Category: Devotions

God's Trying to Tell You Something

 

"'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt."  Ezekiel 36:33

 

One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Color Purple".  As an adult I have grown to appreciate it much more, as the title is filled with so much imagery.  The color purple has long be a symbol of royalty and power.  Rich purple hues range from infantile lilac and lavender to deep, passionate indigo and symbolize one's growth, from infantry to adulthood.  But of all the things I love about the movie, from reciting many of the lines and singing along, is the repentant, remorse-filled song "God's Trying to Tell You Something" sung by Shug Avery.  Every time as I watch the part when she returns from her wayward lifestyle to the church that her father pastors, I begin to cry.  Not so much that I can relate, but God's Spirit touches my heart with the words of that song.  "Speak Lord, speak to me" she croons and it makes me want to beg God's forgiveness of all my life's wrongs and clear away anything that is obstructing His dialogue with me.

 

My pastor this past Sunday said something along these lines in his sermon.  God is really trying to tell each and every one of us something.  Whether He's trying to encourage you to keep pushing and fighting through your pain to the healing you desire for your broken heart or broken physical body, or He is trying to reign you back from a place that separates you from Him, He is most definitely trying to tell you something.  Christ did not die to simply be a martyr, but to save our souls!  His death was the stitch that closed the wound inflicted with the first sin.  During this Valentine's holiday, I was suffering in every way imaginable, and I really felt I had cause to be sad.  Pain in my physical body and uneasiness about the ultrasound I had to get done of my thyroid gland, pain in my heart over my mother's heartbreak at missing my dad on their 25th anniversary and my own pain over what I will not have with my dad, pain over how my family is one year later…but in the same breath God saw fit to bless me in so many ways.  Even though I still endure health challenges, God allowed my brother to call me and tell me how glad he was to give me a kidney and save my life.  To hear my brother, my unofficial twin, lol, tell me how much he loves me was the greatest gift I could have gotten.  Even though I had been hurt by some close to me, I was blessed and still happy to spend the day with my mom.  Seeing her smile and hug me took every ounce of willpower I had to not cry.  Furthermore, I got the encouraging push I needed to go forward even in the midst of defeat. 

 

God is willing to speak volumes to us if we are willing to listen.  God loves us so much, and sometimes life strives to tell us otherwise.  But how else can the enemy discourage and discount the work God performed through Christ if we don't have difficulties? The Christian life is not easy, and especially not so if you are trying to be obedient.  I read a book on how the enemy's minions work overtime to keep us from God…and even more when you are already down.  But God!  He tries so hard to talk to us and if we get distracted by the hustle and bustle of life we can never hear Him.  We then feel alone and discouraged in this place and it just makes life more difficult.  God will speak…it is the fact that we must be willing to hear, and thus, clear away the noise to hear His still, quiet voice.

 

"This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God."  Zechariah 8:7-8 NLT

—
"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

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 
—
"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