Saturday SHINE....

Happy Saturday, SHINE girls! 

I hope your week of "being still" has been fruitful. It sure has opened my ears and my heart to hear from the Lord. 

A few days ago, my friend Lynn from our SHINE girls small group at church, emailed me this post.

It brought tears to my eyes for several reasons. Lynn is a little on the quiet side at small group. Always listening. Not always speaking. 

So, when I received this from her, I was blown away by what God was showing her in her stillness this week.I was also blown away by her boldness and obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to write this and to email it to me.

Be blessed by Lynn's post today, sweet friends. 

Being still

by: Lynn Rodriguez

Lynn's beautiful family!

Speaking of being still…  I have been wrestling with God on some things I have been struggling with off and on for a few months now.  I have had trouble being still and letting God speak to me.  Well, I finally gave up and let Him speak some truth into my soul!  In not being still, I allowed God’s peace slip from my heart.  I “forgot” that He is ALWAYS in control.  I was missing out on the reassurance that He has “got it” as always.  In not being mindful of this, I was allowing Satan to replace my God given peace with his lies, giving me an unsettled spirit.  

At the root of my anxiety was the state of our world, our country.  It is corrupt to the core.  In reality, this is nothing new, but it seems to be hitting home more than ever.  Things that are happening here, used to happen more in other parts of the world. 

We, as a country, have been hit hard with some tough stuff over the past several years with economic hardships, political scandals, racial tensions, and even terrorist attacks. 

I ponder the long term effects of these events and worry about the future of this country and the future my children will face. 

Well, during my recent reading, God gave me some re-assurance.  He showed me again where my peace comes from in reminding me that He is the one in control.  It comes from Ephesians, Chapter 1.  Verse 20 starts with this:  All this energy issues from Christ:  God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule.  And not just for the time being, but forever.  He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.  

This was a reminder to me that WE may not like what goes on, but there is a purpose for it.  There is a plan that is being carried out.  We don’t understand why people are suffering, why people are struggling, why there is hate.  We don’t always understand His ways but His ways are perfect.

So, maybe God is working on me in more than one way.  How do I make the best of this life God has so richly blessed me with? How do I let God SHINE through ME in a world that is riddled with hard times and injustice?  For me, I believe it means that I wake up every day and be thankful for it all, to find joy in it all, and to help others do the same.  I also believe that it means loving others.  ALL others!  God commands us to love and serve others, period.  Not just if we like them or they look like us, or they are related to us.  We have to love people, even when our flesh tells us not to.  Honestly, this is hard!  Going against our flesh usually is. 

I feel that God is pressing on me to share this reminder as well.  We need to remember that, as Christians, we do not allow our political differences, our racial differences, cultural differences, our religious differences, etc., to keep US from being who God calls us to be.  We have to be mindful not to condemn or judge others because it is not our place.  We simply need to live a life of compassion and love, not allowing differences to dictate how we treat others.  I love how my church’s mission statement pretty much sums it up:  Love God, Love People, Reach the world.  When we do this, we will naturally SHINE for HIM 

Resting in His Reassurance,

Lynn