Missing Posts of My Midnights With Jesus
I started an amazing series with Callie over at Mama's Coffee Shop at the beginning of February. I was so excited to be a part of it! God really used it to get me seeking Him again. Last week, due to some health issues, I missed posting about Psalm 37:4. I am here to catch up that missed post!
When I saw that this was the verse that we were studying for the week, I almost cringed. I have seen so many people lose faith over this verse. I have some strong opinions and knew that I would have to tread lightly and pray for balance here. So, that is where I started.
I asked God to open my eyes to this verse and give me wisdom. Boy, did he ever!
My starting point was this:
So many people take the second half of this verse and use it completely out of context. I have seen it so many times that the first half of the verse is the part that I always stress. Delight in Him.
I believe that as we delight in Him, He helps change our hearts desires to line up with His. I still believe that this is truth. However, God used the last 2 weeks to remind me that He cares about my desires as well!
For several months I have been planning on purchasing a new printer to help lower the costs of our homeschooling. I have spent several hours researching the best and cheapest printers. I finally decided on one and knew that I would need a set amount of money for this printer. I begin to talk to Thomas about the printer and he agreed that we would purchase said printer.
When the time came to buy the printer, the amount of money that I was setting back was far less than I had expected and therefore put my printer dreams out of reach. Thomas told me that I could still buy a printer but that I needed to lower my costs by about $80. Now, I usually don't like to talk money, but the exact amount is important here because when I opened Amazon on my laptop, my dream printer had just been reduced by $80.01! I am not kidding!
God knew my heart was set on this printer. I believe that at the perfect time He allowed for this printer to be place on sale placing it within my budget!
Later in the week, I received yet another desire of my heart from God. I had been invited to attend an Usborne book party that my friend Candice was throwing. I spent time looking through the catalog making a wishlist of books that would supplement our fun-schooling perfectly. The day before I purchased my books we had an unexpected bill pop up that had to be paid, thus depleting my book fund.
I decided to take some of my old curriculum to a local homeschool curriculum consignment shop (yes, those exsist) to make some extra money so that I could have the books on my list. While I was there, the sweet ladies that run the shop asked if I wanted to look through a few boxes of books that they were donating. They asked me to please take any that we could use. They needed to get them out of the backroom to free up storage space. Seriously you guys, you will not guess what books were there! USBORNE! 80% were books on my wish list. Here is a photo of my books that I received that day.
I am not sharing all of this with you to brag about what I got. Not at all! I am sharing this to show you what God taught me that week. He showed me that yes, delighting in Him will line my desires up with His, but also that He cares about my desires too! Even ones that may seem silly in the realm of eternity. I mean, that printer, those books really are worthless when it comes to winning people for Jesus. However, God knew that I needed to learn that He loves and cares for me as an individual. He cares for those 'silly' desires of my heart. He knows that they mean something to me. He showed me that I mean something to HIM!
It was such a great feeling to know that He placed those things in my path on purpose to bless me. I needed to be reminded of His awesomeness, His power!
I am not saying that He is always going to give me anything that I want. I am saying that there are times when God chooses to bless us with things that we desire!
I learned such an great lesson this week.
I did not even get to look at this past weeks verse until today. Psalm 27:14 which says:
When I saw that this was the verse that we were studying for the week, I almost cringed. I have seen so many people lose faith over this verse. I have some strong opinions and knew that I would have to tread lightly and pray for balance here. So, that is where I started.
I asked God to open my eyes to this verse and give me wisdom. Boy, did he ever!
My starting point was this:
So many people take the second half of this verse and use it completely out of context. I have seen it so many times that the first half of the verse is the part that I always stress. Delight in Him.
I believe that as we delight in Him, He helps change our hearts desires to line up with His. I still believe that this is truth. However, God used the last 2 weeks to remind me that He cares about my desires as well!
For several months I have been planning on purchasing a new printer to help lower the costs of our homeschooling. I have spent several hours researching the best and cheapest printers. I finally decided on one and knew that I would need a set amount of money for this printer. I begin to talk to Thomas about the printer and he agreed that we would purchase said printer.
When the time came to buy the printer, the amount of money that I was setting back was far less than I had expected and therefore put my printer dreams out of reach. Thomas told me that I could still buy a printer but that I needed to lower my costs by about $80. Now, I usually don't like to talk money, but the exact amount is important here because when I opened Amazon on my laptop, my dream printer had just been reduced by $80.01! I am not kidding!
God knew my heart was set on this printer. I believe that at the perfect time He allowed for this printer to be place on sale placing it within my budget!
Later in the week, I received yet another desire of my heart from God. I had been invited to attend an Usborne book party that my friend Candice was throwing. I spent time looking through the catalog making a wishlist of books that would supplement our fun-schooling perfectly. The day before I purchased my books we had an unexpected bill pop up that had to be paid, thus depleting my book fund.
I decided to take some of my old curriculum to a local homeschool curriculum consignment shop (yes, those exsist) to make some extra money so that I could have the books on my list. While I was there, the sweet ladies that run the shop asked if I wanted to look through a few boxes of books that they were donating. They asked me to please take any that we could use. They needed to get them out of the backroom to free up storage space. Seriously you guys, you will not guess what books were there! USBORNE! 80% were books on my wish list. Here is a photo of my books that I received that day.
I am not sharing all of this with you to brag about what I got. Not at all! I am sharing this to show you what God taught me that week. He showed me that yes, delighting in Him will line my desires up with His, but also that He cares about my desires too! Even ones that may seem silly in the realm of eternity. I mean, that printer, those books really are worthless when it comes to winning people for Jesus. However, God knew that I needed to learn that He loves and cares for me as an individual. He cares for those 'silly' desires of my heart. He knows that they mean something to me. He showed me that I mean something to HIM!
It was such a great feeling to know that He placed those things in my path on purpose to bless me. I needed to be reminded of His awesomeness, His power!
I am not saying that He is always going to give me anything that I want. I am saying that there are times when God chooses to bless us with things that we desire!
I learned such an great lesson this week.
I did not even get to look at this past weeks verse until today. Psalm 27:14 which says:
"Wait on the Lord:
be of good courage, and He
will strengthen your heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord."
What I can tell you about this verse is, it is meeting me right where I am! I needed to hear this right now! Things around our house have been crazy and may be one day I can share with you the trials and life storms that we are going through. Just know that I need Him to strengthen my heart today...everyday. I need to wait on Him right now.
I need to remember that His timing is perfect. Waiting, as hard as that is for me, is the best answer for me. It is the very thing that will bring breakthrough in our current situation.
I will be meditating on this one this week.
I pray that this month has been as much an encouragement to you as it has been for me! I have gotten so much out of this time. It has helped me to truly seek Him, no matter the time of day!
I hope you have a wonderful month, with lots of new things to learn. Love that Usborne haul! Their books are fabulous, and we enjoy them, too.
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