Ok, I seem to be on a roll. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but there seems to be something on my heart that needs to come out. Why do I not know exactly what that is?
As some of you know, I went to a women’s conference (Belong Tour) a week or so ago. It was the first one I had ever been to so I was very impressionable, a sponge just waiting to soak up every tidbit of inspiration they had to offer, and there were many.
Along with singing, Nichole Nordeman spoke several times. You could tell, you could seriously FEEL the emotion that she was sharing. At one point, she shared something from one of her songs “You are not the ashes, you are the flame.” She said “The only normal is a setting on your dryer. Your garage is full of boxes. Until you open those boxes, you won’t have peace.” I take that to mean You are not your past, what you used to be, you are now and what you allow God to help you be… Sometimes we have to open the boxes and release the past. Will you burn for Christ? Will you be all He created you to be?
Another one that impressed me was from Angela Davis, known in L.A. as the fitness evangelist. (loved this woman!) “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” You know, it is really easy to just settle. Settle for whatever is easy and works. BUT, is that really what God created you to be? Whatever is easy, whatever just works? Really? Christ lived a relatively short life on this earth and it wasn’t all pretty and comfortable. His earthly life was a daily challenge, and then He died a horrific death. And you know, He always knew this is the way it would be. He even knew how it would end, but WE were worth it. Yeah, you and I, as unworthy as we are, were worth it. Sometimes it just overwhelms me and I have to remind myself, I am not the ashes, I am the flame. Me. I am not worthy. I will never be deserving of the sacrifice, but what I am is CHOSEN, APPOINTED and SET APART! All as a unique, one of a kind individual with a specific purpose and plan that only HE could design. Just as you are. Every single time you start to doubt yourself and wonder just what in the world you are doing here, remember that He knew you before you were formed in the womb. He created you, hair by hair and chromosome by chromosome to be you, here for His plan.
“Sometimes when things are falling apart, they are actually falling into place.” That’s not an easy one. When it feels like everything is falling apart, you probably might not want to hear that they are falling into place. But, what if the falling apart (our plan) is preparing the way for falling into place. (GOD’S plan) I have always wanted to save God the trouble of having to work too hard in my life so I try to take care of things on my own. To this day, I haven’t found a single plan of mine that worked nearly as well as His!
We all struggle daily. We are faced with challenges and personal issues that try to overwhelm us. There are things that happen that just don’t seem fair. Hopefully, during these times we will learn to lean on the One who will always be there. Hopefully, we will be stronger coming out than we were when we went in.
Pray Unceasingly!
In His light,
Lois