Here it is, the final installment of my very own blogging challenge!
Day 7 - Bible verse(s) that have had the biggest impact on my life
The Bible is God's enduring message to us, a go-to guide on how He wants us to live. It is sometimes a comfort, other times it can be the wake up call we need.
Every time I make a concerted effort to read it regularly, I discover so much more about He who created everything, from the microscopic to the vast expanses of the Universe.
Psalm 147:4-5 says
"He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit."
So, commentary on this verse suggests that God made all these magnificent things but He loves us, small by comparison, so much, that He took the time to plan each one of our lives.
It becomes clearer to me how His plan has unfolded, and that He is a patient and loving Father, giving us chance after chance to do the right thing, just as a parent does for their child. We can trust in Him, that like a Father does, He will make sure we have the things we need to grow into the person we are meant to be, according to His divine plan. The hard part is, that it's not always how WE want it to work out, or easy to understand. Eventually, we will know why things happen the way they do, and it will all make sense.
I'm a working mum of 4 and have been the only income earner in our family for quite a while now. I have struggled with this on and off, when I think too much about carrying that responsibility, some days I forget to rely God's strength and not my own. It's those days that are rather dark and I often end up crashing, burning and feeling sorry for myself. But, I ALWAYS come back to the verse below, I get through each day by knowing this:
"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
Some notes that accompany this verse mention that we should focus on the present day and get through one day at a time. It uses an analogy of a mountain climber, how they climb a mountain by focussing on what is in front of them, not constantly looking at the Summit. It would seem so much harder if you keep looking up at how far you still have to reach the top.
Then, it just comes down to having faith. Faith that God has a plan for my life to be the way it is.
Jeremiah 29:11 sums it all up perfectly..
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"
And that, is how I manage each day, when I rely on God to get me through.
God, just as a Father would, wants us to share our lives with Him, the good, the bad and the ugly.
We should be thankful to Him for all the blessings he abundantly provides out of love for us. When we hurt, He wants to know, He longs for us to reach out to Him.
He could change your circumstances in the blink of an eye, but that might not be what you need in the long term, even though we think it might be. HE knows the big picture, we don't.. We don't have the capacity to know everything, we weren't born that way.
God wants to have a relationship with us, but He can't and doesn't want to force our love. We have to make that decision for ourselves, when we begin to understand what He has done and to honour and give Him the glory He deserves.
I pray that this might give you food for thought about accepting God's love and acknowledging Him as your Lord and the Lord of all creation.
I am fairly sure we have all said a prayer when we have needed help or wanted something to happen. It wasn't hard to pray then, so my challenge to you is to say another prayer, right now.
It might be one like the "catchy tune" from 80's - remember? The Ad where a little boy sings "Hello, my God"
You could try saying thanks for all the things you are grateful for in life, for the food in front of you at the dinner table.
Ask Him for help to be open minded about having a relationship with Him and to help find the answers or people that will help you overcome disbelief.
Please DON'T measure God with the same measure you use when you see "Christian" people acting in a way that is hypocritical to their alleged faith. Each one of us is flawed, and even if we do love God and profess faith in Him, we still sin. I know that I do. Difference is, that I can go to Him and seek forgiveness for what I did wrong, with the confidence that He will forgive. Our job is simply to honour Him as Lord and to seek to live a life that pleases Him.
We can find out what that means by reading, you guessed it, the Bible. Jesus gave us two basic instructions-
to love God with everything we've got and to love others the way we want to be loved.
When I say "others" that is anybody.. rich, poor, homeless,white, black Asian, Indian, male, female, homosexual, heterosexual, Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, JW's, Jews, criminals, tall, short, fat, skinny, adult or child.. We were all created EQUAL, it says so in the first part of the Bible, the Book of Genesis! It is not our right OR place to judge or condemn one another (regrettably, it happens). It's our job to show love and compassion to each other.
That means looking after each other, to put the needs of others before your own. Treating God as the King of your life and to serve Him by serving your fellow man, that is it! Why is it so hard to love Him? God is the reason that we are even here now,surrounded by everything HE made, and put US in charge of!
Oh Gosh, if we could all just get over ourselves and follow Jesus' example, there would be peace and harmony. Problem is, it is human nature to think of ourselves first and not having to answer to someone and be held accountable for our behavior.
Finally, like in any relationship with Fathers, there comes a time where continued and willful disobedience will have a consequence.
Bless you all.
TGBTG
Anje xx
