Verse of Encouragement

Another verse that's been very encouraging for me lately is 2 Chronicles 20:17

"You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Don't be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you."

I hope and pray that this will encourage you in whatever you're going through in the days and weeks to come.

Waiting

Here's a hard lesson to learn. Waiting. I don't have the answers of how to make it easier but here's a verse that I hope will encourage you as much as it has encouraged me recently.

Wait for the Lord be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalmon 27:14

"More"

There's this song by Matthew West called More and it has this line in the chorus that I sing over and over in my head.

"I love you more then the sun

And the stars that I taught how to shine

You are mine, and you shine for me too..."

Whenever I'm having a hard time or feeling discouraged I sing that line, to remind myself that God does love me. Because when I'm wondering why God has answered some prayers but not others, when I struggle to understand why He's withheld some of the things I need or at least think I need and when everything within me wants to cry out, asking God why He's putting me through hard times what I need is to remember His love for me.

Because the stars are His, I am His, my present and my future are His and whatever He puts me through or allows me to go through He's still in control and I need to remember that because whatever I might go through He's already given me the greatest gift of all time. His love. And in the end, and even in the present, that's what truly matters.

To Plan or Not to Plan

I'm a planner it's what I do. I'm a little obsessive about it and there have been times that I've actually struggled in my faith because nothing was going according to my plan. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 "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." It's a great verse but look at the verse part again "the plans I have for you". It's not about our plans, it's about God's.

In college I had a friend who liked to tell me that when men make plans God laughs. And she's right. Somewhere in Proverbs I think it talks about men making plans but God knowing what will actually happen.

I can't plan everything out, that's not how life works, things aren't always going to go the way I want them to because I'm not in control. God is.

A good friend of mine likes to remind me of the verses in Matthew 6:25-34.
 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

His point is that if we're not worrying but trusting God then when things don't go according to my plan it'll be a lot easier to remember that things are still going according to God's plan. Even when I don't understand why.

I'm still going to plan, sometimes I'll still slip up and worry because I'm human and I'm not perfect but by reminding myself of these verses and letting God use them in my life my faith will grow and that's always a good thing.