Yes to God Tuesday... on Wednesday again

This is part of a book study that we are doing over on Lelia's blog. We are reading Lysa Terkeurst's book What Happens when Women Walk in Faith. Each week we read two chapters and discuss what really spoke to us. This week we are finishing up the Famine Phase and beginning the Believing Phase. This is a great book... an easy read. It is not too late to join in with us if you would like.

Chapter 8 Refusing to Get Bogged Down in Bitterness

Lysa started off the chapter by reminding us that the Famine phase is a season of learning to depend on God. She then pointed out:

"As a result, things will be stripped from you that hinder the relationship He wants to have with you. You may experience a shake-up in your finances, your friendships, your position of leadership, your expectations, or one of a thousand other things that we put our trust in. God wants our complete trust. So whenever He strips something away, He does it for our good and not to harm us."

Well... we seem to be in a shake-up stage at our house. But... I will have to say that God chose just the right things to shake-up to get my attention. I have been forced to trust Him completely... not our finances (an understatement), not my husband, not my friends, not my family, only HIM. He is the only one that I can take my heartaches to. He knows my situation... and offers no condemnation.

Not being bitter is a choice... a conscious choice not something that comes naturally. Lysa talks about Joseph in Egypt and says,

"He chose not to. (be bitter) He made the conscious choice to honor God with his actions and his attitudes, and God honored him. Notice that God didn't immediately pluck him from the situation but rather honored him in the situation. How many times do we ask God to take away an unpleasant circumstance, and He doesn't?? Seek to honor him and then remember to look for the ways He's honoring you, not by removing you but by sending blessings to you in that place."

Honoring God is a choice that has to be made. He will not force us to make it... but will honor us when we make it.

Lysa also reminds us,

"People want to see if your claims about God's faithfulness hold true even when life gets hard."

"They (her Liberian sons) didn't get stuck in the bitterness that surely came knocking at the doors of their hearts."

You can bet that bitterness will come knocking at our hearts door any time there is a shake-up. If we focus on "Me" and not on God... we will most likely open the door when bitterness knocks.


Chapter 9 A Most Unlikely Path

Many times, the things that I plan.... well, they just don't come to pass. They might have been good plans... plans to do "something" for God... plans for my family... plans for a certain amount of money I have stashed away... but something goes wrong... or at least according to MY plans. Lysa reminds us,

"God knows the best routes for us. He sees dangers and temptations that we don't see along the way. Sometimes we get frustrated with God when He takes us through places we hadn't planned on going. His route sometimes appears to be out of the way, inconvenient, tiresome, and confusing."

I love the part where Lysa tells us,

"Feelings will follow correct behaviors, not the other way around. Make right choices to honor God, and your feelings will eventually catch up."

I really needed to hear this again... I need to make it a habit. I have done this in the past about my children going to public school... but right now... doing the right thing and honoring God are hiding behind my "not so happy" feelings. I know what the right thing is... I am just not following through with my actions. I need to just do the right thing... and my feelings will catch up later.

Okay... I know that this post has been long, but I couldn't pass up this next quote,

"Have you ever dared to ask this? Have you ever dared to say to God, Lord, whatever Your will for my life is, that is what I want? Believing God is not for the weak at heart. It's only for those who want to discover the rich blessings of walking close enough to God to hear the constant drumming of His heartbeat."

That speaks for itself. I want to be walking so close to God that I can hear the constant drumming of His heart. I want to hear that on a daily basis... not just once in a while.

There are many other things that I would like to list... but this has been pretty long. I also want to tell you about the Beth Moore simulcast... but I will have to do that later.

If you want to see what spoke to others doing this study... just click here.