss the gold (the glory) that's right beside us. Even when we take the time to get out the pan and fill it with the dirt and water, we still have no gold to show for it. It takes the patience of swishing the water back and forth, washing away the dirt(aka the sin) to reveal the gold. If we don't take the time to wash away the dirt, it doesn't mean the gold isn't there; it just means that we didn't find it.

Ephesians 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

-Washing with water through the word reveals the glory just like washing with water reveals the gold. Since God is the fountain of life, he is the water. His truths (conveniently delivered in the bible) will reveal the glory.

Wrap up and Application:

Right now, I really feel like God is asking me to seek the glory not the dirt in others and myself. In order to do that, I need to go panning for gold.

1. Believe that there is Glory. In every person, glory exists because we were made from and in the image of God.

2. Approach people looking for the glory not the grime. If you go looking for dirt, you're going to find it because everyone has sin in their lives. If you go looking for glory, you'll find it too. It just takes more time because we've covered it. Just because it has been covered though does not mean that it can't be found or that its value has decreased. It just takes patience to uncover the glory. As you work on seeing the glory in others though, it will get easier just like a person can get better at panning for gold.

3. Remember that there is glory inside of you and work to reveal it. God's already paid the price to wash away the dirt. Be patient and work on not covering up God's glory inside of you with sin. Nobody is perfect but God's son. He took those sins and He'll do it over and over and over so when you sin, ask for forgiveness and then forgive yourself. Try not to do it again, but if you do, hope is not lost. Just turn to Abba again.

Just like the saying, don't throw the baby out with the bath water, don't throw out the chance of seeing glory because there's dirty water in your pan.

Until next time,

In Christ,

Liza

Counting a few Blessings.....

"They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." Psalm 145:7 (NIV)

Today I wanted to take a few minutes to do just what Psalms 145 says, celebrate your abundant goodness.

Over this past year, I have been so ridiculously blessed.

It all started with the opportunity to go to New Zealand.  Strategically, God used the people around me to help me get there.  He sent me the Frasiers to help me fall in love with the beauty of the country to get me to even consider studying abroad. He sent me Shelby, one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for, as a travel companion and new bosom friend.

Even the act of taking me away from Fort Collins was a blessing.  It gave me an easy way out of an unhealthy relationship and a horrible living environment in which I wouldn't have had the courage to leave on my own.  God is so faithful and knows what he's doing even when I don't.

And when the time came, He safely carried us around to the other side of the world where God took me out of my element and really helped me discover who I was meant to be.

While in New Zealand, He shock the ground beneath me, literally.  Although it was on my bucketlist to experience natural disasters, I was not prepared for this foundation that I considered to be stable, to shift and move beneath my feet, topple buildings, bring down walls and end the lives of almost two hundred people.  Looking back now though, it was a step along my journey.

What I am most thankful for however, is how God worked on my heart.  Being so far away from home, I couldn't turn to a lot of my normal crutches when I was hurting so I ended up working through a lot of really tough stuff that I had been covering up with friends, food and fake happiness.  Throughout this journey, I learned the most important thing, GOD LOVES ME!  All my life I believed that God loved everyone (Hitler, Murderers, people who hurt me, etc.), but I never truly believed that I was Worthy of His love.  In fact, I know I still don't deserve His love, BUT He pours it over me, drowning my doubts because I am His child.  He created me, adopted me and washed away every sin that separated us with the blood of His innocent son because He loved/loves/will love me forever.  Even when I ran from Him feverishly, threw my hurt and hatred in His face and tried to pretend like He didn't exist, He was loving me more than I can ever imagine. 

I also learned how to value my family.  For years I had been dishonoring my parents, judging my sisters, and taking them all for granted.  Talking to Drew Butcher and his family helped me realize how hurtful this was.  When you judge, you can't love. When you push people away, they can't get close.  I learned about my families love languages and how they had loved me without me even knowing it because their love languages were different than mine.  I am so thankful that I've begun to realize the value of my family before it's too late.  I love them dearly.

Upon returning home, I have continued to see God's hand of blessing work in my life.  I got to spend almost all summer at home with my parents, mending brokenness and creating relationships that I wouldn't trade for all the world's riches now.  I was also blessed to be able to take the summer off from working and spend time with my little sister and Daddy God.  This time was so great and really helped renew my spirit and prepare me for going back to school.  AND MY LITTLE SISTER GAVE HER LIFE TO CHRIST!!!!!!! Yeah, God is Good, all the time!

When it came time to go back to school, my parents were able to bring me up to Ft. Collins where they helped me move in to a new apartment with two amazing roommates.  Living in this cozy little home, has been yet another blessing in my life.  My roommates are amazing.

The first day I moved in, one of my roommate's dad passed away, beating cancer by starving it of earthly life.  As hard as it was on her, I know that is was a blessing that he was able to stop suffering and go be with God.  This was also an opportunity for me to use my life's experiences.  Having dealt with the loss of loved ones, I really felt like God was using me and showing me how he had prepared me for his tasks.  When she needed to talk, He gave me the patients to listen with a closed mouth.  When she needed to be angry, He gave me calmness and understanding to allow her to blow up without feeling hurt.  When she needed to have time to herself, He gave me comfort knowing that she would be okay. 

My other roommate, has also been a huge blessing. Our late night talks have given me a glimpse into her beautiful heart that yearns to heal others with her career.  Although her quest to be a foreign doctor is not the same as mine, it's been amazing to learn how she thinks and how much her faith has played a part in her life.  I have also loved being able to watch her and her boyfriend as they model a Christian relationship.  It has been so encouraging to see how putting Christ in the center has helped their relationship flourish. 

Although it has been hard to be around couples during this season of singleness, learning how to be content with being myself without someone else, it has been good for me. And I know someday, God will bless me with the relationship He has given me the yearning for, in His own, perfect, timing.

Time and time again this year, God has shown me how waiting on Him and His plans works out a thousand times better than trying to do things on my own. So until next time, I will be waiting on Him <3

In Christ’s Love,

Liza –a daughter of the King <3

Chisel Me....

There are few videos that have influenced me as much as this one.  At least once every couple weeks, I watch this video.  It is full of so much goodness, so much God-ness.

I am not junk.  God made me a masterpiece. Eph. 4:10
I have baggage that God can take away, but I have to LET GO of the controls.
There's no better time to change than right now.....in this moment, in this situation.
I want people to see God and His glory when they look at how He uses my life.
No pain I can go through would ever compare to the pain that God has experienced.
My thoughts are not God's thoughts.
God has made me good.
No matter what, God does understand.
I can't let down God because I never carried Him.  He carries me.
God is a name above all names.


GOD LOVES ME TOO MUCH TO LEAVE ME WHERE I'M AT <3

Feasting on the Fast

 So today’s task for the Boundless Summer Challenge was to listen to an online message about fasting and then fast….

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t check the message until after lunch.  Immediately, I was a little disappointed.  As some of you may know, I am already fasting sugar/sweets, breads and pastas.  I am doing this fast because I know that these are the things that I turn to and indulge in instead of turning to God.  After reading the message, my first instinct was “well… I better go eat some food before I stop eating,” and I know this is the wrong way of thinking about fasting because I have fasted before.  Admittedly, I did snack this afternoon as a “build up” for fasting but more because I was bored than because I was hungry.  When I got home though, I decided that I would continue my fast through tomorrow because I had cheated God and myself out of spending time together, without food covering up issues that needed to be brought to the surface.

After making this decision, I figured I should listen to the message about fasting.  Although I doubted that I would hear anything I hadn’t already heard, I thought it would be important to be faithful to the commitment to complete this challenge without cheating.  Oh God, you are so good! Thank you for providing such a wonderful message.

Today’s message was a sermon by John Piper titled “Man Shall Not Live on Bread Alone”…. And I needed to hear it!

Matthew 3:16 through 4:4

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

When looking at this passage, John Piper (J.P.) started off with the point that physically painful situations (like extended fasting) are not punishments from God because he is displeased with us. We know this because a voice from heaven came down to Jesus and said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased,” and then the Spirit lead him into the wilderness to be tested.  God was not mad at Jesus.  He is also calling me to fast because he delights in me and wants to grow closer with me, not because he is mad at me.  This is important for me to remember because I yearn to approach fasting with a joyful heart.

Next, J.P. talked about the how important it is to fast because fasting teaches us what controls us.  In my own life, I have used food to cover up a multitude of internal problems.  I have turned to food for comfort when I’m hurting, to reward/motivate myself, to relive my favorite memories, to rebel, and just as today, when I’m bored as a time filler.  Fasting however brings up the question “what do I do with my dissatisfaction when I don’t have supper to look forward to?”  At times when we are fasting, we become angry but not because the hunger is truly unbearable.  No, we become angry because there is a angry spirit within us that without food, is revealed.  I have seen this in my own life as I was fasting in New Zealand.  It was super powerful!

Throughout the bible, fasting can be seen as a very powerful experience. In Psalm 35 David tells us that he humbled himself with fasting, showing yet another benefit of this “ancient practice”.  After Saul of Tarsus, a murderer of Christians, was confronted by God on the way to Damascus, he did not eat or drink anything for 3 days, fasting, as He tried to understand what had happened, searching to understand God. P.s. This guy became Paul, one of the 12.  Another example of fasting in the bible is Ester as she prepared to speak to save the lives of her people.  On the other hand, Jesus defended the disciples, saying they didn’t need to fast while the bride groom (Jesus) was with them, but after Jesus left, they fasted.

Turning back to Matthew 4 however, there is a lot to learn in just these few verses.  When Jesus is tested by the devil and he temps his to simply turn the rock into bread, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8.  Now, J.P brings up that there may be a very specific reason for quoting from Deuteronomy, because of the similarities between the situation as the people in Deuteronomy wandering around in the dessert as they wait to enter the promise land and Jesus’ situation as he is tested by the devil . 

Here are just a few of them:

- Both led into the wilderness by the Spirit

-Forty years in the wilderness – Forty days fasting in the wilderness

-Testing in Deuteronomy 8 = same Greek word as tempting in Matthew 4

-Both caused hunger

- Joshua led out of promise land= Jesus is the same Greek word as Joshua and both are leading to a promised land…. Jesus’ promise land is just forever.

(If you want to see these comparisons better, look at the notes or listen to the sermon here….. he does a much better job at explaining this than I have tonight)

J.P. Makes three other really important points that really stick out to me.

1. Fasting can be used to prepare for tests but fasting in itself is also a test.  When we succeed, it makes Satan mad; when we fail, God still loves us.

2.  The Devil tries to use a twisted view of God against us.  When the devil temps Jesus, he suggests that Jesus just turn the stone into bread.  This may be an example of the Devil playing on how God satisfied the hunger of his people wandering in the dessert with manna so it’s “okay” for Jesus to do this and not be cheating.  Jesus knows the reality of it all however and refuses to turn to anything but the Lord. Our thinking should not be “I’ll turn to manna instead of bread.” It should be “I turn to God, instead of Manna, instead of Bread.  (This brings up another issue of substituting one addiction for another…. )

3. God fed the hunger of his people with manna they did not know.  Often we doubt what God can do because we limit him with the things we think could fix the problem.  God has this “super power” however to satisfy our utmost being with things that we don’t know of or understand.  He is not limited by what we have in this world, our tools, our technologies, or our faith.  Also, Jesus said that that man does not live by bread alone but by everything that comes out of his mouth.  What comes out of God’s mouth?  Everything that is of God.

So tomorrow, I will be feasting on the fast with the Father…. With a joyful heart <3

Confession and Forgiveness

For today’s task, we were challenged to look at God’s Holiness with this as our guiding verse…..

Isaiah 6:1-5

Isaiah’s Commission

 ¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”

 ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

 ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Now if you’re like me, these words crushed me.  If someone like Isaiah felt unclean before God, how could I ever measure up to anything with my layers and layers of sins from the last 20 years?   The point of this task however, was not to condemn the sinner’s spirit as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

 Instead, today provided me a chance to look at my life, recognize my sinfulness and confess these sins to Him.  Since being in New Zealand this last semester, I have worked to etch the words of Psalm 139:23-24 on my heart and make that my cry to the Lord.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”

As I prayed this throughout the day, my faithful Father did just that; He searched my heart and revealed what seemed to be pages and pages of offensive ways in me.  As this task suggested, I wrote down these instances and feelings that I needed forgiveness for and one by one, I prayed through the short list.

 The coolest part of this task however, was after confessing the sins on these pieces of paper, and asking for forgiveness, I could throw them away.  Poof! They are gone.  God forgave me and I could feel the weight being lifted off my heart.  I no longer have to carry these sins around with me, weighing me down and dragging me through the dirt that makes me feel worthless and filthy.

Confession and forgiveness are necessary for my faith walk because without them, I feel so distant from God; I feel like Isaiah.  I am unworthy and He is Holy.  His Holiness has set Him apart from me but His grace has bridged the gap so I can be with Him.  In order to grow closer with God and have the deep, all-consuming relationship that I yearn to have, I have to see myself the way God sees me, not as the filth that I feel like when I fail to do what He wants me to do for my life.

On that note, I think it is important to hear the wonderful news from verses 6-8

 ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
 ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
   And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”


See!!!! So exciting! He forgives! And now I want to be sent out for Him. <3

Character of God

So..... I recently stated The Boundless Summer Challenge.  Each day, they post a task that will challenge the participants to dig deeper and grow, with a focus this summer on relationships.

Today's task:  Looking at the character of God

Isaiah 40:25 says.... “To whom will you compare me?   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 

Now, instinctively when I close my eyes and think of God,  I see my Daddy as:

§  pure/unselfish love

§  strengh = massive arms, broad sholders, thick fingers, and massive feet in sandals popping out from under a blinding white robe

§  forgiveness - truly forgiving and FORGETING as my bloody hands are washed white and clean

§  singing over me with a voice more beautiful than Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, or Hayley Westenra

§  hugging me and lifting me up in his arms effortlessly, holding me close so I can feel his heart beating and his chest raising and falling as he breathes in and out, comforting me

§  cradling me in his wings and feeling completely safe as I sit  in the shadow of his wings

§  speaking softly, whispering that he loves me

§  shouting loudly that he loves me!

§  carrying me as I weep from pain

§  a jealous God who wants to be with me every second

§  unselfishness to the utmost degree (sending his son)

§  counting the number of hairs on my head

§  his hands crafting my body together like a potter working with clay and then smiling with delight at the finished product

§  holding back and throwing off the world when it gets to be too much............... like in this video!!! So Good!!!! ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_M33GcJAmU  )

But God is so much more than that! Even after reading Isaiah 40:25, I can see how I envision God with all these humanly characteristics, putting in a box and placing limits on a limitless, boxless God! I mean in reality, God in all his Glory can't be contained in the universe that I can't fathom, let alone a gigantic box.

Although I don't fully (or even partially) understand all the characteristics of my amazing Father, today's task challenged me to look through Isaiah 40 for the characteristics of God that I've been missing/forgetting.

After several read-throughs, this is the list I got:

§  Comforter to all (v.1)

§  a tender voice (v.2)

§  gracious and giving (v.2)

§  forgiving (v.2)

§  one to be glorified by all things, including the land (v.5)

§  ultimate control (breath of God) (v.7)

§  Never ending wisdom (v.8)

§  Sovereign (v.10)

§  powerful, mighty arms (v. 10)

§  Sheppard to his flock (v.11)

§  carries  in his arms, close to his heart (v.11)

§  gentle leader (v.11)

§  creator and controller of everything in the world (v.12)

§  unfathomable (v.13)

§  unteachable (v. 14)

§  untaught, unenlightened genious beyond comparison (v. 14)

§  does not need us (v. 15-17)

§  incomparable (v. 18-20)

§  enthroned above the circle of earth (v. 22)

§  builder of the heavens (v.22)

§  the sower and the reaper (v. 24)

§  unforgetful, mighty and powerful (v. 26)

§  everlasting, creator of the ends of the earth (v.28)

§  one that does not grow weary or tired EVER (v. 28)

§  understanding beyond what we can fathom (v. 28)

§  giver of strength and power (v. 29)

§  renewer of strength (v. 31)

It's crazy how many times I have read this chapter and never noticed some of these characteristics.  Of the ones I listed, I think I often over look the bolded bullet points and as part of today’s task, I wanted to look at why.

First, God is in ultimate control.  Sometimes I try to take this control myself only to fall on my face and be picked back up in His loving arms and realize that He was in complete control the whole time.  Even when I made my list of how I saw God, I left out that He is, always has been and always will be in control, clearly showing how I often leave out this vital characteristic in my mind.

Next, verses 14-17 really just spoke to me about how truly all knowing God is.  There is nothing I can teach Him.  He simply IS the all-knowing teacher.  This is another point I forgot because I have been stubborn.  At times , I have convinced myself that God messed up and I need to teach Him how to do His job, or how life should really be going.  I have dishonored Him and judged His actions as wrong when I know nothing in comparison to Him.  I have believed that the “world revolves around me” when in reality, I am not even a “drop in the bucket” (BUT I am a loved not-even-a-drop-in-the-bucket!)  God does not NEED me, but he chose me anyways and He delights in me.

My Daddy is also incomparable.  Verses 18 through 20 clearly state that nothing can be compared to Him.  Idols, no matter their material or craftsmanship are nothing compared to God.  I often find myself forgetting this though.  No, I do not have a Baal statue in my house, but I have had idols.  I have “worshiped” the sound of my own voice when I should have been listening to God.  I have “worshiped” food, gorging myself with crap that will not fill me.  I have turned to people and activities instead of God because I somehow thought that my problems were too big (or too small) for Him in essence making these things the rulers of my life instead of God.  This is something I am not proud of and I suspect that is why I initially left this characteristic out of my list.

Isaiah 40 also talks about how God is the sower and the reaper.  While I often think of God as the creator, I tend to forget that He has control of every stage of this earth.  This goes back to the first point I talked about and how I try don’t always see God as having ultimate control. ( As this seems to be a reoccurring theme, I really need to work on this!)

In verse 26, it talks about how God calls out the stars in the sky, remembering them all.  That is because God is not forgetful.  I often find myself thinking that God must have somehow forgotten about me because I hurt but really, it is me that forgets.  How often have I received bad news and only after exhausting all the other options, finally turn to God in prayer when I should have turned to Him first?  Too many times to count.   I have forgotten His promises, I have forgotten my identity in Christ, I have forgotten to turn to Him, but my Daddy has never forgotten me.

Last of all, the bottom 4 verses truly reveal a part of God that I have overlooked.  In verse 28 it says He does not grow weary or tired.  In my mind however, I always picture God as a man, a person that needs a break, needs sleep, and a time to renew His strength, BUT HE DOESN’T!  He doesn’t miss anything.  Good, Bad, Ugly, Beautiful…. He sees it all.  His understanding is beyond what we can fathom and because of that, I think we often fall back to these human views of God because we lack this understanding.  We can’t see His plan.   Last of all, verses 29-31 talk about how God is a GIVER of strength and power.  After finally starting to understand how perfect and never-ending His strength is, THIS IS JUST AMAZING!   In order to give something, you must have it, so that means He’s giving His strength and His power. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you God  for your strength “to soar on wings like eagles” even when I epically fail to remember where my strength comes from  <3  I love the pieces of you that I have begun to understand and I pray Lord that you would show me more of who you are so that I can be more like you in my relationships here on earth and grow in my relationship with you.