Grounded in Grace

There were so many avenues I wanted to go down for my first “official” post. I was very unresolved in which direction to travel so naturally I prayed and asked God for wisdom and instruction. I felt the best place to start was to share my faith and the difficulties we often face in sharing faith with others.

I have not always depended on the Lord to see me through my struggles. As a matter of fact, I often felt as though I was much better at handling things on my own. I was very good at praying and submitting my “situation” to God and when HE was not acting quick enough or I was not seeing the result I wanted to see I would take my request back from HIM. I then could manipulate the “situation” the way I wanted the result to be or the timing I wanted to see it happen. Needless to say, this behavior rarely turned out in my favor.  It only left me feeling lost and empty and no better off than before asking for HIS help to begin with.  It wasn’t until recent days I realized I could not function this way any longer.  I was exhausted, I NEEDED GOD!!!  I needed HIM to totally take over when I called HIS name and I needed to have the self control to allow HIM to do so and not intervene.  The prayer I prayed often was….. “Father, Your word tells me in Philippians 4:6  Don’t worry about ANYTHING; instead, pray about EVERYTHING.  You said to tell you what I need, and thank you for all you have done then I will experience your peace, which exceeds anything I can understand,  your peace will guard my hearts and minds as I live in YOU.”  This brought me peace like I had never experienced before. For the first time in my life I thought I really don’t have to worry about ANYTHING?  God really has this?  I can close my eyes at night and not be anxious? I really don’t have to worry about what tomorrow holds?  The answers to all those questions was YES!!!!!! (John 15:5, Jesus says that apart from Him, we can do nothing. We need to lean on Him for help with everything in our lives.)

The Lord has really laid it on my heart lately  to share my faith and be a witness to others.  In order for us to share our faith with others, our faith must first have an object, and that object is the person of Jesus Christ. So,  why can it be so incredibly hard to step out in faith and do this?  For me I believe it is insecurities, or maybe fear of rejection or fear of not having the right answer.  The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7:8 “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline.  So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord.”  This is such a powerful verse for me because if I can submit and trust my life and all “situations” to HIM and know that HE is in control, I can trust HIM when HE uses me as a witness for HIM.   I am a sinner, we all are.  I fall short of his glory every single day. I am thankful that HIS mercies are new each day.  I am thankful for the opportunity HE has given me to write these posts and be a witness for HIM through them. My prayer is that each person reading this blog may receive something from it. The Lord has called me to step way outside my comfort zone by starting this blog.  I encourage each of you to take a leap of faith and check your “zone” and see if you may need to take a step out as well.

~Side note prayer request….My strong-willed  child (no idea where he got that from)  turns 15 on Sunday which means a learners permit is in our near future (TUESDAY!)  Please pray that I survive.  {Thank goodness he has improved with age, there was a time I realized why some species ate their young :0)} ……upcoming blog on that for sure!!!!!!!