As much as I am careful not to interpret Scripture through personal experience, it is impossible to divorce my thoughts from my personal circumstances as I read His Word. And that’s okay. He meets us where we are. He knows what we crave and delivers a plate piled high with what we need at the moment. The miracle of the living Word is how the same passage can continue to speak to us in different seasons of life seeming to be the perfect verse for the moment and in a few years, the perfect verse for that moment as well.
Today, in these verses, God spoke comfort, hope, and wisdom. He is so good. So faithful.
Can I share where these verses led me today?
From John 14:
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;t believe also in me.2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
– I can wipe that splash of worry from the windshield. He is in control. The future looks bright as long as I look far enough into it.
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me?
– He has walked this life with me, and sometimes I still miss his footprints. I do know Him, I just need the reminders to look. He has made clear who He is and how He loves me. I just need to keep believing.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,t to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
– Just for me? God knew I would lose hope, that my vision would fail. The Holy Spirit had to take up residence in my life for such times as those. The world is missing out. Trying to fill that longing, that wandering with something. But, I’ve got it — forever!
From Ephesians 4:
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
– He continues to mature me through fellow Christians and His Word. My journey is not over, many more curves to come. Where He leads, I follow, trusting.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
– No reason for me to to get snippy. No reason to take out any stress or frustration on innocent bystanders. As I grow, I need to continue to show compassion on those around me. Christ forgave and continues to forgive so much in my life, the least I can do is pass that along. I so quickly remind my children of this verse, and also need to remember to take it to heart in my dealings as well.
From Proverbs 11:
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.
– This world is just a part of the picture, truly the less important, the less real part. Riches will disappear, the immaterial will last.
As I pour over God’s promises and wrap myself in them I know they do not come with a catch. They are freely lavished on me, his beloved child. How can I not reciprocate? As I recognize anew His love and faithful provision my life responds in worshipful obedience. Even as we count down the weeks until my husband’s employment ends we come back to the peaceful reminder that this world is definitely not all we live for. The One who has created it all, who has existed since before time began, who knows what next week, next month, and next year hold walks beside me. He is the source of all I have and blesses and leads regardless of our life circumstance.
Thank you, Lord, for your abundant provision. Thank for your continued gentle teaching. Thank you for your faithful leading. Continue to refine my vision and hearing to recognize your ways more clearly.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Erin (5intow)
Sixty-six books in a year 