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Friday, March 11, 2011

Trust implicitly, pray explicitly





4:03 p.m. Today's project was to wake up and literally see what the Lord had in store for me! After coming home from the Rock&Worship Roadshow after 11:30, and then finishing yesterday's post at 12:05 a.m., 7:00 came pretty early!

We said good morning to our teacher daughter who soon headed out the door. She ran back in for something or other upstairs, then left. Now that I reflect on it, that must have been the Lord reminding her of another important item to take along. The reason I think that, is because by 7:45, she called me, and what was my first mental reaction as a mom? "Were you in an accident?" But it was nothing serious, just aggravating--she had left a huge bag of Popsicles for her class' end-of-quarter reward party in our freezer, and would I bring them to her, ideally before my 10:15 hairdresser appointment?

Yikes!!

So I said yes (of course!), finished my devotions, showered, made up and dressed, and took off with the Popsicles for the Jurupa area and her elementary school. Fridays are dedicated to my Mary Kay business because I demo and sell products at the Upper Echelon hair salon, and, since Steve's caregiver is always at home with him, I take advantage of those precious and productive hours. I hand out invites to events, make phone calls, and today had planned to interview several prospective consultants. So I can't just run out the door looking like "who sent for what" to quote my late mother. Need to look sharp when I wear my MK pin!
I ended up making excellent time on the freeway there and back, and handed out samples as well as saying hi to an old colleague, Heidi's principal. On the way home, I grabbed some Frigo string cheese, Sargento pepper jack sticks, Babybel rounds, salmon cream cheese spread, and Laughing Cow wedges. Can you tell I'm getting back to some serious Atkins dieting? I love that I can have lots of cheese!! And butter, meat, fish, berries, nuts and whipped cream.
Steve and I had a few minutes together before his caregiver arrived. Steve had taken care of his breakfast just fine and was looking forward to the two of them mowing the lawns. 10:00 came, and I was off to continue a day that had become hectic before 8 o'clock!
My early morning errand caused me to reflect on times when I have heard God quietly urge me '"Go back," and I either haven't, not believing it was the Lord; or I went back for some shallow reason, but did not wait on the Lord for His purpose. Not one of us believers can lay claim to a perfect record of listening, but we can commit to growing our spiritual ears! And more than any commitment we can make to Him, is the way God is committed to His children! Psalm 33:13-15 says,
The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
He fashions their hearts individually;
He considers all their works.
God's commitment to His children, infinitely far beyond any efforts I have put forth over 35 years and 5 children, comes with a blessing of help to mature. His Holy Spirit patiently teaches and re-teaches us through our years of walking with Him. I Corinthians 1:30 says "Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." The unsaved, or "natural man," I Corinthians 2:14 says, "does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." We believers have exclusive access!
This morning we awoke to a hugely shocking unexpected event, an 8.9 earthquake destroying, burning, and causing a massive tsunami in northeastern Japan, a tsunami so huge that it caused giant waves to come ashore in Maui, as well as along the central and northern coasts of California and Oregon. Fort Bragg, our oldest son's hometown while he was stationed with the Coast Guard, was evacuated. A friend who recently moved there, told me her news as she watched from higher ground. A photographer was swept out to sea in a nearby town.
Deliver, Lord, in Your great mercy! is my prayer as nuclear power plants in Japan are releasing radiation into the atmosphere because of internal pressure 8 times as high as normal. Will they blow? Northern Japan has fires raging out of control. The death toll could reach at least 1,000.
There is only one way to prepare for the unexpected, no matter what form it takes--be always in close communion with our Heavenly Father! We must trust Him implicitly, and and pray to Him explicitly. When pressures build up in our own lives, we must know Whom to call upon!
Psalm 27:3-5 expresses the strength knowing God gives the believer whether in fire, rising waters, or war:
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing have I desired of the LORD,
That will I seek;
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
In this I will be confident!


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