Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. ~Psalm 37:4
This was the first verse I read today during my devotional time at the end of my day. It quickly brought things into focus for me. By focus, I mean clarity. Clarity is my “One Word” word I picked to concentrate and explore in my spiritual life throughout this year. I tend to be very concrete in a lot of my views and I like having things neat and tidy, a place for all of life’s little pieces. Not realistic, hence exploring! This week has been filled with events needing clarity, I am so very thankful for the spiritual searching, learning and growing of the past year. God has brought invaluable people into my life to help with this journey, I would love to thank each one publicly but I respect their privacy; however, I hope they know I am overjoyed to have them in my life. I have learned over the past few years and most especially the past few months when my life is centered around God I have a sense of order, peace and balance in my life. When I start to waver in my devotion and allow things to clutter and distract me, I feel uneasy and easily frustrated. I recently experienced a valuable lesson that so vividly describes what I am like when I allow distance between me and God. I sometimes become very passionate and animated in my views and in my interpretation of how the world should be, “according to Charlotte, that is…” Those who know me personally are getting a “chuckle” right now. So, I had a brief yet very loud verbalization stating my disapproval of a coworkers actions, in my opinion of course! I overreacted to the actions of this individual because I was being judgmental, the truth is the person I was judging hadn’t changed or deviated from their usual behavior, it was my behavior that had changed and my need to have things my way. I had allowed myself to become judge and jury for which I have no claim to, God is in control and the further away from God I am the less control and balance I have and display. I am in no way bragging about this poor display of humanness, I only mention it because I want to highlight the closer my relationship is with God and the more I am in conversation with God, the better my life is and as well as those around me. God wants us to be happy and filled with goodness and as the verse in Psalm says, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Another favorite of mine is: Matthew 6:33 (KJV) “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you read the whole chapter of Matthew you will see that God will provide and He does! Be open to God and trust is His guidance, we don’t always see the logic of things until afterwards, God teaches us through adversity and pain, preparing our hearts and minds to be strong during difficult periods in our lives. It is only when we recognize these experiences do we truly see the divine tapestry of God’s hand not only in our lives but in the universe. This past week I have had to face two uniquely different circumstances one of emotions opening up the past, reliving memories and one involving physical health. Because of my relationship with God and the lessons I have learned, have I been able to be brave in the face of the “unknown” health concerns and I have no doubts that the difficult times I’ve endured over the past five years were about teaching me to trust in God and place my faith in God so I could have an opportunity to help someone else heal as well as myself and to appreciate love. My idea of love and what it looks like has changed through the years, we learn these lessons only by experience. I do not wish sadness on anyone but for me I understand love more deeply because of the loss of being in love, loss of being loved and the loss of a loved one. I’ve learned that even relationships that end doesn’t equate to being a bad/mistake relationship, maybe incompatible or goals changed…choose to remember the happy times, funny times…things that make you grin just by thinking of them, things that give you butterflies in your stomach. Relationships are not easy, they are actually processes that continually evolve. Time stops for no one, be part of life…living and growing together. I am so amazingly blessed, first chances, second chances…God never gives up in us!
Friends, be open to possibilities but more importantly, be open to God working in, around and through you!
~Blessings and Peace~
References:
http://www.biblegateway.com
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