Packing my faith and my SPF 50

I'm preparing for a speaking event next week - on the high seas! The retreat is on a Bahamian cruise, so please pray for no storm activity in the Atlantic next weekend! I'm excited about the cruise ship - I understand I'll have a cabin with terrific views. I'm excited about all the delish food that I won't have to cook. Of course, I'm excited about touring the islands and perhaps snorkeling. But I'm most excited about the potential for each of the women - including me - to come home with hearts that are larger than the ones we boarded the ship with.

As I prepare I'm relying on the verses in Exodus 4. In this chapter Moses is pleading with the Lord in verse 10 saying, "O Lord, I'm just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I'm not now, even after you have spoken to me..." Moses is getting exactly how I tend to get during the week leading up to a speaking event - overly focused on himself and his own ability. So God adjusts Moses' viewpoint a little in verses 11-12: "Who makes mouths?" the LORD asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see?" Is it not I? ...

"Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say."

Maybe you sometimes get this way too... trying to accomplish something in your own strength, forgetting who is it that made your strength in the first place. Today I pray: Lord, I release to You all my striving, worrying, and crazy self-effort. In faith I'm simply aligning myself with Your statements to Moses. I'm trusting You to help me speak well, to tell me what to say, and to order my steps on this trip and everyday. In Jesus' Name I pray.

As I posted this entry I noticed my last entry and the words I wrote last week: "making my supposed inability a barrier to obedience is like telling God that He has failed to realize reality correctly. When the correct reality is that I've not yet allowed Jesus to enable me to be obedient in that area." Hum ... I'm sensing a theme here! Today I'm choosing faith and obedience over worry and doubt. Care to join me?

No Excuses

This morning I was reading the May 5th entry of my Utmost for His Highest during my devotional time. Two parts stood out to me. First was the line that read, "Never sympathize with a soul who finds it difficult to get to God, God is not to blame." I reread that about 3 times. You reread it 3 times and see what comes to you about the way you talk to, and react to, others.

The next part that impacted me read, "If Jesus ever gave us a command He could not enable us to fulfill, He would be a liar; and if we make our inability a barrier to obedience, it means we are telling God there is something He has not taken into account." I could recall various times in my life when I've thought:

I'd read my Bible more if only I could get more out of it.

I don't have time to pray and commune with God at this particular stage in my life.

I'd give, but I don't have a lot of extra money to work with.

So I'm meditating on the fact that making my supposed inability a barrier to obedience is like telling God that He has failed to realize reality correctly. When the correct reality is that I've not yet allowed Jesus to enable me to be obedient in that area. So there's really no excuses for me not maturing in my faith.

If these lines from Oswald Chambers spoke to your heart too, please, don't sympathize with me - get radically obedient with me!

Labor Day

Here's wishing my fellow Americans a joyous day of rest. May our pool water be refreshing, our hot dogs be plump, our watermelon juicy, and our company kind ... most of all, may our hearts be yielded and attentive to His as we rest from our work and our worries today. Actually, may that be true for all God's people across the globe, in Jesus' sweet name.

Happy Summer's End!