Keeping on….

This post is a follow up to the one last one I wrote.. it seems like the topic of life’s disappointments continues to surface daily for me. One of the most difficult things to face is the fact that people’s choices often impact our lives in huge ways yet there is literally nothing we can do to make them behave differently..We can pray for them..and with them..we can talk with them. We can point out the things that would help them.. yet the choice is still theirs.

If you are the care-giving type like I am.. nothing feels like it is enough.. so there is a certain level of frustration that is difficult to handle. As I wrestle through these things.. I hear a quiet voice saying ” Rest in me, look to me, remember me.. I am in this.” It is God..speaking His truth to my heart. He is sovereign over everything and everyone..His plan is unfolding and He is going to redeem everything in the end. We are only passing through this place..our lives are so far from perfect, our relationships are so complicated..we know so little about God’s purposes.

He is asking us to trust Him when nothing makes sense..when others frustrate us, when our hearts are broken in many places. He is calling us to come to Him in a greater way..to lean on Him and to allow Him to comfort and heal us. Do you need this? I do.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” ( Isaiah 43:1-3)

In the fog..

About a week ago we visited the Sonoma coast area and went for a long walk along the cliffs above the beach. We started out in the mid afternoon and as we walked the fog began to settle all around us. Soon it was like a shroud that came in and made it impossible to see much of anything but the path in front of us.

As we were walking I kept thing that it was a visual picture of the very experience we were having with the Lord. We know we are on the right path yet we are unable to see much beyond the next few steps. The fog is thick .. keeping us from seeing anything that will happen in the future. There was a strange beauty in this foggy scene..not the type that is so obvious on a sunny day with blue skies and white puffy clouds or the amazing view of the foamy white waves breaking on the shore below us. There was a subtle beauty that was expressing itself in the grey mist all around us.

It was food for thought for me. Here we were in this place knowing that on a different day we would have seen all those things I just wrote about. But God brought us out there on this type of day..to be in the fog.. to be with Him. Later as I thought through all this.. I realized that He was in that fog with us..guiding us down the path. One day soon we will see those blue skies and the sparkling water. For now..it is time to take His hand and keep walking.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19

Celebration!

We are celebrating this weekend. My husband and I have our anniversary on March 30th and this year it is the day before Easter. We met on the day before Easter 12 years ago and we got married a year later on the day before Easter..that year the date was March 30th. We actually picked our wedding date because we wanted it to be on the day before Easter. I love this time of year and I feel like we must be deeply connected to it. Even our last name, Feaster, has Easter in it:) God does have a great sense of humor!

We will celebrate our marriage tomorrow and then on Sunday we will celebrate the event that enables us to have this wonderful life that God has given us. We have so much to be grateful for. My life was in shambles 14 years ago and now it is overflowing with blessings that I could never have anticipated. This great God has given me abundant life, not a perfect life, but one overflowing … filled with new things that He is doing in me and around me. He is my source and my companion, my comforter and my friend.

Take time to appreciate God and His good gifts this Easter. Remember His goodness and His faithfulness. Easter is just the beginning of a brand new season.. embrace it . Watch for what God is doing and join in.. you will not be disappointed!

“Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

A new thing

Since today is the first of August.. it gives me an excuse to write about new beginnings. Dates always remind me of the way we can wake up each morning and start fresh. Every single day is a new beginning.. but some days really don’t feel like that. They may seem to be the same as the day before and the day before that. When that happens to me.. I know it is a sign.  I feel stuck and I begin to ask God what to do.

Since He is always doing a new thing.. I can be sure that if I am not experiencing new insights and new revelations of His character in my life.. I am missing something. Of course there are times when He is silent and we just have to wait. Then there are times when we are anxious and worried; we can’t hear Him because our own thoughts are drowning out His voice. The best times are when He reveals things to us..shows us where we are in His story and directs our steps. Our hope is renewed!

It is very comforting to remember that He is never standing still and is always at work in this world. He never leaves us or moves away from us. He waits for us when He needs to and He uses everything around us to draw us forward into the plan He has for us. Even those circumstances that seem unbearable are His tools to keep us seeking and desiring and longing for the abundant life He offers us.  Our God is amazing!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”