This past week seems like it's been dragging on more than usual? I don't know why, but it was just kind of a
horrible week with school, my car, just feeling really negative & blue, & missing my sister(s). But it was
such a rich weekend with the 400-some people I got to experience God with, so that should have left me in a really good mood all week!
I definitely think it was the Devil trying to seep his way into my heart for sure. Just every morning this week was awful & leaving me in a bad, nasty mood,
instead of making the best out of the worst or rejoicing & being glad. BUT low and behold my Lisa came in & saved the day(s) with a
pep-talk/reminder/encouragement that made me remember I was trying to finish these thoughts LAST week, but forgot about them..
So my mom is full of a lot of wisdom & good-solid-advice.. which I am SO thankful for, I hope if I have a daughter someday, I can pour as much wisdom & good advice into her as my mom always has into me!! BUT all that to say ONE of the good things she ALWAYS reminds me of is the only three ways God answer's prayer requests, no matter how big or small: Yes. No. Wait.
{At Lighthouse two weeks ago Cliff talked about Habakkuk & how he was waiting on an answer from God & I read these verses over the weekend on our retreat..so I had to finish writing about it!!}US: How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?
GOD: Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
{For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the endand will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay!!!!!!!!!!!}
So we get on our knees before God, asking him for this or that
{you fill in the blank}. Waiting for God to answer our pleads. Obviously we wouldn't mind if God answered everything we prayed about with a YES or in the way WE want them to be answered...
but there are times when we have to reluctantly be content with a no or a not yet.
Those are the seasons that might
seem like a valley or leave us angry with why God isn't answering our prayer the way WE want Him to. Or these seasons of "no" or "wait" can be used to
grow closer to the Him...
If it's not time for something to happen in our story yet, then
God is still paving the way for something great coming our way. If it's not time for something to happen in our story yet, maybe
God is using that time to bring us closer to Him. If it's not time for something to happen in our story yet,
we need to keep our eyes & heart open for the little things, all leading to the end result our God has for us.
When God says "no" to something as much as it hurts to swallow that {especially if it's something we were SO sure about} and as hard as it is to accept a straight up NO,
maybe not right then, but eventually you'll start to see exactly why God said no to something or didn't make something happen in the way WE wanted it to. We start to pray harder, or more frequently,
trying to fight the NO. Trying to change God's mind somehow. When that happens to me, I'm so sure of something and then it doesn't turn out the way I wanted it to, I can
always see later on that it was really a blessing that God had a different plan for me rather than giving me what I thought I needed.
We serve a gracious God, who wants & desires the BEST for us, He knows what we need, WHEN we need it. He doesn't delay.
{another thing my mom always tells me is if God doesn't answer our prayers in a way we wanted Him to or the way we thought He was going to (a NO or a WAIT) that He has something ELSE, something BETTER waiting for us...that He's still preparing us for!!}Then there's the times when God gives us what we've been praying for. A
yes. He answers a prayer {big or small} with a
YES. A
go ahead. A
it's time.
He doesn't delay.
He knows we're ready for something,
He knows it's time for this or that. What!? It's exciting & scary at the same time.
Too good to be true. Blessing. Joy. Happiness. Undeserving. It's almost like this answer is more work than a "wait" or a "no" because it's a
constant, day to day surrender to the One who blessed us with our YES.
Giving up whatever it is He's blessed us with & remembering none of it's ours.
{in other news totally unrelated, it needs to be s p r i n g already.}
{the fillmore girls.}
{picture, totally unrelated:: just r-e-a-l-l-y missing my twin right now..
The longest we've been apart is probably a week? And that was with texting, calling, & facebook! So.. the million dollar question I've been hearing a lot lately is how I'm going to cope without the twin for SIX months.
It really hasn't hit me & probably won't either until tomorrow when we leave the airport or probably Sunday night going to Lighthouse by myself, or sometime next week when I finally realize "oh I have my own car now, I don't have to go pick the twin up from work" or "sweet, I have no one to complain about my mom to!!" :) Either way.. I think {key word: think} I'm ready for it, but we'll see!!
It's kind of exciting too though because we're going to be living six months without each other, being our own person, no longer identifying to new people we meet as "twins" but Courtney or Lindsay. For the first time in both our lives we're going to be experiencing new things without each other as a side kick, support, or security blanket.
All I know is God has paved the way for Courtney's journey from dreaming to it actually being time to start this new adventure! She has done a lot of hard work to get to this point & I know she's been faithful to God calling her to this ministry in the land down under!
So instead of worrying about me & how I'm going to be without her here at home, pray for her safety, for her team she'll be living & working with for the next six months, for funds that still need to be raised, & for Courtney to just be another tool for increasing the Kingdom!
