Category: Quarantine 30 Day Challenge

30 days ago, I set out on a journey to pray and seek God more intentionally. I am so thankful for all of you who have followed along and joined me on this journey. I really appreciate the time you took to read my blog posts every day.

Today as I’ve tried to write, my words fail me. The only words that come to mind are “LIFE IS A VAPOR.”

Today, many of us were reminded how short life is and how quickly we are here one day and how quickly we can be gone the next. And it makes me realize that I don’t want to waste the time that I’m given here on earth. I want to live it in a way that honors God. I want to love Him with my entire being and love those around me. I want to live at peace with others as far as it depends on me. I want to love hard and forgive quickly. Because when my time comes to see Jesus, I want to leave a legacy that my husband and my kids are proud of. Just like my daddy did for me. He loved God with his entire soul, mind and body and loved those around him just the same.

Our lives are short, fragile and final. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Life is barely a breath and we need to spend it on the things that never go away.
How can we love more? How can we serve those in need more? How can we live a life that when we stand in front of Jesus, He will say…. well done my good and faithful servant? We all mess up. We make mistakes. But if we wake up each day and place our life in God’s hands and try to do better….we will make this world a better place.

“Life is short. Eternity is long. Live like it.” – John Piper

I am struggling to find the words, y’all.  The last two mornings have been a bit of a challenge and I haven’t had time to sit and really dig into God’s Word.  I don’t like writing just to write so I took the day off.  But I wanted to share something that I’ve thought a lot about the last two days.

On Sunday, we listened to Steven Furtick’s message about letting go and I’ve been thinking a lot about it.  He said,

“Certain changes are not embraced, they must be forced.”

Our natural reaction when something is being taken away from us is to fight to keep it. Or when change comes, we don’t welcome it and instead wish for things to go back to the way they were.  I know I’ve had times in my life where I made myself miserable trying to resist change.  You probably have too.  But won’t you agree that on the other side of change, when we finally surrender, we are better for it?

Many of us are frustrated and ready to go back to our “normal lives.”  But what if God has something so much better for us than our “old normal lives?”  What if we are so stuck on our past that we can’t see what God is trying to do for our future?

I used to struggle with my past.  I allowed my failures and mistakes to keep me from walking in the freedom that Jesus gave me when I chose to follow Him.  I allowed my past to keep me from truly experiencing His mercy, His grace and His love.

But I think we can all do that.  We can be so hard on ourselves and live life offering all the grace and forgiveness to everyone else, but when it comes to us, we crucify ourselves for the mistakes we made.

But 2 Corinthians 5:17 says,

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We are a new creation!  We can’t receive the new if we keep holding on to the old.  Read that again.

WE CAN’T RECEIVE THE NEW IF WE KEEP HOLDING ON TO THE OLD.

God wants to set you free today, but you have to do your part and let go.  Let go of the hurts, the past mistakes, anger, resentment, bitterness, defeat, worry and anything that is keeping you from walking in the freedom that Jesus has given you.

You may be reading this and have never experienced this freedom.  Maybe you’ve never given your life to Christ.  If this is you, I would love the opportunity to share Jesus with you.  God sent Him to take our place.  He took our sin and all of our brokenness and He died on a cross so that we may have eternal life.  Life forever with Him.  You can experience this freedom by simply acknowledging your brokenness and admitting that you are a sinner.  Your sin has separated you from Christ and you are in need of a Savior.  And that Savior is Jesus Christ.  He stands with open arms ready to fully accept you just as you are.  He loves you so very much.  If you want to experience that freedom and choose Jesus today simply pray the following prayer,

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness.  I know that you are the son of God sent to die on the cross to save me from my sins.  Lord Jesus, I choose you today and everyday.  Forgive me of my sins and save me today.

If you prayed this today, please let me know.  I would love to pray for you.  You’ve made the best decision you could ever make.

This morning I woke up with a heavy heart.  We are all experiencing life differently these days.  We are in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat.  I’ve heard that a lot and it makes so much sense.

This morning, I remembered the story of Hagar in Genesis 16:1-15.

She was Sarai’s servant who was given to Abram so that she would give him a child.  Sarai had borne Abram no children so she took it upon herself to make it happen in her own way.  And boy is that another lesson for another day!  But today, we will focus on Hagar.

When Hagar became pregnant, she began to despise Sarai.  The Bible says in verse 6,

“But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.”

Hagar left.  She literally said forget this, I’m out of here.

An angel of the Lord found her in the wilderness by a spring of water in the desert.  She was pregnant, alone and feeling hopeless.  But the visit from the angel was life changing for her.  Despite him telling her to go back to Sarai and that her son would not be the son of promise and that he would experience hostility in all of his relationships and would be like a wild donkey.  She still obeyed and she returned.

But she didn’t return before an encounter with the Lord.  One of my favorite verses of the Bible is Genesis 17:13,

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

This verse gives me chill bumps everytime.  I put myself in Hagar’s sandals and I remember all the times when I felt alone and abandoned.  All the times that I found myself in a hard situation and all I could do is think to run away from it.  And there in my misery, sadness, grief and loss….He saw me.  He saw me just as I was.  He is El Roi– the God who sees me.

And He does the same to you.  He sees you right where you are.

I followed this story a little more this morning because I wondered why God would send her back to her mistress.  Why wouldn’t He scoop her up and place her somewhere else where she could be free?

I continued to read and came to chapter 17 verse 20 where the Lord says to Abraham,

“As for Ishmael (Hagar’s son), I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.  He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.”

Then in chapter 21, Sarah asks Abraham to cast Hagar and Ishmael out because she didn’t want Ishmael to be heir with their son Isaac.  God tells Abraham to do as Sarah says and so he gives them bread and a skin of water and sends them away.

They go into the wilderness, all the water is gone and I can imagine it is very, very hot.  She has Ishmael sit under a bush for some shade and she goes to sit down opposite him.  The Bible says she sits about the distance of a bowshot.  And then what she says next at the end of verse 16 gave me chills,

“Let me not look on the death of the child.”

Y’all.  She was preparing to lose her child.  She was preparing for him to die and she couldn’t stand to watch it.  I don’t know that I’ve ever really realized that.  Here she was in the desert again, feeling abandoned, hopeless and alone.  The bible said that she lifted up her voice and wept.  She was done.  She was completely done.  Could you imagine?  She had just lived through hell.  She was shamed and rejected and here she was again in the desert about to lose her son.

As this is going on, the boy is crying and the Bible says that God heard him.  In Genesis 21:17-19 it says,

“God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.”

God made a promise back in chapter 17 verse 20 and He was not about to break that promise.  Who is like our God?  He is faithful and does not break His promises.  He shows up in our hardest moments and He saves us.

Hagar had to go back to a difficult situation.  Her and Ishmael endured suffering, shame and rejection, but God did not forget them.  His promise for their life was fulfilled.

There are seasons in our lives where we are going to have to endure hard things.  Many of us are going through very difficult situations right now.  But God hasn’t forgotten us.  He sees us right where we are. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives and you better believe they will be fulfilled.  God does not break His promises to you.  He never has and He doesn’t intend to start now.

Cry out to Him today.  Wherever you are, whatever your situation may be.  Call out to Him.  He is there.  He is waiting.

And to all of my mommas out there struggling with their kiddos.  Stay the course.  Pray for your kids and speak life to them.  God hears them and He hears us.  God has a plan and purpose for your child and it will be fulfilled.

I love you all and I pray that you are encouraged today by El Roi-the God who sees you.

Wow!!!  Day 21!  Thank you for following along with me.

On Easter Sunday, Elevation Church sang a song called Rattle.  Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel.  This morning I went to the passage in Ezekiel 37:1-14.

God takes Ezekiel down to the middle of a valley where it was full of bones.  Very dry bones.  God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones and when Ezekiel does as the Lord says, the bones begin to rattle and come together.  Not only do the bones come together, tendons and skin begin to appear.  Then God tells Ezekiel to prophesy again in verse 9 which says,

“Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”

So Ezekiel did as God said, and breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (vs.10)!!

Could you imagine???  Stop and think for a minute.  Dry bones, turned into flesh and came to life!  And not only that, God used a mortal to do it.  Ezekiel obeyed and did as God said and watched this unfold right in front of him.

God told Ezekiel that this army, these bones, represented the people of Israel.  They were dry, feeling cut off from God and without hope.  He promised that He would bring them back to the land of Israel and that He would put His Spirit within them so that they could live.

I began to think about how all of this happened in the middle of the valley.  Many of us find ourselves in a valley right now.  We are going through struggles, hardships and tough circumstances.  We are trying our best to hold on to our faith, but each week as life gets harder we can feel our faith weaken.  We are like those dry bones.  We feel cut off from God, dry and parched and have began to lose our hope.

In verse 4, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over those bones by telling them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”  And I believe that God wants us to do the same.  He wants us to Hear the word of the Lord and to declare it over our lives.  God wants you to live.  If you are a follower of Christ, His Holy Spirit is within you and He says live.  1 Peter 2:16 says that the will of God is for us to live as people who are free.  He’s brought you back to life and has placed His spirit within you.  You can be free of whatever is holding you down.  You can live and be filled with hope.  And that hope is Jesus.

Just as God took those bones and put them back together and gave them life, He can do the same with you and your situation.  He can restore and redeem the broken areas in your life.  I love the saying, “there’s nothing too far gone for God.”  I’ve lived far from God and I’ve experienced His embrace and love when I came back to Him.  He will not turn His back on you, He will love you and accept you just as you are.

Whatever is broken in your life right now whether it’s your finances, relationships, or your heart- God can restore it.  He is faithful and He will do it.  Hear His Word today and declare life over your situation.

Dear Lord, help us live a life fully surrendered to you.  Help us continue to trust that you are working in our lives even when we don’t feel you or see you.  Lord, help us live the way you’ve called us to live.  Help us walk in the freedom that you’ve given us.  Thank you Jesus for coming to save us so that we could live a life to the fullest in you.  I pray that you will restore the areas in our life that are broken.  Lord I believe that you can pick up the pieces and create something even more beautiful than what was there before.

As I read my Bible today, God took me to Psalm 139.  I want to encourage you to read it and meditate on it throughout the day.

Verses 7-12 caught my attention this morning,

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.”

God is with us wherever we go.  Let your mind dwell on that today.  Whatever you are going through, God is there with you.  His hand is guiding you and holding you.  I don’t know why, but I feel like someone needs to hear this today:

You are not alone.

Do not let the enemy convince you that God has left you.  Whatever you are struggling with, take it to the Lord in prayer.  In your struggle, in your grief, in your sadness, in your anger and pain…He is there. He will not leave you or forsake you.

I hope that you all are doing ok.  I’ve talked to a lot of my friends and we are all doing the same it seems…. and that’s taking it one day at a time.

Take the time each day to seek God first.  Read His Word and talk to Him.  Remember His words in Matthew 6:33-34,

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Don’t worry about tomorrow, just get through today.  Trust that He’s with you right where you are.

You are not alone.

“There are times you’ll have to yield to living through a difficult time, but not without the power of God to do it.”

Jill Briscoe

As I opened Facebook today I came across this post from President Trump:

“Major News Conference tonight, the White House at 6:00 P.M. (Eastern), to explain Guidelines for OPENING UP AMERICA AGAIN!”

And it made me feel a bit anxious about what this could mean.  We are all ready to resume to normal, but we know that normal is going to look very different.  As I continued to scroll through Facebook, I came across a post from Christine Caine with a video of her praying for our leaders and asking God to heal our land.  I am joining her in praying for this and hope you will join me as well.  Here’s what she posted and a link to her praying.

Please, please, please let’s pray for this today.  Heal our land,  Jesus.  All seems so uncertain and impossible but with you anything is possible.  Believe this with me today.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”