Already Equipped for Tomorrow
I was watching my youngest daughter, Sarah, hold her baby doll. She lovingly nestled it in her arms, held it close to her body, and gently swayed back and forth. Almost as if she had read a book, watched a YouTube video, or taken a lesson on how to comfort a baby. My sweet Sarah is only 18 months old. She may not be able to receive formal training, but she is in touch with the instincts God gave her at birth. Probably more so that I am because her actions are natural and pure, while mine are clouded with over complicated thoughts set through years of experience.
Sometimes I forget how intimately God knows us. Not only does he see us now, He knew us before we were in our mother’s womb. And not only did the know us, but he created us! Not in a distant impersonal way, because he KNIT us together. Piece by piece he made us into his image, choosing our hair color, our gifts, our strengths, our weakness, our characteristics…
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”
“My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.”
Time is no obstacle for our God. He is in the present, the past, and the future. He is able to equip us for every day of our life while we were still in our mother's womb because he is standing in our future while taking part in our creation. My daughter is not ready to be a mother, but God prepared her with the skills, compassion, and ability to care for and comfort a child of her one day. I know that is an over simplified example, but sometimes they are the best. :-)
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
The greatest help in this life is the Holy Spirit. God is literally living inside of me every day. Guiding me, teaching me, comforting me, counseling me, and providing peace over my soul. Through the use of the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power to do greater things than Jesus.WHAT??? Jesus healed the blind, the mute, the sick. He cast out demons, and fed thousands of people with 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread. Oh yah... AND HE RAISED THE DEAD!!!! And we are going to do greater things? I know God is all powerful. I know his power resides within me. But there are so many times when I feel weak, incapable, and simply beaten down by the world. Those are the moments when my flesh has authority over me. The flesh and spirit are always at war, and unfortunately only one can lead at a time.
About two years after Claire’s passing, I was really struggling. My heart was shattered, my resolve gone and everything in me hurt. I wanted to find my strength in God, but I couldn’t seem to find a way. Then at a bible study, I met a woman who told me to speak, write, and proclaim the God's truth until my heart felt it too. She encouraged me to accept my struggles, rather than trying to ignore or run from them while I bathed myself in God’s promises. Her advice was spot on. I didn’t want to read, but I opened my bible. I was too tired to pray, but I kept a journal. There was no song in my heart, but I worshipped through tears, and eventually my heart caught up with truth my mind knew.
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I pray that the snuggles my sweet Sarah gave her baby doll have encouraged you the same way they touched me.
In Christian Love,
Connie