8 replies to this topic

[chipped china]

Sometimes I feel distant from you Lord. I try to read your Word, but the words just don't sink in. I'm absorbed in myself and nothing feels right, I can't get into anything, chores are just that. I'm looking, I'm seeking, asking for forgiveness but only half heartedly. Yesterday I took a nap and in a light stage of sleep I fell down before my Lord and gave Him all of my will. I woke wondering what had just happened and whether it was real. I'm so restless when I'm not near to Him. What is He trying to teach me? I watched a Christian movie last night on what it would be like to go through the tribulation. Anyone Christian or not was put into prison if they didn't except the mark of the beast. The walls were covered with written scripture and believers helped save and teach newcomers. Everyday prisoners had to watch 6 people get beheaded. The believers had peace and knew they were going to be with their Lord. Jesus appeared at different times to help in some circumstances with miracles. I try to make myself ready if I am ever persecuted. And I know it won't be me but Christ who gets me through. Sometimes I have to work hard at letting go and letting God.

[Charles Miles]

China, You aare in a good place. Repentant heart, seeking the will of God, and feelings that life in this world isn`t right all the time. The Lord is never distant from us, even though we feel He is sometimes. He hasn`t moved. He is closer than your next breath. Has you in His arms and Holy Spirit jus may be about to teach you some things. Usually when I feel alone and "God forsaken", my soul gets ripe for planting. Sounds to me like you are ground prepared for the sower and I envy such "prepared ground". Often the hardest part of the walk is to "wait on the Lord".

[chipped china]

Thank you brother for your words of wisdom and truth. I love the way the Lord makes us all unique but also one in Him.

[Living water]

God is slow to speak, sometimes too slow for me... then again He doesn't have a watch yet He's always on time! God bless you, be encouraged...

[Travis Richey]

I am re-reading a little book called Absolute Surrender and one of the things the writer reminds us of is that Christ told us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. So that even as we desire to surrender to Him, even that has to come from and through Him. The author writes that our prayer should be, "Lord, I am willing to be made willing." That has made a big impact on me because I've always been one to stand on my own laurels, and to pat myself on the back for what I do....when in reality, I do nothing except get in God's Way with me. I don't like waiting, and I'm not a patient person...so guess what lessons God has for me? I'm proud and more than a little self-confident and even arrogant....so guess how God has to get through to me? The lessons aren't easy, but they are continuos, and sometimes they come in ways that give me pause to wonder. Like you, I feel like I am seeking and not finding...that I am waiting and still not receiving...that I am calling and that those calls fall on deaf ears. But then come those moments of clarity, and those small glimpses of eternity and of power and of grace.

As the old hymn says:
Life is easy when you're up on the mountain
And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.
But then things change and you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith for you're never alone.
You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.
Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.
But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation
That's when faith is really put to the test.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

God is in control, whether or not we want Him to be. The walk of faith is trusting God that He is where He says He is, and that He is doing what He says He is doing...."he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" and "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

[elizabethcog]

I just wanted to say hi and tell all of you that I love you,you have been such an encouragement to me.God is great always and he loves us beyond our scope of understanding, he is love=)

[chipped china]

Thanks to all of you that have encouraged me. I give all the glory to God because He shines through each of you. We were all made by Him and for Him.
I look forward to the day when I can stand before my Savior without blemish, in awe and Love.

[ADVRider]

Part of the struggle is we pretty much have our own ideas of what God wants, what our lives should look like, etc. So when we feel we aren't "measuring up," it's often because we've set a standard for ourselves that while seemingly noble, isn't necessarily God. It's of our own making. Thus there is a tension we feel. So we labor towards that. We do have to wait on God, because we are his vessels and it is his prerogative to shape us exactly how and when he sees fit. It is our role to simply surrender everything, even our lack of understanding or the like. It's humbling because it takes us out of the picture, at least in the sense that we know how it should go or how our lives should look. But if it were any other way, we could take some credit could we not? God has set it up that the outcome of our lives gives him alone the glory.

[Travis Richey]

Amen, John. Well spoken.