His Strength, His Priorities

-

 

    

    Trusting God is a lesson we must learn over and over again. He forces us to rely on Him in so many aspects of our lives, because He knows that when we finally realize that He is the one in control, we can find the peace and joy that He longs to give us.  As long as we are trying to "fix" things on our own, or trusting in our own strength, we miss out in that true fulfillment that comes from complete rest in the Creator of everyone and everything. 

    Finances is one area that we can more easily see this concept at work.  Recognizing that our daily bread comes from the hand of God maintains our focus on stewardship of His resources, as our pastor has been teaching us this month. This is an area in which He demands complete surrender and trust. 

    The areas in which I have been challenged with most recently are trusting God with my time management and  Mount Everest -sized "to do list". Sometimes the anxiety and stress of all of the demands of living in this world can become overwhelming.  When I take my focus off of the priorities that God ordained: my relationship with Christ, my family, and my church family, I very quickly start feeling so very overwhelmed with the mountain of expectations, and "good" things that I "should" be doing. I recently found this quote from Martin Luther:  "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."  Wow.  What a reminder to me of the true source of my strength. 

    Ephesians 6: 10 teaches us to "Be strong in the Lord and in His Mighty Power." (NIV)  That doesn't say that we have any strength of our own to bring to the table.  His strength is the only strength that is unfailing and dependable.  As soon as my focus turns to my own strength, even in the tiniest area, the Lord will take that strength away, reminding me that I am not to trust in my own power.  The feeling of anxiety and fear of failure really begins to overwhelm very quickly-- it is a sense of drowning and panic! 

    Psalm 61:2 has often been my prayer, lately. "From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed [or faint and weak]; lead me to the rock that is higher than I."  Looking at the list of deadlines and tasks causes me to want to curl up in my shell and hide. I am slowly learning that as I put my trust in God, the source of my strength, and place HIS kingdom first, that the other things fall into place. I have no need to fear, or be anxious.  He has this world in His hands.

   The concept is fairly simple, but implementing this tests my faith. Do I truly believe that God is in control of ALL?  Do I truly believe that the Bible is God's Word and the source of ALL truth?  Am I willing to let go of my desire to be in control and follow His timing and leading in every area of my life?

I pray that I am faithful to allow His strength to work through me to accomplish HIS priorities, so that I can one day hear His voice say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

💓 Heather Sparks💓

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Is Well With My Soul

-
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. We are all reeling from the images we are seeing of our neighboring communities after Hurricane Helene blew through our region and dropped unprecedented amounts of rain. TVA has stated this was a 1 in 5,000 year event. There has been much loss of life and personal property. With the loss of my nephew fresh on my mind, I have found myself thinking of the words and humming the old hymn "It is Well" frequently. The story behind this hymn (along with the lyrics) tells that the state of our soul is the only thing that truly matters.  The author, Horatio G. Spafford was a businessman from Chicago. He had a successful legal practice and was a devout Christian. Spafford’s lost almost everything overnight in the great Chicago Fire of 1871. To add to this tragedy, his young son had just passed away a short time before the fire...
Read more

Adorning the Gospel

-
Image
  We all love to make things look nice, don't we?  Ourselves, our children, our cars, our homes --- most people like for our lives to be attractive to others and for our own enjoyment.  While I usually brush it off as false, Sam knows that I love hearing him or the kids tell me I am beautiful.  The beauty of nature is breathtaking.  God made us all to love pretty things.      Brother Doug has been leading us through the book of Titus recently.  Titus 2 speaks to every category of Christian -- older men, older women, young men, young women, and those in bondage.  A couple things stood out to me as Doug was teaching that have been running through my mind for the last couple of weeks.   3  Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior,  not slanderers  or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,  4  and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,  5  to be self...
Read more

Joy To The World!

-
Image
     One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the music!  Christmas music brings a special element of joy to the season.  There are so many great Christmas songs in almost every style, from whimsical and folksy all the way to classical.  I am always excited for the time when the radio station switches to all Christmas music so that our car rides are serenaded with the sounds of the season.  The familiar melodies are comforting and cheerful, for the most part.  Many of these songs have been ingrained in my mind since infancy and I can't remember a time that I did not know them.  Just like all familiar music, however, I catch myself mouthing and humming along to lyrics that I know like the back of my hand without giving any consideration to what those words mean!  My older kiddos don't always appreciate this overly analytical approach to music that may cause me to nix a song or two from their playlists at times.  However, f...
Read more