All Your Cares

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

The word “change” causes many different reactions in people. Some embrace change wholeheartedly and are willing to change all the time. Others are afraid of change because they do not know what to expect. I am in the middle of a season of change. My family is making plans to build a new house and my temporary job will come to an end within the next few months.

I could be anxious about these changes because I don’t know how things will turn out. Yes, we have a plan for our house, but after many hours of work and decisions, it may not look exactly how I envisioned. The house may change. Yes, I’ve known that my job is temporary, so I’m not concerned that it will come to an end. The change is that I do not know what God has in store for me next in terms of job and/or ministry.

I could worry and fret that things will not turn out “just right.” Or, I could allow God to be in charge and do my best to follow His leading. I know that He cares for me and only wants what is best for me, so I will put my trust in Him and let Him do what He does best.

Are you struggling through a period of change? Do you rely only on what you see? Can you trust God to lead you through this season?

Father, I cast all my anxiety on you concerning changes in my life. Show me that I can place my faith in you daily and that you will take care of me. Work in my life so that I may testify of your glory to others.

In All Things

“...pray continually...” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV

Prayer is an important aspect of a Christian’s life. But, all too often we tend to take this discipline for granted. When everything is rolling along smoothly in life, prayer tends to take a back burner to other things. At least that’s true in my life. However, when life takes an unexpected turn and bad things happen, we drop to our knees begging God to hear our prayer and get us out of our bad situation.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been reminded that God wants us to pray all the time. This is our way of communicating with Him. If we are not in constant communication with Him, we will not know what He wants us to do in our lives. When we talk with God on a regular basis, we are able to discern His will for our lives. We are also able to handle difficult times because we know that God is going to take care of us.

God has placed in my heart several verses from His Word that have led me to remember what happens in my life when I pray.

P-Puts God’s perspective over my own. Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” Prayer helps me to focus on God’s ways and gets my ways out of the picture.

R-Releases me from my burdens. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 God wants to shoulder all our burdens. Only He can give us the peace that passes all understanding. Prayer allows me to shift all my burdens to Him.

A-Acknowledges that God’s way is the only way. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6 Only God knows the path I should take. Through prayer He makes this clear to me.

Y-Yields my actions to God’s authority. 2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Confessing my sins and tendency to do my own thing instead of following God draws me into a closer relationship with Him.

Is your prayer life stale and routine? Do you only pray when a crisis arises? Talk to God today and make prayer a priority in your life.

Distractions

“But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life…” Mark 4:19 NLT

Ok, so I’ve been distracted the last couple of weeks. That is obvious as I have not written a devotional for the past two weeks. One week I was on vacation and the other…well, I just forgot! Life is full of distractions and things that will get us sidetracked from what we have on our agendas.

One area that has been hurt by my distraction is quality time with God in His Word. I have let the cares of this world get me distracted from a consistent time of studying the Bible. I can certainly tell the difference in my life when the Bible is not the main book I’m reading. Selfishness, apathy and laziness creep into my life. I’m not able to handle stressful situations with grace. My words are short and biting. I become a person that I don’t want to be around. So, I’ve tried to remedy this situation by committing to reading from the Word every morning before I leave the house. Since there are 31 days in October, I am going to read one chapter of Proverbs each day. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs to correspond with 31 days in October. Not only am I going to read a chapter, I am going to study and meditate on it. Proverbs is full of wisdom to help us live our lives the way God wants us to. I don’t want to miss out on any of God’s instructions.

Another area of my life that has been hurt by my distraction is the overwhelming responsibilities I’ve taken on at home, school, church and in the community. Too many things to do always makes me cranky. I tend to put off some of my responsibilities and get distracted because I am overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. My solution for this is to start delegating or stepping down from some of the responsibilities I’ve taken on. Life just seems to work better for me if I can keep things simple so that I am not distracted.

What is your distraction? What can you do about it?

Purpose

I’ve been reading a lot on the topic of finding your purpose in life. I firmly believe that God created us all with specific purposes in mind. Sometimes I get caught up in the “hunt” for that ONE thing God has put me on earth to accomplish. Recently, I’ve been reminded that the process to getting to do something big for God is as important as the task itself.

For example, I know without a doubt that God has called me to be a stay-at-home mom (SAHM). And, I’ve been doing that for almost 10 years now. Right now, I am working part time outside of the home, but it is only for a short season. While I’m going about my duties as a SAHM, I tend to look at other women’s lives thinking that they are fulfilling their purpose in life while I’m doing laundry and cooking dinner. God has shown me this week that these things that I’m doing that seem so insignificant are exactly what He wants me to do RIGHT NOW.

No matter how many times I have tried to work outside of the home since having kids, I’ve never felt fulfilled or satisfied with those jobs. And most of those jobs are ministry related. God has shown me time and time again that my place is at home taking care of my family and providing a comfortable and safe place to come to at the end of the day. I know He is preparing me for other assignments, but for right now He has called me to be right where I am serving Him wholeheartedly with joy.

You may feel you are stuck in a place where there is no hope for something better. Take a look around where God has placed you. Can you see that He has called you to serve in that place? Are you so busy looking ahead that you miss the special moments of today?

On the Right Path

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” Proverbs 27:12 NIV

God has been at work in a real way in my life over the last few months. He has provided me with opportunities to grow and learn as I develop leadership skills within a ministry position. Along the way I’ve been given many opportunities to do new things and have even had the chance to change my lifestyle through a full time job. However, God has been very specific about what He wants from my life. Some of the opportunities that have come my way have been really good things, but they did not fit in with the destination I firmly believe God is leading me toward.

We’re all given opportunities to daily walk with God on the path He chooses for us. But for us to walk with Him on that path, we have to choose that path. I’ve been very convicted lately by a book I’m reading by Andy Stanley. It is called The Principle of the Path, and I highly recommend reading it if you are trying to make sense out of your life. He states that everything we want to accomplish or be is the result of following a certain path. If you say you want to lose weight yet keep on eating unhealthy food and avoid exercise, then you are not headed down the right path to produce the results of weight loss. To reach the desired end result, we must learn and follow the path that is necessary to achieve that result.

I’ve thought about many decisions I’ve made in the last few weeks and how they do not fit in with the end result I am trying to achieve. See if any of these sound familiar.

I want to lose weight yet I keep eating unhealthy foods and do not exercise

I say I want to be closer to God but I do not study His Word as often as I should

I want deeper friendships but I don’t make the time to develop them

I want a clean and organized home but I spend my free time on the Internet

What decisions have you made that have sidetracked you from your goals?

Opportunity

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16.

“Seize the day!” is my motto for today. My kids are in school, I do not have to work and there is much to be done around my house. So, I am going to make the most of this opportunity to do my best to get my house back in order.

We are warned in Ephesians to be aware of how we live. We can choose to be wise in the decisions we make each day and seize each opportunity that comes our way. My heart has been convicted lately of opportunities God has given me that I have not acted on. So, in the coming days, I’m going to be diligent in trying to seize the following opportunities:

1. Time with family—my husband and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary this weekend. I aim to spend more quality time with him, getting to know how he’s changed over the last 12 years and what matters most to him. I also desire to spend time alone with each of my kids. They are changing daily, and I want to be able to know everything about them.
2. Time alone—Now that I’m working four days a week, I really need to focus on carving out time for me. I need the time to refresh and renew my energies so that I can be a better wife and mother. I will strive to get at least a few minutes alone each day.
3. Time with God—I generally have a quiet time with God in the morning before my day gets away from me. But sometimes that time is rushed because there is much to be done before the kids get off to school. So, I plan to set aside more time during the day to spend time studying God’s Word and praying. I am at a stage in life where circumstances change day by day. I need God’s wisdom and guidance to help me make wise decisions.

So, how about you? What opportunities are waiting for you? What will you do to make the most of every opportunity?

Public vs. Private

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Matthew 6:5 NIV

My education background is in accounting. I hold a CPA (inactive) license. Notice that I put inactive in parenthesis. If I hold myself out to be a CPA and do not have an active license that shows I have earned the required continuing education to be active, then I am breaking the rules. Once you pass the CPA exam and obtain a license, then you are required to follow a certain set of rules. These rules require you to hold an active license before you can say you are a CPA in public.

God has some standards for us to follow in public as well. While these same standards also apply to what we do in private, He wants to make sure that what we say and do in public honors Him. Our private and public lives will mirror each other if we are trying to follow God’s standards.

I love facebook. In fact, you could say I’m addicted to it. I love to see what all my “friends” are doing. However, I’ve noticed that sometimes we who profess to be Christians use facebook in a way that is not honoring to God. Spilling all the personal details of our lives to the world is not always a good thing. Then there are times that we use our status updates to either brag about what we are doing or to air our grievances with another person. Many of these things need to be kept private, not made public.

I am constantly editing what I want to share on facebook. I want my posts to be uplifting and encouraging. Not boastful and discouraging. I encourage you to consider your posts before you hit the share button. Is what you’re about to say helpful or hurtful?

Father, show me how to be more encouraging through my public life. Help me to keep private things private and learn how to trust you for all I need.