What If Your Best

This morning my husband shared this song with me. It's called "What If Your Best" and it's by a Christian group called FFH. It really spoke to me. I encourage you to watch the video and see what God says to you, and then take the time to read a little about what God said to me.

Chorus:
I want your best but what if your best is brokenness
Would I be broken?
I want your best but what if less than what I ask
And what I'm hoping?
What if your best is here in the waiting, here in the going thru the motions?
I'll still be trusting all I am, and all have, and nothing less to Potter's hands

I honestly can't tell you how many times I have asked these questions lately. It seems like things aren't going my way and maybe God isn't even listening. Who knows? Oh yeah, God does! Sometimes it's all we can do to believe that God is the Master and He doesn't need our help. Thankfully He chooses to use us and He does care about us and does want His best for us. A lot of times it can be confusing and we might find ourselves thinking, "Really, God, this is your best?" We forget that we are living in the midst of the storm. When the storm passes and we can finally see the rainbow maybe then we will have a better point of view.

I know it's hard! I'm there right now. There are things in my life that I would really like to see happen. It scares me that some of the things I dream may not be in God's best plan for me. Only time will tell. Until then I need to trust and to follow and to obey because God will give me His best.

He promises us that in Jeremiah 29:11-13, "'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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

God wants us to have His best for us for two reasons:
1. When He gives us His best it brings Him glory
2. When He gives us His best it gives us a hope and a future

There are a lot of "what ifs" in life but if we dwell on them we miss the joy of "what is".

Thank God for what He has planned for you--even if you don't know what that is. Know that it IS His best.

Follow Christ

I was thinking about this song this morning. It talks about following Christ no matter what battles you face or where he leads you. Sometimes you don't know where you are going when you are following Christ.

That is the interesting thing about following someone, if you are focused on them then you can't see around them. You only see them in front of you. You are fully depending on them to lead you to the correct destination. That's why it's important that you are following the right person. I had a friend who punctured her car radiator because she was following someone blindly. When they swerved she was too close to swerve herself and drove over a piece of metal that was lying in the road. Thankfully, we never have to worry about Christ leading us into situations where we puncture our spiritual radiators -- that only happens when we leave Christ to follow someone else or we get distracted.

Are you following Christ today? Where is He leading you? Are you being a good follower or are you getting distracted by what's going on around you?

Focus on Christ and follow Him.

Let's Be Thankful

As Americans many of us have grown up knowing about and experiencing Thanksgiving. Many of us gather together with our families, and we eat and eat until we couldn’t possibly take another bite. Once we have completed our eating rituals, we might fall asleep from all the turkey or we might find the energy to watch the football game. Eventually the family members leave and a couple of weeks later you finally run out of Thanksgiving leftovers, and Thanksgiving passes into distant memory as we begin to prepare for Christmas. The thing that we too often forget is that Thanksgiving was specfically set aside as a day to give thanks.


A few years ago, my family started a new tradition. We had always done the family thing and the food thing, but we had never done this before. We never stopped to give thanks. Now wait a minute! I’m not saying that we were complete heathens and didn’t stop to pray! What I am saying is that now we gather before the meal and we stand in a BIG family circle, we hold hands, we go around the circle, and each of us says at least one specific thing we are thankful for this year. The first time we did it I honestly thought it was a little corny. Now I love it. It’s the one time a year when I know I will hear my family speak from the heart and we all turn back and give thanks to God no matter where life has taken us.

Make time to stop and give thanks this year. You never know what God might do!

God Given Talent...Literally

I don't know about you but I love being creative! It feels good to take supplies into my hands and to make something from them. It doesn't matter if I am using pencil and paper to sketch or material to sew, when I see an outcome that I like it makes me excited and proud. I am so thankful that God gave us to enjoy the abilities He has given us.


What I was thinking about today is this...How true is the saying "God given talent"?

Then I remembered the story of the building on the tent of meeting. If you check out Exodus 31, you will find a detailed description of the creation of the tent of meeting. It talks about the materials that should be used and the measurements and the decorations, but in the midst of all of this there are six verses that stood out to me...

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you..." Exodus 31:1-6

God LITERALLY (my husbands second favorite word) gave them the talent and artistic ability to serve Him. I believe that God still gives us the talents we need to serve Him. Sometimes it's music. Sometimes it's the ability to write great stories. Sometimes it's the ability to draw or create great craft items. Whatever it is that you are great at God has given you that talent. Don't forget to give it back to Him by doing His work with the abilities He has given you.

After all...It's God given talent!