Author: marquitabp

Scoot Over

 

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."  Matthew 6:34 MSG

 

Oh Em GEEE!! Lol, more than anything, I can't stand back seat or "passenger drivers."  I have a friend that is NOTORIOUS for that…and it used to get on my everlasting nerves lol.  Because regardless of whatever that person said, I was gonna do things the way I wanted to do them, and drive the way I was comfortable with…I mean really, I value my life!  But the sad revelation I got from this today is that we do that to God.  Once we give our lives to Him, we are supposed to get in the passenger seat or the backseat and let Him drive!  But does that happen?? Like the devotion I sent out earlier today, we often try to fix our situations before we consult God.  We then get ourselves into even worse messes than we were initially in.

 

I read a devotion a few days ago that felt like it had been taken from a page in my journal…or at least the last summer of my life and if I find an electronic or hard copy I will be sure to send it out.  I tried to do everything I could to help myself heal from my daddy's death and everything that happened during that time in my life.  I joined a few group programs, started seeing a counselor, and went to church more fervently than ever.  I would feel great after leaving the groups because they were Christian-based.  And the counselor helped for a while, but then I began to feel deprived and like something was empty.  She continued to dig into my past and when I would leave I would be sad and depressed.  Now this was my doing, because instead of praying and seeking God on who I should have went to for help and healing, I tried to do it alone…again my self-sufficiency issue surfacing.  I would even say to myself, I need to stop going to her because its not helping me anymore–out loud!  Gotta start listening to the Holy Spirit, haha!  I have read that passage (Matthew 6:25-34) many times before in relation to my former habit of worrying.  But God laid on my heart to read The Message translation…and look at the last part of the scripture above: "God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."  I took it upon myself to try to deal with my pain alone–albeit a good attempt, it was not until I earnestly realized that I could not do it alone, at least not without God.  It was only through prayers and my continual search for understanding that I now understand why some of what happened did happen.  I was able to build that bridge and get over it, only when I let God direct what and who He wanted me to listen to.

 

Ask God to open your eyes to whatever it is you are hoarding control over in your life, whatever area that you are preventing Him from working in.  Many women and men alike don't like the word submission…but it is so essential to our lives being successful here on Earth.  Not from a financial perspective, but for God to operate in our life.  We must learn to let God drive.  Let God lead us.  Even if you hear oodles of advice to the contrary, whatever it is that God has placed on your heart to do, follow His lead.  He promises to never leave us or forsake us, He promises to be there always, so why would He not help us through those hard times when they come?

 

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22 
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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
http://lifeinspiredbygod.blogspot.com

T.R.U.S.T. God–Transferring Rights Upward and Submitting Troubles to God

"A psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation–so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?"  Psalm 27:1

 

Many people know that I have a lot of tattoos, lol.  But one of the most meaningful ones is on the top of my back and has the KJV translation of this scripture written in a scroll on a cross.  When I picked this scripture, I thought long and hard about it.  Sometimes I have to remind myself what it means.  When I go to bed at night, I turn off the lights.  If I need to get up during the night, I walk the path I've learned, or if I don't trust it, I turn on the light for guidance, to illuminate that path for me.  It often saves me from stubbing my toe or bumping into something.  Life with God in control is much like this, we travel the path that He has laid before us.  If it is familiar, we rely on the internal instincts He has given us.  When it is strange and new, we are to turn to Him for guidance, leading and direction.  If we don't turn to Him or follow that path, we often venture off that road and end up in sometimes self-imposed difficulties.

 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding."  Proverbs 3:5

 

When I got that tattoo, I had just endured and survived the lowest point in my life.  I had never been sick a single day of my life, then in two weeks my life was completely changed.  From never having to take anything other than occasional cough syrup to taking more than 10 pills a day, from coming and going freely to being stifled by the steroid-induced weight gain, from being chipper to depressed…my life was completely different.  Looking back now, that was the one prayer that I think God said no to.  But that point alone took me from self-sufficiency to trusting in Him.  Little by little as things went from bad to worse and to better, I had to learn to transfer what I thought was my right to control my life to Him.  I had to learn to submit this problem and the ones that ensued before His feet and believe that He would do with me as He did Joseph in Genesis 50:20.  I had to live that tattoo.  I had to remember that even though my road seemed to be in the midst of a hurricane, that God was lighting the way ahead.  Even now as I prepare for more tests and examinations this coming Monday, I trust God.  He has delivered me from far less and far more, so why not stand strong in Him?

 

I encourage you today to TRUST God.  Transfer your rights upward to whatever situation is binding you from walking completely in His grace.  Submit every trouble to Him and patiently await His reply.  I believe that you can try God on His word.  Why would He say something that He doesn't mean?  Besides, you will get worn out from carrying around whatever it is…we were not made to carry these burdens.

 

 

"You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield."  Psalm 115:11

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
http://lifeinspiredbygod.blogspot.com