Strength will Rise

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)


What does "with ALL your heart" really mean? Do I believe he is worthy of ALL my heart? Do I live like he WILL show me which path to take? Do I actually lean on my own understanding even the Word of God tells me not to? When do I seek his will since, if I am honest, is not in ALL I do?

A year ago today we set forth on a journey of trusting God in moving our family to Fayetteville, AR. It was our last Sunday at our church in Evansville, IN. It was the last day to say good-bye to the life we had known for 4 short years. Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of our departure. After 8 long hours of loading a moving truck and storing some things that would not fit (this was supposed to take 4 hours in my "perfect" planning), we drove away from our rental house trusting God was working out a plan for us that we only had a glimpse of at that point.

Here we are a year later, and while I still cannot see the whole picture of his plan, I definitely see many more brush strokes and far more colors than I would have used if I were him. So it is certainly by design that the sermon series Pastor Charlie started last week in Habakkuk is all about trusting God. Trusting him when circumstances get difficult. Trusting him when he tells me to wait. Trusting him when I don't get my way. Trusting him when life doesn't make sense. Trusting him to lead me when I want to take control and do it myself.

It is also by design that God used the story of Nehemiah (in the series "Guardrails" by Andy Stanley) last summer as a foundation for my first year in Fayetteville and now he is using Nehemiah again (in "Visioneering" by Andy Stanley) to grow my leadership skills in my new job and develop the vision he has birthed in me for feeding hungry children in NW Arkansas. I never stop being absolutely amazed at how he has been preparing me and training me for years for the new roles I am taking on in year two of the Fayetteville, AR chapter of our lives. In hind sight, I can be truly thankful that I could not see all the details of God's plan when I thought I wanted them. Now I need to work on that same thankfulness in foresight.

So the question that resonates in my mind today as I reflect over this first year and look forward to the next is "How do I continue to trust God more and wait for his direction with the new opportunities in front of me?" I have learned over the years when God really wants me to "get it" he comes at me with the same concepts from several different angles. He is definitely doing that yet again with all this trusting in and waiting on Him stuff. Just because I can see a little more of the plan doesn't mean I should rush off in my own strength and tackle it all without him. As I get more excited about the possibilities and caught up in to-do lists, he keeps reminding me that everything I do must begin and end in prayer and careful consultation of his Word. Oh, and by the way, before all these "other things" there is a husband and 3 adorable children who need my devotion - who deserve my undivided attention at various time EVERY DAY - because my family is the first and best vision God has birthed in me.

So as we sang today my strength will rise when I wait upon the Lord and allow him to grow and develop his plan for me in his perfect time. Easy to say. Moving to sing. Tough to do, but I am ready!


"Everlasting God" by Lincoln Brewster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP2nz6PG8KM