God knows...

If you read my last post (Walk the talk), you'll know why I had to post this after I read it today.
This is an old one from insight for today. God knows why I needed to run into it today, now. God always knows.

PEOPLE PANIC . . . GOD PROVIDES
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read 1 Samuel 15:1--19
The tragic story of King Saul is that he never, ever fully repented of his sin. Saul's greatest concern was his image, how he looked before the people. Even after Samuel gave him a break, Saul took advantage of it and continued in that same vein until the day he took his own life. How sad is that?
Samuel has reached the end of his rope. The people elected Saul king, but he's no longer qualified. What are they to do? Israel is surrounded by enemies, and they need someone to carry the scepter. But who? Samuel didn't know and couldn't imagine. The people didn't know and had no suggestions. No one knew . . . except God.
What Samuel didn't realize---what we often don't realize---is that behind the scenes, before He ever flung the stars into space, God had today in mind. He had this very week in mind. In fact, He had you in mind. And He knew exactly what He was going to do. God is never at a loss to know what He's going to do in our situations. He knows perfectly well what is best for us. Our problem is, we don't know. And we say to Him, "Lord, if You just tell me, then I'll be in great shape. Just reveal it to me. Explain Your plan to me, and I'll count on You." But that's not faith. Faith is counting on Him when we do not know what tomorrow holds.
When a man or a woman of God fails, nothing of God fails. When a man or woman of God changes, nothing of God changes. When someone dies, nothing of God dies. When our lives are altered by the unexpected, nothing of God is altered or unexpected. It was the prophet Isaiah who wrote: "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24).
"Before you even utter a word," God promises, "I'm involved in answering. In fact, while you're speaking, I'm involved in bringing to pass the very thing I have planned from the get go."
God knows exactly what He's going to do, and nothing can restrain His bringing it to pass.

Walk the talk...my turn

How many times have I encouraged someone with the words "trust, God is in control. He's taking care of you"? I will say, many times. Every single time I have meant those words, because I have been totally sure that God will come through for that person. Well, I guess we all come to a point in our lives where we must truly believe those words for ourselves, that point where we get the opportunity to walk the talk. This, at times, can become quite challenging, which is why that phrase "easier said than done" is so famous.

You decide to visit the dermatologist to get something checked out. Dr. comes in, checks out the side of your face, pokes your cheek a couple of times, mumbles few words and then leaves the room. He comes back in with another Dr. to get her reaction. Then you hear them say the words biopsy, possible cyst or infection and then the complete world comes to a stop when you hear them scream to the top of their lungs the words SKIN CANCER!!!!!!. Needless to say, they did not scream the words, they actually just mumbled them, but I heard them...and it freaked me out.

Both Dr's leave the room, then your Dr. comes back in and tells you that he has decided to refer you to another Dr. who he usually sends his strangest cases to...WHAT?...HELLO!!!!!! I mean, would you have freaked out at this point as well or am I just SENSITIVE??? Then the Dr. kind of freaks out himself when he finds out that you are a "self-pay patient" with no insurance. He clearly tells you that he is concerned and that he wants you to go get a second opinion from someone he completely trusts. You get a referral, get an appointment at the "weird cases Dr. office" and off you go, knowing that you have to be in limbo for a whole week, because there was nothing available sooner than that.

Time to walk the talk folks. Time to walk in faith, believing that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord.

As I wait (one of the hardest things for us humans), I will hold on to those words I have so often shared with others. I know that I have your prayers to count on as well.

Will keep you posted....

Don't forget to remember...

We live such busy lives, specially those that have been called to ministry. As we know, ministry is not a job, it's a life style. I see it all the time. As I had dinner with my favorite puertorican/ dominican, I lost count of all the phone calls, e-mails, text messages he got during that time. He would just look at me with puppy eyes and say "Sorry, I have to answer this one". I understood, because I know that ministry is not a 9-5 job...that's for sure. It doesn't stop.
The dangerous thing about it is that we can get caught up on all the doing and running and planning, sometimes forgetting about ourselves, about our own walk with God. Then, all of the sudden, we feel drained, tired and discouraged. This is only because we forgot to remember. Remember what? Remember that in order for our bodies to function properly, we must eat. We need nutrients that make us strong. Same in our spiritual walk. We need to take time to feed ourselves with the word, with moments of worship, with moments of meditating and moments of listening to what He, our God, has to say to us.
I mean, this can happen to any of us. It almost happened to me this past weekend. It was service after service and I kept on missing the teaching. I would hear people comment on how great the teaching was and how God had used our Pastor, but I kept missing the opportunity to just listen. I finally remember at the 5pm Sunday service and ran out to go to the auditorium to seat and listen. It's amazing how blessed I was by this weekends teaching. I needed it so much. It was a nice warm meal for my tired and hungry heart. I was SO GLAD for having had the opportunity to seat down and be fed. I'm glad I remembered.
That's where our strength will come from, for us to be able to keep up with the demands of ministry. Our strength, our spiritual energy will come, when we don't forget to remember.

To think about...

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.

-Doug Larson