"In her eagerness to SERVE Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am reading a book called, "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world." When I read a book like this, i cannot read without a pen or highlighter in hand to mark the lines or points that I want to remember. For me, writing helps me 'hash things out' so to speak. So I am going to be going through the points in this book that hit me and writing about them.

"In her eagerness to serve Jesus, she almost missed the opportunity to KNOW Jesus."

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm really busy ALL the time, doing a million things, trying to serve or help in some way. And when I read this quote, I read it several times, and reflected on my own life. I do want to serve Jesus. But when that is ALL we are focusing on, when we can't say no and we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off, we miss sitting at His feet and getting to better know the One who we desire to serve.

This summer has been difficult for me, because of the fact that for most of it, I wasn't home, and therefore was not the previously mentioned headless chicken. :) But, I see that it was good for me. I relaxed. I spent time reading the Word (not as much as I should) and just having quiet moments to pray and spend time with Him. Being at the stage of life that I am in, without a full time job, not knowing what's next for me, it's been good to have this time of quiet. I definitely need to be focusing my time on spending TIME with Him, not just doing "stuff" for Him.

It is great to serve. But remember that it's also ok to say no. (Something that is taking me a very long time to learn and I am still constantly learning it!) God will give us plenty of opportunity to serve Him if we ask for the chance to do so, but He also wants us. Our hearts. Our attention. Our affection. He desires for a relationship with us. We can't have a relationship with someone we are too busy to talk to. We can't have a relationship, not a good one anyway, with someone we always put off spending time with until "tomorrow."

Be reminded for a minute, how big it is to know that Jesus wants a relationship with US. That's huge! Serve Him boldly and show others the love of Jesus. But make sure that you are daily making time to just sit at His feet, and get to know Him more intimately and in a deeper way. The more we spend time with Him, the more we experience His grace and love, the more we will be able to serve others and show the same grace and love to them as well.

It's hard to give something that you haven't allowed yourself the time to receive. So receive the love of Jesus. Get to know Him more and more. And be amazed at the change He makes in your life.

Have hope...for Sunday's Comin'!

I'm reading this book called, "Having A Mary Heart In A Martha World." This book is incredibly challenging and full of lessons and reminders that someone like me, who is constantly busy, needs to hear. I read the eighth chapter of this book tonight. My phone was off, the house was all to myself, all I heard was quiet...a rare thing! This chapter really challenged me and made me see the love of God in a new way. It was about Lazerus, and how Jesus and him were close friends. Mary and Martha (Lazerus’ sisters) wanted Jesus to come when Lazerus was sick, and he ended up dying. From our human eyes, we can't see or understand, as I'm sure Mary and Martha didn't understand, why He wouldn't come. He heard the news of his friend's illness and didn't leave to see him for 2 more days. Why would he do that? His sisters knew that He could heal him. They had faith that He was able… of course for those of us who know the story, we know that Jesus ended up bringing Lazerus back to life. God had a plan in it all. The waiting… he wanted the women to trust Jesus, to know that He was able to bring him back. Sometimes the Lord wants us to wait. And wait, and wait and wait. It’s not because He’s too busy. It’s not because He doesn’t care. But it’s in the waiting that makes us cling to Him! It’s in the waiting, that time in between where we really have to choose Who or what we will trust.

God's ways are not our own! He sees the big picture that we cannot see. It grieves the Lord to see us hurt, but He KNOWS what He's doing! He is taking every aspect of our life, every broken piece, every hurt piece, and turning it into a beautiful thing... "for the good of those that love God."

"Tragedy may come. So will the darkness. But triumph is waiting just around the corner.

It may be Friday, but Sunday's comin'."

What a great way to put it! Friday, the day of Jesus’ death. Who could have possibly thought that anything good would come from that day?! No one! All anyone could do was focus on what they had lost. The pain that they felt… but soon enough, Sunday came and Jesus was alive! He was raised from the dead and they could see the good that came from Friday’s tragedy! It may be Friday or Saturday in our lives…it may be for more then 3 literal days, it may be years. But Sunday will one day come! It may not be til we see Jesus face to face, it may be moments from now. But God is going to use our hurts and confusions and pain and show us that He had a plan all along!

Take creation for example. Adam and Eve sin in the garden… a BAD thing! They were separated from Jesus and banned from Eden. But that is how the Lord’s plan of redemption was started. God used something horrible and turned it into the greatest story ever told. “What Satan intends for evil, God still turns for good.” Max Lucado says, “the moment the forbidden fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the horizon.” God had a plan.

So whatever it is we are facing in our lives, whether it’s Friday, Saturday, or Sunday… God has a plan. God has an amazing story for our lives. He most likely won’t share it all at once, it may only be a page at a time. We’ll have to wait. Sometimes the waiting will be hard, and we won’t understand. But that’s because we haven’t finished reading our story yet. Be patient. He is the Author. We can trust Him and His ways. We can trust Him and His love. Rest in Christ and Christ alone. Nothing is too big or messy for God to make it into something good and beautiful.

Trust God with your story. With your life. He is good.

And Sunday’s comin’.