Author: marquitabp

In Uncharted Waters

 

"Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left."  Isaiah 30:21 NLT

 

Hey!!!!! Today is a great day.  It started off great, got a little bumpy, but its gotten better and I have to thank God.  This is a new place for me.  I've never been in a place of praying and trusting first, then acting.  I've always been a go-getter, a solve the problem and act type of person.  I admit I am a control freak, lol. I can fix everyone else's problems but I finally had to realize I could not fix my own…and that mess hurts!  Although this very seldom applies to me, because I have a great sense of direction, I have had the occasion of being lost once or twice.  Now I know plenty of people who cannot say the same.  But when you get lost, after you didn't follow the directions you were given, or if you were bold and went the trip without even asking, do you humble yourself and use your GPS/ask directions, or do you keep driving past the same gas station in arrogance?

 

Today I realize I am in a new place.  Its uncomfortable by every standard–I'm forced to be patient and wait, I'm forced to let go and let God, I'm forced to forgive and start over.  Yes, I have a choice in all of this, I could step out of God's covering and do what I want.  I could voice my opinions and desires and potentially lose a valuable friend.  I could ignore the pressing need for me to forgive and let go of all my hurts that stem from my father's passing, and potentially die from the negative effects of unforgiveness.  I could take all of my mess back from God and try to fix it myself, and put myself in a worse hole.  But I'm deciding this time to go God's way.  Why?  Because truthfully I am tired of running things, time to let someone else make all the decisions and I follow.  I'm tired of being that go-to person for every single person and feeling burned out when I get to my own stuff.  I'm tired of hurting after I tried to do something my way and got scarred when I fell down.

 

Now I can clearly hear God as I am in the midst of this storm.  It has the potential to be turbulent–in fact, it is turbulent, in my mind and heart as they are both heavy right now.  But the good thing is that God is steering the ship and He knows the course very well.  He knows where I am going and He knows how to get me there safely with everything I need.  Hopefully at the end of this leg of the journey, I'll be a much wiser and stronger person–but I can trust and rest assured that I will because trusting in God grows and stretches my faith.  It is tough, Lord knows it is, but I want to say I'm happy and at peace with where I am going, because I waited on God's direction.

 

"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." Psalm 25:9 NIV

Hanging on a Prayer

 

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."  Philippians 4:6 NLT

 

God has been calling to my mind and heart to do some things that require obedience, humility, and selflessness on my part, and all I can think of is that I love God more than these things, so I must be obedient to Him.  I have to let my love of God and my desire to do His will overpower my reluctance to act.  All I have had the energy and heart to do is pray.

 

God has shown me in the last few weeks that He hears my prayers and remembers them even when I don't.  He answered prayers I've had from months ago within recent weeks and all it served to do was blow my mind!  Have you ever had that experience of God answering a prayer so clearly?  It is a very eye-opening experience.  In light of that, God has been teaching me patience and above all else to trust Him.  The things that I'm dealing with right now require me to pray many times throughout the day to God asking how, why, and just trusting in His word.

 

At the beginning of the year when my baby brother got into a car accident in my old car (RIP Tina hahaha), I was in no position financially to get a new car.  In fact, Tina was soon to be paid off.  It hurt, to know that I, a problem fixer and solver, had no earthly power within me to solve my own issues.  I could not do anything.  I remember praying though, 'God teach me to trust you without a doubt.'  And don't you know God gets excited at these types of prayers, because they cause your faith and trust in Him to grow as the experiences will do exactly that. 

 

So I started this devotion 8 days ago, and never came back to it.  And how appropriate that I picked it back up today…God has been blowing my mind since I got on the plane yesterday.  Prayers I have been praying and thanking Him for the answers in faith for months now…He showed up for me in a major way within the last 24+ hours.  I went from various uncertainities in every area of my life to a place of unspeakable JOY as every thing I could ask for was revealed to me. 

 

All I can say is hang on to your prayers.  Thank God for the answers that He will reveal…yes, no, not right now.  And trust without a doubt that He will answer you and see that the Lord is good!!  Good night!

 

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:6 NASB