I can't figure this out

“I’ll figure it out, don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.”

But I can’t figure it out. I am tired of trying to take care of it on my own. I can’t do this by myself.

“…Let your requests be made known to God…” (Philippians 4:6-7)

God, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t figure this all out, but You can! I’m giving all of this to you! Please take all these problems and cares from me!

“…With thanksgiving…” (Philippians 4:6-7)

I am so thankful that I serve a God who can take care of all my problems. I can’t figure this out, but God already has it figured out! I can’t do it on my own, but He has already done it for me! God is so much bigger than my problems! He has prepared my way before me and will never leave me alone. He knows my future and He knows where my next step will take me. He has everything under control. He knows where He is leading me. I simply need to place my trust in Him.

not always the answer we want to hear

It’s not always the answer we want to hear.

Naaman was a great and honorable Commander with Leprosy. All he asked was to be healed. But he wanted a better answer than to go swim in the dirty Israelite river. (2 Kings 5:1-19).

The Jordan river wasn't pleasant. Must have been cold. It was full of mud and sludge.

Dipping down into the river seven times may have been embarrassing for a respected Commander, what would people think?

Elisha could have waved his hands and made him clean, why didn't he?

There were other rivers, better rivers back home, why couldn't he wash in those rivers?

He rode away. It was too much to ask. Was it just a trick? Would he actually be healed by bathing in the river? I was just too ridiculous. 

But he was going to be an outcast, living alone outside of society until the leprosy killed him. Not having many other choices he listened to his servants and turned around, heading to the Jordan River. 

I can imagine his embarrassment and frustration as he got down out of his chariot, took off his robs, and walked down toward the edge of the river. Would this even work? Everyone with him, watching from the side. Were they about to see a miracle or just a silly spectacle? 

And seven times? Isn't that a bit excessive? Why not just one? Maybe even just two! 

What must he have been thinking as he went in for a sixth time? Would if he had given up? 

But he finished, the full seven times. And then what an awesome moment! Every spot was gone, the leprosy had completely disappeared from his body! What rejoicing must have gone on! He had been healed! Not in the way he had imagined, but he did what had been told to do and it worked! 

I wonder if he ever came back to Israel with his family, taking their family vacation along the Jordan river! 

Sometimes we are looking for an answer. We want a miracle. We want something to change in our lives. And so we look to God, the healer, comforter, Father, and ask Him to give us an answer. 

We may be looking for thunder and lightning from Heaven, but God may answer us in a different way. Are we willing to follow His direction even when it wasn't what we thought? Are we willing to go down into the dirty Jordan River seven times before we see results? 

Maybe it isn't the answer you were looking for, but God knows what He is doing. 

And never give up after the sixth, keep going! 

Laying my fears before God

Debt. How will I ever finish paying for school? How will I ever be able to re-pay my parents for the loans they took out so that I could come to College? Not to mention the debt I ow to them for providing for me for twenty years of my life and still giving up their lives for me and my siblings on a regular basis. Will I ever be able to get to the missions field with all this debt? Will I ever be able to get a job that will allow me to pay back what I ow? How will I provide for myself after school ends in August?

Make Your requests known to God... with Thanksgiving.

God has never forsaken my family. He has always provided for us. He is leading us and guiding us. He knows our needs and understands our financial fears. The Bible says that God clothes the lilies of the field, and if He clothes the lilies of the field then He most definitely cares about providing for me (Matthew 6:28)! I am thankful that God has given so much to my family and has blessed us in so many ways. He has allowed my parents to support me and my four siblings growing up, and I can trust that He will continue to provide for us. I am thankful that God is the center of my family, knowing that we will all turn to Him for direction. Financially, God has everything under control even if we don't seem to see it yet. He cares for the birds of the air, how much more does He care about His children (Matthew 6:26).

And so I am laying down my fears before God in prayer, trusting that He is in control.

Thankful that I belong

"Be anxious about nothing..."
Do I really belong here? And if I belong here, what if the job I get is in a place where I don't belong?
Do people see me and wonder why I am trespassing somewhere I don't belong? Is it normal for me to feel out of place wherever I go and once I feel like I fit, something happens to throw me back into that world of uncertainty? At church in my Sunday school classroom there is a shelf full of puzzles, and on that shelf there are a pile of puzzle pieces. These extra puzzle pieces don't seem to belong to any of the puzzles we have. I tried to match up all the pieces with all the puzzles and realized that some pieces just don't have a home. Sometimes I feel like a puzzle piece on a shelf, unclaimed by any of the puzzle boards.

Casting this fear of not belonging aside I want to hold fast to the truth of belonging to Christ. I am so thankful for being a part of the body of Christ. Jesus said that if I accept Him then I can be a part of His family! What an honor to be a part of God's family! He is my Father and I am His daughter, and He loves me for who I am! He took that puzzle piece off the shelf because He has already created a puzzle board that would fit me. He created me with a special design so that I could fit into His puzzle. I am thankful that I belong to God! The Bible says that once we belong to God, no one can snatch us out of His hand! What a beautiful picture, sitting in the palm of His hand, protected from everything that could hurt us! We belong to God!

With Thanksgiving #2

Be anxious for nothing, but in all things... with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. -Philippians 4:6-7

With the end of school in sight I find myself scared about what the future might hold for me. Finding a new place and a new job. I don't like the unknown and I don't like change. When I was little my dad got me a new dresser, I couldn't sleep that night with the new dresser in the room because I could see its shadow looming in the dark and it wasn't my dresser. I was only able to fall asleep when my mom assured me that if it was a problem we could get my old dresser back. In the morning I realized that it wasn't so bad after all, my dad had given me a better dresser and the old one stayed in the garage. A new job and a new location aren't so different than a new dresser, it takes some time to realize that it will all be ok.

I am thankful that even though my life may change, God will never change. And even though I don't know where I am headed, God knows! No matter where I go and no matter what I do, God is unchanging. He will always be my Father and He will always be with me. The Bible says that things will pass away, but the word of God will never fade (Isaiah 40:8), He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). God is the only thing in this life that we can count on. He is our solid foundation,

Being Thankful

My favorite verse to go to is Philippians 4:6-7, its the verse I go to when I'm worried or filled with anxiety that I know I can't deal with on my own. But I realized that oftentimes I skip over the part in verse 6 that says, "with thanksgiving". My pessimistic nature causes me to look at what I do not have instead of what I do have. I have come to the conclusion that to truly hold onto the promise of Philippians 4:6-7 I need to be more thankful for what God has done in my life. I am going to start today to be thankful about what He has blessed me with.

"With Thanksgiving" #1:
I am thankful that God has placed me at Liberty University. Knowledge is a privilege and being here for the past three years has been an amazing experience. Liberty school of Aeronautics is the best Christian flight/maintenance school and I have been able to learn from some of the most amazing professors, who not only love aviation but are also dedicated to serving God with aviation. Being here studying Aviation is an opportunity and a privilege. I am thankful for the past three years that God has allowed me to be here and I look forward to being here for as long as He has me here.

2015

May God bless us this year with:

• Strength to do what God has called us to do
• Courage to stand up for what we believe
• Perseverance in bringing to Gospel to every corner of the world
• Love to give to those around us
• Diligence in doing His work even when it seems impossible
• Peace through the difficult times
• Wisdom and discernment to know His Truth

In order that we may reach more with the gospel and see many people saved in 2015.

God is sending us out like He sent out the twelve disciples in Matthew 10.

"And as you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand'".
               - Matthew 10:7