Do you ever feel like your prayers are not being heard or you don’t think that they will be answered? I have. Don’t give up; keep praying. Be persistent. God is ok with that. Sometimes I think He wants us to show how much we want it and wants us to “pray without ceasing.” To not give up. Sometimes, we are being impatient, and God is answering in His own time. He’s ok with that too. He just wants us to pray earnestly, and pray with faith. Jesus gives us a couple parables to remind us to be persistent in our prayer and remind us that God is faithful and will give us what we need.
Continue reading “Persistence in Prayer”Tag: worry
Anxiety and Worry
After the last series, I was not sure what to write about next. I am still not sure where to go from here. I need to be patient and listen to the Holy Spirit to guide me. In the meantime, I have been struggling looking for work. I was laid off the end of July and it has been frustrating, getting few calls. There also has been a couple family issues to deal with. So, this one is kind of reminding me that God is good and He provides. He will take care of me and I don’t have to worry, because I can trust in Him for things to work out. It is a time to remember that many in this world are struggling, a lot worse than I. I have been very blessed, as most people are in this country and many of us take it for granted. I have been to Haiti several times and each time I am reminded of this. Though people are in poverty, sometimes in danger, they still can find joy. I see it in their smiles, I see it in the love they have shown me. This lady in the featured picture was always smiling and singing praises to God, though she lived in an impoverished, struggling country. We can learn from people like her. God doesn’t always give us everything we want or get us out of the storm, but He is always there to help us through it. And I know there is more blessing ahead. So, don’t worry. Continue reading “Anxiety and Worry”
Anxious for Nothing
How do you handle stress? My workplace is about to close and it is the only place in town. That means almost everyone in this community will be affected; families, businesses, churches, employers and employees, After 15 years and not too far from retirement, we will have to sell our house, find a new job and move. My Dad is getting old and beginning to struggle with his health and mind. We are going to have to leave our friends behind and find a new church…once we find out where we will be living. There was a time when I would have been devastated by this news, but I feel at peace. Don’t get me wrong, I do feel stressed and some days more so than other days, but I also know God is in control; He has gotten me through tough situations before and I know that He will again. I have heard before somewhere that God sometimes calms the storm we are in, but other times He just helps us through it. I do not know what the future will bring, but we will be alright one way or another. All I can do is pray and leave it in God’s hands, search for jobs, wait and listen for God’s voice. We have our part to do; we can’t just sit back and expect God to hand us everything on a silver platter, but we can’t get wound up and stressed out or try to do everything on our own either. That is something I need to keep reminding myself. How do you handle stress? Continue reading “Anxious for Nothing”
Wrestling with God
In our discussions about Jesus, the instances referred to Him as “The Angel of the Lord.” There are also instance that He appears and is described differently. In some cases, we are not sure it is actually Jesus, or God the Father, or The Holy Spirit, but there are some clues and there is a good indication that it is Jesus. Regardless, we know it is God and it does point to our Savior, The Messiah, Jesus Christ. In each case, there is a lesson for us. One lesson that is common throughout scripture, is to trust in the Lord. Continue reading “Wrestling with God”
When Things Don’t Go as Planned
Last week was a stressful week. Work has already been stressful lately (which has been literally giving me headaches), but with the metal prices low, the company I worked for had to take some measures to reduce costs (I work for a zinc mine). One of those measures included some layoffs. Thank God I was not one of them, but I don’t know what the future holds in the years to come. I have been planning a mission trip to Haiti for some time now. Plans were to leave the end of this month. But, I received a call that there is some civil unrest there and demonstrations were planned for the time I would be going there. So, missionaries decided to cancel any mission trips during that time for obvious safety concerns. The good news is that they are going to have a mission team going there mid-December and they were hoping that I could go then. This was good news, but it also meant rescheduling flights and canceling hotel rooms. All in all, this would add to the cost and I will be sleeping in the airport for the overnight layover because the hotel room was non-refundable. I purchased travel insurance, but it did not cover this circumstance. I know that God always works things out for good and His timing is right, but it did leave me with doubt, frustration, discouragement and wondering what I did wrong, or if He was testing my faith or if the devil was trying to keep me from going or working on my mind to lose faith or be distracted or keep from doing what God wants me to do, or…or…or… Continue reading “When Things Don’t Go as Planned”
My Daily Scriptures 