Laced With Grace

All day I have been asking the Lord what I should share with you today. During my devotions I have been going through Philippians and during my bible study on Wednesday nights I am soaking in end time prophesy. The Lord has been instructing and filling me up with his word. I have found after reading God’s word or studying, my brain is racing while I try to process and soak it all in. But today the Lord has been pressing me to “be still.”

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:7

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

Do you struggle with being still? I do. While sitting my mind races with the items that need to be accomplished, deadlines that need to be met, and chores around me that need to be completed.

When we pray or worship God we are filling up that time with words. May I suggest spending some time being still and listening to God’s voice? There is a time for worship and prayer that is for sure, but there is also time to be still.

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. Psalm 62:1

For today I am going to try to wait patiently for him. I will not fret about what I have or do not have or what my neighbor has or does not have. I will be still and soak in God’s love and comfort today.

Heavenly Father we live in an action society, it is easier for me to be doing, praying for a result, and filling up our time with words. Father help me to be still and listen. For you voice does not come in a mighty thunder but in the still soft voice.

God’s Girl,

Lori

(yes, my reflection is in this picture)

I just spent the weekend away with 150 ladies from my church. A women’s retreat after Christmas, what a way to kick off the New Year!  

Linda Dillow was our speaker. She did an amazing job talking about worshipping God daily. I loved her heart and felt her messages deeply but I couldn’t cry. What happened to me? Did God heal me of all my pain? Strange, I carry my tears around like I do my purse.

As I soaked up the wisdom Linda brought from the Word, I felt myself entering deeper worship. By Sunday morning, I was exhausted and catching a cold, but I made myself get up early to watch the sun rise. Spectacular. I felt like God’s hands were touching my face as the warmth of the morning sun beamed through the window. Captured by scene before me, I felt loved.

After breakfast and performing in the last of four skits, I took a seat in the front row. I let down. Just one more session, then I can go home. 

Linda told the story of Abraham and Isaac, but this time I heard it in a fresh way. The way Linda told their father/son journey made me think of my own children. I wanted desperately to stay calm and leave on an up note, but instead my tears poured out one after another. I held back the sounds of sorrow I felt bubbling inside. Others didn’t. Their weeping broke my heart. So much pain in the room. Life is hard, isn’t it?

She shared a definition of an Isaac idol.

1. something we love deeply
2. something we want deeply 

She added that when we bow our will to God, we are saying not my will, but yours. Not my timetable, but yours. Then she asked us to prayerfully consider the deepest form of worship by offering our Isaacs to God as an act of worship. By this point, I was undone. My list of Isaac’s had names and faces. They were personal. I wanted to run out of the room, but I sensed God was healing and comforting us, His precious girls. So I let myself be in His presence. I wept on my knees.

God, will You ever answer my prayers for healing those I love? Will You ever grant the deepest desires of my heart?

What if God never does? Will I still worship Him because He is God, my Holy and loving Father?

 …Yes, Lord, I surrender. I praise you anyway. I love you. I worship You even when life is hard. You are my deliverer. My hope. I trust You know best even when it hurts.

I wrote down my Isaacs one by one and then stood proceeded to the altar to lay them down. I felt like I was walking on holy ground. After 20 minutes of intimate worship, the scene changed among us. One by one, we experienced God’s healing love. The sounds of wailing became beautiful praise. Arms raised, hearts surrendered. Songs from our hearts poured out. Beauty filled the air.

God came near.

I don’t know where you are today. I don’t know what your Isaacs are. But I do know God loves you more than you could ever imagine. He wants to comfort you and transform your tears to triumphant songs of praises. Will you surrender your Isaacs to Him today and experience Him deeper today? My prayer is that you will.

Those who sow in tears 
 will reap with songs of joy.

He who goes out weeping, 
 carrying seed to sow, 
  will return with songs of joy, 
  carrying sheaves with him.  Psalm 126:5-6 (NIV)  

God bless your day,

Tiffany (Tea with Tiffany)

http://www.teawithtiffany.blogspot.com

(sorry for the delay in posting and for the length. I tried to make it short.)

John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Last month I felt hurt inside, hurt from various so-called friends in my life that I felt were moving away from me. I moped around the house thinking “why me God” and then I read the above verse one night and suddenly it all made sense.

We’re like ornamental hedges, to change our shapes and to encourage new growth the old bits of dead growth have to be pruned first. It’s like daisy plants in my front garden, after their summer blooms had been spent they went brown and needed a quick clip with the hedge clippers. Once that’s done every now and again they produce new flowers until it needs to be done again.

God wants me to be like that daisy plant, fresh, full of new blooms and although sometimes being pruned hurts it’s all because He needs new growth out of me.

How about you? Has God been cutting off your old flowers with the hedge clippers too?

Amy