A Step in Faith

Does God speak to us? I am convinced that he does. While he doesn't speak to me through my ears, He does speak to me through thoughts and feelings. There are times when a thought will come to mind that has an associated emotion that just leaves no doubt as to where it came from.

I think our Lord speaks to all of us this way. For too many years I was so self centered that I didn't even realize that this was happening. I wonder how many wonderful opportunities and blessings I missed because I failed to pay attention.

I had one of those moments just recently. I sat down in front of the computer, thinking about what I might write about. Then out of nowhere came the thought "what are you doing?". I started this blog for two basic reasons. The first was to share what our Lord and Savior has done in my life. The second was to see if his will would be for me to earn some income on line.

I feel like there is a bit of a conflict with the way I have gone about this. Writing about God, who has blessed my life in so many ways, and then surrounding it with advertising doesn't seem right now. I think I was paying too much attention to what I wanted and not enough attention to what he might have me do.

I overlooked too many things in putting this blog together. First off, God's Word tells us that he will not only take care of us, but that he is eager to do so in an abundant way. If we believe in him, trust in him, and rely on his will for us, we shall never want for anything. How I managed to forget this is beyond me at this moment.

My very first mistake was trying to tell my sweet Lord how I wanted him to bless me. I wanted to make money by working on the internet. Maybe this is his will for me, but maybe it's not. God knows no limits and if I put restrictions on how he might send me blessings, then I am sure to miss out.

The Lord has done some things in my life that defied all logical reasoning. Let me give you one example. If this tends to make you think I'm crazy, that's okay because it had me wondering for awhile. We had a situation where we had more obligations than we had money. I saw it coming in advance but I couldn't come up with a solution. I turned it over to prayer and then refused to worry about it anymore. As the bills came in I prayed about them and then paid them. I figured that the worst thing that could happen would be that we wouldn't be able to pay them all and we might have to survive on what food was already in the pantry.

Now for the strange part. Not only were we able to pay everything, but we were able to buy groceries and have some money left over. No matter how I try to figure this out, I can't. We simply did not have enough coming in to cover everything but in balancing the checkbook, all the math worked out. I told you that you would think I was crazy. Every time I think about this, it brings to mind how Jesus fed a multitude of people with five loaves and two fishes. If he could do the one, he certainly could do the other.

I am telling you all of this because I am pulling all advertising from this blog. I will allow my Lord and Savior to bless us through what ever means he chooses. I will still work the internet and maybe he will choose to bless that work, but it will be completely separate from this. From now on this blog shall belong to God and be used to do his work. I am stepping out in faith and am anxious to see what God will do in my life next.

Not My Will, but Thy Will

Our Father in Heaven wants good things for us. He is more than willing to provide us with an abundant life. The thing to keep in mind is that what we want for ourselves may not always be in our best interest.

God knows every intimate detail about who we are and what we need. If we could see ourselves from his perspective, we certainly would make our decisions very differently. If we only had a small percentage of his wisdom, we would surely live our lives in a whole different way. Can you imagine how easy it would be to make decisions if we knew the outcome in advance?

I have spent the majority of my life making poor decisions. I call them "poor decisions" because I based most of them on what I wanted and insisted on doing things my way. Each time I would manage to take two steps forward something would happen that would push me three steps back. This went on year after year and I just couldn't understand why things always seemed to happen this way. I'm not sure if it was because I was trying to do everything on my own or if God was just trying to get my attention.

Over the past few years I have spent time getting to know more about our Lord and Savior. Not only have I learned to pray, but I've learned to wait for His answers. I've found that He is far wiser than I am and that he always answers prayer. Yes, He always answers my prayers even though the answer isn't always the one I am hoping for. I have learned that if I accept his decisions and am genuinely thankful, that many times He will follow up with a blessing far greater than what I originally asked for.

Let me give you one example. There were rumors going around at work about the company downsizing. Not long after the rumors started several of my co-workers where handed pink slips. I prayed long and hard that I would not be next. Sure enough, several months later, my position was eliminated. I was devastated and had no idea how we were going to pay the bills. I had been job hunting for several months and had literally found nothing.

I decided to place my situation in the Lord's hands. I prayed and told Him that I trusted him and that I knew He would provide for us. My last day was on Friday and on Monday I got a call from a company that I did not even apply to. They had seen my resume' online and wanted to give me an interview. I got the job along with better pay and a much shorter commute. It turned out that I never missed a single paycheck. I am convinced that my Father in Heaven didn't answer my prayer to keep my job because He had a much better job in mind for me. I thank him everyday for his grace and for making good on His promises that are clearly given in scripture.

If you are yearning for a better life, then start your education by studying the Bible. Everything you need is in there. I have always called this magnificent book life's operating manual. I just wish I had of started paying attention to it's words years sooner. To get started, I suggest pondering over the truths of Luke 12, verses 22 through 31. Read it several times and let it thoroughly sink in. Once you understand and believe what these verses say, you will begin to feel your worries and fears just melt away.