Blessed Assurance

Good Morning Sunshines!

Greetings from the Land of the Still Sleeping! I love getting up before everyone else (Cliff's already gone for work...call time was 6am!), sitting here with Pandora set on Matt Redman (last night it was Jeremy Camp), hearing the heater pop on (the best!!), and anticipating my coffee to finish brewing. There is silence. There is peace. There is wonder despite sitting here in pjs with hair going everywhere! And I love that!

For to have Him as the first and last thoughts of my day is truly amazing! The peace that puts you to sleep, and the peace that you wake up to is undeniable. And it's the peace that transcends the muck of your life. It's the peace that tells you to be patient, He is working. It's the peace that tells you to stop worrying, He is in control. It's the peace that tells you to stop manipulating, He will see to it that your heart is redeemed and along the way, those hearts closest to you.

I was really convicted last night as I was thinking about the junk in my life, and some difficult people whom I love with all my heart but who make life really difficult for themselves because they are not grounded in His worth and love. I can sit and think and try to figure them out and analyze the why behind their behavior. But what does any of that matter? If I'm not on my knees in prayer and handing them straight over to the Lord, then how do I expect to get out of the way and allow Him to work? No wonder the problems are on-going!

And let me offer a slight warning: just because we lay people of the feet of Him who can save all things, it does not mean they will change. But He will change your heart and your perspective in dealing with those people. Do not expect God to change other people, think of that as a bonus gift for coming to Him! But expect Him to change YOU. Come expectant!

The kids and I watched "Evan Almighty,” which I find really funny and cute. Morgan Freeman’s character “God” ends up waiting on Evan’s wife in a restaurant and says this little tid-bit that caused me to wonder: “If you pray and ask God for more patience, does He give you more patience or does He give you more circumstances that will test your patience? If you pray for more courage, does He give you more courage or does He give you circumstances that need courage?”

I thought about that for a long time. Psalm 138:3 “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.” God doesn’t rescue us from all problems. He doesn’t wave His magic wand and declare all pain and suffering gone. Instead He carries us through. Think of the “Footprints” poem about Jesus carrying the author in the times where only one set of footprints is seen in the sand. (And the author was convinced that he was alone, and God had abandoned him.) He grants us the strength to endure (Is. 40:31) and the more we abide IN Him, the more our hearts are blessed (John 15:7). An answer to prayer may be slow (Luke 18:7, Ps 40:1); it may be different than we expected (2 Cor. 12:8-9); and it may not fix the problem, but fix you (James 5:16). But you knew that when you put Him in charge of your life, that you released all your control, reservations, and needs into His omniscient being.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Just a rabbit trail I went down.


Proverbs 9
Proverbs 9:10 “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding.”


I love this verse because the more we dig ourselves into His Word, the more we understand His wisdom, His infinite love, His enduring strength, and His desire to bring us closer to Him. When we give our hearts to the Lord for the first time and receive salvation, it is just the beginning of our faith journey navigated by Him.



Let me compare our faith walk to marriage. When you said your “I do’s,” you became “wife.” You were “saved” from the single life, filled with frozen dinners, messy beds, and endless bad dates! You head home with your “hubby” (who was just awarded his title as well), and forget to work on your marriage. You ARE married, why do you need to continue to work on it? You reached and achieved “Happily Ever After.” For all love stories in fairy tales or the movies end when the people fall in love, or get married. Some of them will jump ahead to when the couple has kids…causing all us women folk to “oohhhh” and “ahhhh” as tears well up in our eyes.



But the reality of a marriage and the true meaning of that marriage relationship is realized days, months, years after the vows are exchanged. If a movie actually devled into a marriage, how many would be considered a “love story”? Probably not many. We call those “real” stories dramas! (Sidenote: If you want to see a real story of marriage, rent The Story of Us with Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfieffer.)



For ladies, without work, our marriage is just a functional, practical union between two consenting people who are only looking to own the title…not BE the title. We will clinically cohabitate, and probably do so not so happily. And in the end, our marriage will be an empty shell of what could be.



As part of the journey of marriage that begins at the exchanging of vows and rings comes the understanding that the wedding is just the tip of the iceberg. For it's truly about getting to know your hubby, and walking the walk of the relationship. And the more you invest in understanding your hubby- what makes him tick, what ticks him off, what goes on in that busy head of his- the more accurate you will see him and his actions. You will be able to respond to him on the basis of what is REAL, not what you perceive, because you KNOW him. You are in conversation with him. You are real with him. And he knows you intimately.



Not unlike our faith walk with the Lord.



We can give our hearts to the Lord, but then forget in the busy-ness of life to work out our faith in our daily doings. In the end, our faith will be a shell. "Christian" will be a title we hold, but the fruit of a true growing faith will not be ours.



For if accepting Him is only about being granted eternity in heaven, then we’re missing the intense journey where He will mold us, fill us, and use us beyond our wildest dreams. Yes, eternal life is the result of salvation. It is the sweet gift from His heart to ours. But working out faith on earth, sanctifying our hearts and minds in His love and time requires a constant surrendering of our own understanding and will to His.



The more we cling to His character and learn His knowledge daily, the more wisdom and understanding we will gain in our own lives. We will see reality though His reality. We will be open to the wild and crazy things He calls us to do. We will be teachable, moldable, willing, and gentle. And despite the storms that swirl around us, we KNOW His character, His truth, His Word which will ground us to His truth.



Sometime today consider having a conversation with the Lord. Be real. Be honest. Be YOU. (PS…He already knows you, so you can drop the façade! Promise!) But begin that relationship with the Lord. You’ve taken the first step and are a believer, but every day keep taking steps towards Him. For this is how we grow…how we become better…wives, moms, friends, servants of the King of Kings to whom all eternity belongs.



As I was writing this, my Pandora station divinely picked the following Third Day version of “Blessed Assurance.” I loved it, and wanted to copy the lyrics below:



Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation, Purchase of God

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.



This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song.

Praising my Savior all the day long.



Perfect submission, all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blessed

Watching and waiting, looking above

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.



Amen!!



Love you mamas! I hope you had an amazing weekend!

Here’s to digging deep and not being satisfied in our walk with Him.

Rebecca