The Pieces Fit

Each time I sit and begin to hammer out these posts, I’m continually amazed that God is using me — a little girl from a small town in Louisiana to minister to all of you. I’m overwhelmed now as I recall the many times he spoke to me in my teens and 20s, and I didn’t even recognize his voice. Today I’m completely different. I know his voice, but it isn’t audible as you might imagine.  When he gives me these messages, they start in my dreams, continue through my daily scripture readings, and even meet me in the car when I turn on the radio. All those pieces yield a theme and a message that I divide into two parts — the Sunrise Sermon and the Music Monday posts.

Here are the pieces he gave me this week:

• No matter how long you have travelled in the wrong direction, you can always turn around. With Jesus it’s never too late to make a new start and ensure that your life is set in the right direction. ~Excerpt from devotional
• Our Father knows what we need before we ask him. ~Matthew 6:8
• “You Know Me” by George Huff
• Isaiah 30:1-18 – Anchor text from Pastor Anderson’s message on 4/23/17
• For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. ~Psalms 84:11

As you look at the pieces I chose to share, the theme is clear: God knows us and longs to be gracious to us if only we’d just wait on him. We have a tendency to push through all the warning signs just to get what we want. Once we get it, we’re not satisfied because we refused to be obedient to God’s directives or simply didn’t recognize his voice. He wants to give us much more than we can achieve through mere human strength. I’ve felt the sting of getting what I want, only to realize that God intended to give me something better. Have you felt it too?

I challenge you all to carve out a little quiet time throughout the day to talk to God and to listen for his voice. Allow his sweet whisper to wash away the noise of the world like a flood — leaving just his voice and your heart. He longs for that. No one knows your heart like he does. My prayer for you today is that you will lean in, listen, and go wherever God tells you to go, and if he tells you to sit or slow down, do that. He will never lead you in the wrong direction. He’ll hem you in behind and before, and he will lay his hand upon you. Take comfort in that truth. May blessings abound! <3

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! ~Isaiah 30:18

Before you leave today, spend a little time in worship as you listen to George Huff’s “You Know Me.”