Moments of Quiet Truth

S omething new has happened over the past few days.      For the first time, there is a settled sense of contentment being where I am right now with no strong desire to not be here. I am loving my church and putting down roots without the apprehension that they might have to be pulled up when I leave someday. I've been scared for a long while of becoming too attached to people here in Greenville. I told myself it was because I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life here and would most likely be leaving shortly (where to, I don't know). I told myself it would be easier to leave if I didn't get too close. I'm not afraid anymore.      The anxiety that accompanied the attempt to keep people at arm's length is gone (for the most part). The anxiety about what I'm supposed to be doing right now is gone.      The Lord has given me two part-time jobs, one of which starts next week and the other I've had for a few months. I'm supposed to be here. I&

     D o you ever wonder why it's hard to hear God in the hard times? When life is so full of noise, it's hard to spend time with Him and, if so, to enjoy it. When life is stressful and full of unanswered questions, why is it hard to hear truth? Why is it hard to hear God? Why is it hard to believe in His gentle, faithful love when life is painful? "I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me up from the pit of [noise] and out of the [places of destruction].  He set my feet upon [a broad place], making my steps secure. . . ." Ps. 40:1-2      Life can get to be so hard that you stop listening to the voice of His love. Life can be weighed down with so much pressure that you stop thanking Him for His obvious and good gifts. You stop seeing them. His love seems to be put on mute.      When God removes the pressure, answers the questions, removes the thing(s) that was causing the noise, it's easier to hear Him, to stop and

" O that all my distresses and apprehensions         might prove but Christ's school         to make me fit for greater service         by teaching me the great lesson of humbly"                                                "Need of Grace" - Valley of Vision      These past few months have been full of distresses and apprehensions for me as I have sought the Lord's mind concerning a possible teaching position for this upcoming fall. The job fell through and I'm thankful.      I'm the type of person who works well when she knows what the next thing is. I think that's all of us. I do really well, feel as though I am best able to utilize my time, when I am given a checklist of things to do, of tasks to accomplish, when I know what the next thing is. Teaching was going to be that for me. Knowing the various struggles that would have been a part of that job, I'm thankful I won't be heading in that direction right now. So, . . . .

"I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me ; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice . For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.' The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you , into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!" Jonah 2:2-9      I have never really paid attention to Jonah's p

(from the time spent at home this past winter) C ontentment is grounded in a firm trust in your God.      That is a lesson the Lord has been teaching me over these past few months and even days. Things have been a bit topsy turvy here at home. It's taken some adjustment to get into the swing of a crazy stressful schedule - food pantry, care of elderly lady here in the building, sibling time, time with friends, etc. My life has been very busy, just in a very different sense than it was back in Greenville. Through it all, the Lord is continuing to teach me contentment and trust in His love for me and His desire to do me only good. I'm wiped out and emotionally drained but hopeful in Him.      It hasn't all be work and stress. There have been some sweet times with my Savior too. :) I'm reminded often of my need for absolute dependence on Him. He doesn't scold or disapprove when I come to Him with things, situations, people I can't handle or don't understan

W hat God ordains is always good: His will is just and holy: And though the path be wrought with thorns, I follow meek and lowly. My God, indeed, in every need knows well how He will shield me. To Him, then, I will yield me; to Him, then, I will yield me. "What God Ordains" by Samuel Rodigast  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyoIPjE6dMM      That has been the theme that my Jesus has woven throughout these past six months. The battle is already won and the struggle and straining for the right is never in vain. Submission to Him is never the wrong thing to do. " Every act of obedience is an act of worship." Ernest Prentiss      These past six months He has brought me to the edge of the precipice, the emptying of my strength, the end of my rope and He has brought me back again. I don't know why God cracks open doors of opportunity, leaves them open with the possibility of stepping through them, and then closes them. I have to know that He does it f