*Long post warning*
I know that God is far above me and in complete control, but when life gets hard I forget or ignore that He knows things I don’t, that He has information He isn’t sharing with me and that His control means He doesn’t have to answer to me.
We must keep God’s character always in the front of our hearts and minds, especially in seasons of suffering. God can be trusted. He is so much bigger than we are. His ways are beyond our finding out.”
(First 5 app)
Last night at church I finally seen what God has been wanting me to see (or maybe just a little taste) with the reading of Job and the message from my pastor from 2 Timothy (vs 15-21). The title was “What Are You Listening To?
He spoke about how what we listen to affects us. If we listen to sound preaching that follows the Bible and we study the Bible (to show ourselves approved) then we will grow wise. How many times has wisdom been a theme in Job? How do we show ourselves approved? If our life lines up with the Bible, then we are…if not, then we need to ask God to show us where we can be more like Him.
There were several people in Timothy (4 to be exact…2 mentioned in 2 Timothy) that had “profane babblings”…words of godlessness and empty irreverent speech (vs 16). God convicted me last night to shun those types of people. Don’t listen to the garbage. I refuse to allow what passes through my ears, my eyes and my mind to be anything except the truth of the Lord. If it doesn’t line up with God’s Word, it must get out! I love how He is molding me into a woman that has more faith that I ever imagined was possible.
Yesterday I found myself focusing on my pain…so I am changing my thought process. When I want to focus on my pain, and scream, “I don’t deserve this,” perhaps instead I could list all the good things in my life I don’t deserve. So after my I finish writing out my prayers each night, I list five things I am thankful for in that moment. I’ve done it before, but stopped. It really changes your perspective…try it!
Sometimes it’s all about being careful to pay attention to what we listen to…and changing our thought process to one of gratitude for suffering and gratitude that I don’t get what I truly deserve thanks to a merciful Savior.
Lastly, one of the last quotes from my pastor was this:
“You can milk a lot of cows, but you got to churn your own butter.” Meaning….don’t let your walk with God be dictated by the profane babblings of someone that could pull you away from God like those at Ephesus (in 2 Timothy) or Job’s friends as they tried to convince him that he was most definitely living with unconfessed sin. Churn your own butter…Read for yourself and seek the truth (in the Bible). It doesn’t change like we as people do. It remains the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Am I the only one that just gets so excited to see what God is going to reveal to me through faithfulness in Him? I don’t need to know the plan, I just need to remember He is in control!
