I still enjoy this fun with God today as I am entering the fall stages of my life. It is a thrill to open the bible and say -speak to me -teach me - what can I learn from you today Lord!
One thing I have learned from God - is that He always speaks gently, in kindness. If I needed a word from Him to correct me in an area of sin - He lets me know lovingly. So many times - I know when I correct my children or husband - my words are not gentle and come out with sharpness that is damaging. I have so much to learn from God - to be more like Him.
Today I am smiling because of what the Lord did for me last night. After tucking in my girls and beginning to relax, I began brainstorming about all the projects I am doing, reviewing the list of things to do, in my mind, what I wanted to do next, what new ideas I could come up with for the orphanage, what I wanted to cook for my husbands Birthday dinner - I actually started to become a bit anxious about it all really! As the stress was building - I decided that I needed to put my hurried thoughts aside and ask the Lord to calm my spirit - to clear my mind - and to take my stress and give me peace. I then picked up my bible and said my usual prayer and then opened it. This is the scripture that my eyes fell on.
Psalm 147:10-11
"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of man;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love."
Do you see how God works? I had been concentrating all day on all the great things I wanted to do for God's Kingdom and thinking about all the plans and was getting stressed. not realizing, one thing I had forgotten to do was regard God in the midst of all of it. Although I was thinking of Him and thanking Him on occasion, I wasn't honestly reverencing Him as sovereign God. Forgetting that God delights in us most - not in what we do - but in how we praise Him and lavish love on Him and focus on Him and letting Him be in charge.
There is nothing wrong with spending time sharpening our skills and increasing our strength by working hard for God, and in fact, our gifts can be used to glorify God. But when we use our skills with no regard to God, they are indeed worth little. It is our fear and trust that God desires. When He has those, then He will use our skills and strengths in ways greater than we can imagine.
But - I am so thankful that God showed me lovingly yesterday - as a subtle reminder - that He delights in the things I am doing - but He gets more delight in seeing me fear and trust Him. It all balances out so nicely when put in that order. And helps to omit much anxiety that comes when we focus on what we are doing more than we are focusing on Him.
