Our speaker at the Girls' Retreat covered a wide variety of topics. However her talk the first night stood out to me as my "nugget" for the weekend.
She spoke of the fact that there are many unknown things ahead in our lives. The temptation is to fear and hold fast to our own desires because we fear that God's desires are not as good as our own. We are like little children who are holding fast to our own plans and hopes and dreams because our faith is too small to see what our Father holds behind His back, waiting for us to open our arms to Him so that He can give it to us.
“God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better.” -Elisabeth Elliot
She spoke of fear as an apprehension before the need has arisen. Thus we worry that God will not bring us a husband when we wouldn't exactly know what to do with him if we had one! We worry that when we do get married our husband will die and we'll be left a widow. We worry that our house will be foreclosed on. We worry, worry, worry, worry and are left with empty hands and hearts in the end.
What is it that makes us worry so? It is from a misunderstanding of our true God. As 1 Corinthians 10:5 says, we must take "captive every thought to the obedience of Christ." We can't leave our understanding of God up to how we feel God is. We must learn to know Him from what He says of himself through His word.
With that foundation we can surely learn from the Israelites that the God who takes care of us today will take care of us tomorrow. God doesn't change like a shifting shadow. He is a constant--the beautiful Rock on which we build our faith. As I listened to Mrs. Cloudt speaking on this strain, the Lord brought to mind a piece of Ann Voskamp's 1,000 Gifts book. She writes that the very word "manna"--that miracle of the Lord to His people in the desert literally means "What is it?" And yet they gave thanks for the "What is it?" every day of those 40 years.
It put me in mind of God's plan for my life. I won't know God's plans. I mightn't even understand them half the time. And yet if I can say with my heart on my lips, "Thank you, Lord, for the what-is-it?" I have understood in part the joy to be found in Christ.
As Mrs. Cloudt says, "It is not that the trials will not come, but God will give us the strength to withstand."
We have the power of heaven and earth at our back and we shiver and shrink before the Unknown as if it were a precipice and we dangled above Hell's doorstep. We forget the palm of the Hand that cups us. We forget His mercies and His grace. We forget everything because we are so stupidly focused on the here and now. We exchange or immortal souls for mortal minds with their worries and cares.
"We must live for eternity---that life is more real than this," Mrs. Cloudt said.
And it's true. This is only the title-page of our ever-after life. It is the prelude to the real song. It is only the doorstep to the palace of Heaven. Hold fast, girls. Hold fast to Jesus Christ and His perspective on the world, and things will fall as they ought. He has not left us to fend for ourselves or beat through the briars. He has not forgotten us or ignored us. He is just waiting for us to loosen our sweaty, grimy grip on life so He can pour His blessings into our lap and sing over us.
What is it that makes us worry so? It is from a misunderstanding of our true God. As 1 Corinthians 10:5 says, we must take "captive every thought to the obedience of Christ." We can't leave our understanding of God up to how we feel God is. We must learn to know Him from what He says of himself through His word.
With that foundation we can surely learn from the Israelites that the God who takes care of us today will take care of us tomorrow. God doesn't change like a shifting shadow. He is a constant--the beautiful Rock on which we build our faith. As I listened to Mrs. Cloudt speaking on this strain, the Lord brought to mind a piece of Ann Voskamp's 1,000 Gifts book. She writes that the very word "manna"--that miracle of the Lord to His people in the desert literally means "What is it?" And yet they gave thanks for the "What is it?" every day of those 40 years.
It put me in mind of God's plan for my life. I won't know God's plans. I mightn't even understand them half the time. And yet if I can say with my heart on my lips, "Thank you, Lord, for the what-is-it?" I have understood in part the joy to be found in Christ.
As Mrs. Cloudt says, "It is not that the trials will not come, but God will give us the strength to withstand."
We have the power of heaven and earth at our back and we shiver and shrink before the Unknown as if it were a precipice and we dangled above Hell's doorstep. We forget the palm of the Hand that cups us. We forget His mercies and His grace. We forget everything because we are so stupidly focused on the here and now. We exchange or immortal souls for mortal minds with their worries and cares.
"We must live for eternity---that life is more real than this," Mrs. Cloudt said.
And it's true. This is only the title-page of our ever-after life. It is the prelude to the real song. It is only the doorstep to the palace of Heaven. Hold fast, girls. Hold fast to Jesus Christ and His perspective on the world, and things will fall as they ought. He has not left us to fend for ourselves or beat through the briars. He has not forgotten us or ignored us. He is just waiting for us to loosen our sweaty, grimy grip on life so He can pour His blessings into our lap and sing over us.
Thank you so much for this post! What an encouragement it is to know how great our God is, especially as young women who have decided to go against the flow of this culture.
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-Stephanie
Thank you Rahcel for the great reminder. :) It's so easy to forget the God who holds us!
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