I recently read Psalm 84 and God whispered to my heart that He is near and will give me just enough strength for today.
I am so prone to worry about tomorrow. And as Spencer and I continue on not knowing when God's provision will come or what it will look like, Jesus continually reminds me that I have no need to worry. He was in complete control when He created the heavens and the earth. He was in complete control when He was nailed to the cross. He remains in complete control as He sits enthroned in heaven. He created the universe. He conquered sin and death. He sustains all things. He is Provider, Protector, Defender. And He is with us. He is with me.
0 Comments
As we walk closer towards the Cross, my mind is flooded with the pains of family, friends, and the Church around the world.
So much hurt. So many different trials. Yesterday, Katherine fought her nap so hard. Her little body was exhausted, but she refused to give in. It was like an hour long wrestling match. A wrestling match that left me in tears and left Katherine finally giving in to sleep. She couldn't fight sleep any longer, and I couldn't fight keeping it together any longer. I asked God to please let her learn to sleep well, to take away whatever wakes her so often. And even in the midst of my prayer I had to fight off guilt. Guilt that told me I shouldn't let this sleep struggle get to me because there are much bigger things going on in the world. If this is the toughest thing my sweet Katherine has to deal with than I can only be grateful. I can be grateful, but I can also admit it's hard. Don't you just love moments when God opens your spiritual eyes? When you experience His living and active Word? I have read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 quite a few times. But recently something new jumped out at me.
Verses 21 and 23 say, "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" It's that last phrase that I've never really noticed: Enter into the joy of your master. I just love me some Old Testament. Seriously. It amazes me to read about God's redemptive heart and see how the story continually points to Jesus. I'm traveling through it right now and after reading through Leviticus, a book I have a feeling is often overlooked in personal Bible readings, a couple themes kept surfacing. While there may be many things that are confusing or planted in a different cultural context, our God is the same God. He included this book in His Word for a reason, and so I believe He has important things to say to us through it.
Reading through some of Proverbs this morning, I came across a verse that really struck me. Proverbs 12:20 “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.”
I often associate joy with suffering. One is a product of the other (if you allow it). James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:1-5 have been verses I have clung to throughout my life. When suffering comes alongside you, as a believer you have the opportunity to truly know joy and have the ability to rejoice in any circumstance. But this verse in Proverbs enlightened my heart to another way the Lord provides joy to His people: through planning peace. My heart inclines towards certain passages of Scripture. It just needs to cherish those trusty truths and dwell on the past faithfulness of God in order to be strengthened for the current day’s struggles, temptations, and troubles.
Sometimes the Lord will refresh my heart with a new insight to a passage. But other timesHe directs me to a place we have tarried before. He invites me to sit with Him and remember the way He comforted and sustained, gave peace and strength in previous days. My mind has reverted to a couple verses in Daniel recently as I’ve thought about the Lord’s activity in my life and around me. I went through Beth Moore’s Daniel study several years ago when I still lived in Orlando, and it caused my spiritual eyes to be awakened to that magnificent book (as well as Revelation since the two are so connected). That Bible study packs a mighty theological punch that will make you long for the return of our Savior and fall more in love with Him while we wait. I just love these verses: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, but it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
When people read Scripture, I think they tend to read more in the New Testament. Believers love pouring over the gospels and the letters, which is without a doubt wonderful. But the New Testament doesn’t make sense without the Old Testament. The Old is the context for the New. You can’t have the New without the Old. And the Bible those first believers had was the Old Testament.
I’ve always been intrigued with the Old Testament. Some of my favorite classes in college were the Old Testament ones. And anytime I get to read something that sparks a greater love for those unique books I jump at it. Pain is real.
Suffering happens daily. Trials unexpectedly pounce from behind bushes and come screaming down the road from miles away. There have been certain things that I’ve endured in this life that have made me long for Jesus and His return in a extra real way. Certain experiences have given me eyes to see what my heart longs for…to be home. Truly home. The home I was created for. Some physical and emotional pains made me cry out for my Savior to come quickly. But more recently, engagement last year and pregnancy this year have been the biggest earthly echoes of my heart’s longing to be with my Father.
|
Categories
All
Archives
January 2019
Sarah ConnatserSarah loves Jesus and her family and is passionate about addressing the urgent spiritual and physical needs around the world. She is the wife of Spencer and mama of Katherine and Claire, and they live in Nashville, TN. She runs a photography business with her husband and writes in order to offer encouragement and invite others to choose grace, joy, and gratitude in the adventure and the mundane. She loves traveling and reading; she will choose unsweet tea over sweet and bootcut jeans over skinny; and she is all sorts of awkward with small talk but thrives with deep conversations. |