PEACE
Thank you to Holly for hosting this link up about our spiritual journeys. Today we're sharing our thoughts on peace.
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I'm going to be a rebel and write about peace tangentially. As I live my life, I search for answers to the questions in my life, of my life...Why did this happen? Why didn't this happen? I'm looking for reasons. I'm looking for peace of mind.
In my search, I want to know my part in the direction of my life...am I solely responsible for my choices? Is this God's plan? It is both? Am I getting in the way of God's plan or helping it? What can I do differently? What should I continue to do? These questions swirl around in my head!
I'll give you an example...I'm single. I appreciate the blessings in my life, but this isn't where I thought I'd be. In college, everyone thought I'd be the first one of us to marry and have kids...lots of kids. The reality...today I'm 42, never married and without children.
Why? Have I done something? Is this God's will? To what degree am I responsible for this state of my life. (That's a fancy way of asking, Is it my fault?) See, I need peace of mind.
I believe that God would not lay a desire on my heart without the intent of answering it...but what if I've messed that up?!?! I search for peace of mind. I pray for it.
Recently, I read an amazing devotional that answered some of these questions for me. It was one of those lightbulb moments. Every morning I read the book Jesus Calling. The words from October 10th brought me some peace...
"Trust me enough to let things happen without striving to predict or control them...when you project yourself into the future, rehearsing what you'll do or say, you are seeking to be self-sufficient...this is a subtle sin- so common it usually slips by unnoticed."Uh-oh! Oh boy! I have done this...A LOT! Practicing for what my life will be like, forcing things to fit an image I have in my head. I would meet someone and figure out how things would need to work out. Planning fourteen steps ahead...forcing...making things fit into what I thought my life should be! I need to stop. STOP! I need to let go. I need to let Him write my story, instead of trying to grab the pen and make revisions. Trust in God and His plan for me. That's when things happen.
Trust in the Lord & do good...delight yourself in the Lord & He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4My peace is with God. I will trust in God. I will let go of my expectations and believe in His plan. I will let Him write my story. It will bring me peace.
That song is one of my very favorites (as is the one Holly posted today)! It is not always easy to let God write our stories, but together we are encouraging each other on this journey! Exciting! Wishing you a peaceful day!
ReplyDelete"I will let Him write my story." Isn't that hard to do?! Think how hard it is sometimes even as writing teachers to let kids write their own stories and not interfere. We tend to want to control. God knows this. He knows how hard it is to let Him be in charge. I read Jesus Calling, too! One of the women who went on the Czech trip gave a copy to each of us. I can't tell you how often it speaks right to a problem, issue, or circumstance I'm experiencing! Your post also makes me think of something our pastor said about prayer. The sermon was called "Does Prayer Work?" It was all about how if our lives are already planned out by God, does prayer change His mind? The ultimate answer our pastor gave was that when we pray, we don't change God's heart, we change ours. I love that. That definitely speaks to peace, doesn't it?! Thank you for taking risks in your writing and being vulnerable. You are a precious person.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, I always like how you open your heart for all to hear. That is being a risktaker extraordinaire. This line of yours spoke to me: "I need to let Him write my story, instead of trying to grab the pen and make revisions. " Many times I want to steal the pen to rewrite the scene or future scenes. I try not to look back but do not want to rush to the finish line. Often anxiety creeps up to take the reins when all I really need to do is look at the Divine Light for the answer in His time, not mine.
ReplyDeleteI love what Holly said about letting prayer change our hearts. It's so hard to let go and let God. You do have control, though. You control your choices. For some reason the right choice has not come before you yet. I believe it will come. A priest once told me that God's time is slower than our time. We have a hard time waiting. Don't let peace get confused with complacency.
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