LOOKING BACK….JUST FOR AWHILE

Posted byDianne HornePosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , ,

NOURISHMENT for DISCOURAGEMENT

Let me begin with a question for you?  Do you ever wake up in the morning in a “not so good mood?”  Maybe you’re not comfortable with such a strategic question.  But I think most of us would have to admit that moods can sometimes feel like a rain cloud that’s just burst upon our personal horizon.

Depending on our personality, we may or may not feel comfortable airing that in public.  But let’s be honest, we’re human and we are susceptible to all sorts of emotion.

This one particular morning a few months ago I woke up “grumpy.”  There, I’ve said it!  With transparency loitering in this paragraph, my grumpiness moved further down the ladder and before I had my “cuppa coffee,” I felt like God had moved and left me no forwarding address.  Write me in the “comments section” if you’ve felt that way too.

I sat down and had my “quiet time” with Jesus, and believe me it was quiet!  I was in no mood to even talk.   I felt discouragement creeping into my mind, heart and soul.   Something within me (it was the Holy Spirit within) urging me to read God’s Word, regardless of how I felt.

Sounds like a mother to a young child, doesn’t it.  “Take your medicine, regardless of how you feel.”   God has incredible ways of moving us along in our humanness, doesn’t He.  He isn’t upset that we have mood swings.  He designed us and knows us intimately.

Psalm 33:15 “He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do.”

God fully understands each of us.  He knows our intellect, emotions, fear, our inner workings and thoughts.  So, He wasn’t “unaware” of how I felt.  But He knew what I needed; and it was a glance in my past…..looking back…just for awhile.

When we get in our cars, it’s best to keep your eyes on what’s up front and forward.  But there are times and events, when you need to look back for reference purposes.   And this morning, God’s “compass of instructions” for me was found in the very Scripture verse I just “happened to read” this morning.

Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”

It seemed like a lightening bolt lit up those last four words…………

FEED ON HIS FAITHFULNESS

As I’ve shared a number of times, I find it helpful to look up “key words” to expand my thinking and give clarity to what I’ve just read.  So, the important word here was “feed.”   And may I share my findings on just a few discovery words.

Forage, nurse, eat, consume, devour, swallow, encourage, sustain, strengthen, bolster, nurture and nourish.

After reviewing these words in my mind, it was plain to me that God was asking me to have a “glance back” at some of His faithfulness to me!   I wasn’t meant to live there……just park in the rear-view mirror of His wonderful work and provision in my journey down here.   Call it memory lane, but He was asking me to review a little of His workings in my life…. nourishing myself in how…….

FAITHFUL HE WAS IN THE PAST…..AND HIS FAITHFULNESS WOULD CONTINUE

IN THE FUTURE

I was drawn to a book that contained my journaling of events and stories where God intervened and did WONDERFUL THINGS in large and small ways that demonstrated to my little heart and life, that He cared and understood, and was carrying out His plans and purpose in my life, regardless of how I felt.

After about an hour of travelling in the past………..my “discouraged heart” rediscovered JOY!  God hadn’t moved away, but was there all the time.  He was moving and controlling and intervening in the dark, where I couldn’t see Him…..but He was there.

I journaled this discouragement for “future glances” because in life, we all walk through seasons of sadness and disappointment.  So much of God’s work seems underground…..where we can’t see.   But He’s working nonetheless.

And our “looking back” at His faithfulness is an act of worship.

So, let’s keep tasting God’s Word each day…. for His nourishment to our mind, heart and soul.  

Matthew 4:4 “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”

Published by Dianne Horne

I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others. I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is! I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived. God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others. The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life. In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty. My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives. Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life? I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace. My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ? The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.

Leave a comment