For today...

Lord, deliver me from the urge to open my mouth when I should shut it. Give me the wisdom to keep silence where silence is wise. Remind me that not everything needs to be said, and that there are very few things that need to be said by me.

thought for today

Very possibly we often miss what God wants to show us because we don't take time to pray silently and watch quietly.

For today

How to Do the Job You Don't Really Want To Do

Certain aspects of the job the Lord has given me to do are very easy to postpone. I make excuses, find other things that take precedence, and, when I finally get down to business to do it, it is not always with much grace. A new perspective has helped me recently:

The job has been given to me to do.
Therefore it is a gift.
Therefore it is a privilege.
Therefore it is an offering I may make to God.
Therefore it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him.
Therefore it is the route to sanctity.

Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God's way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness. The discipline of this job is, in fact, the chisel God has chosen to shape me with--into the image of Christ.

Thank you, Lord, for the work You have assigned me. I take it as your gift; I offer it back to you. With your help I will do it gladly, faithfully, and I will trust You to make me holy.

For 2010

This may be my affirmation for the new year: "In this present moment, I have permission to be whoever I am, and whatever I feel". (Thanks for the 'gift', Renee)

from today's devotions

Sufficient for Each Day
1 Kings 17:8-16
Because Elijah was a man like us, he undoubtedly wondered what God had in store for him when he saw the brook beginning to dry up. Since he was trusting in God, however, he believed and help arrived.
God did not send a sudden squall of rain for that immediate neighborhood, nor did he provide some supernatural source of water in that place. Instead, Elijah was to arise, go to Zarephath and dwell there. Only at Zarephath would a widow provide food for him.
Few of us have faced the extremity this widow experienced. It seemed as though each day she might face starvation; yet each day by faith she trusted God to meet her need.
The result was that she and her house "did eat many days" (1 Kings 17:15). God supplied not a year at a time but a day at a time.
This is what we need with regard to God's grace. We do not need a great stockpile of it for future use but a daily appropriation of it, which God supplies freely.
The manna was gathered daily, not in the evening but in the morning, and each one gathered for himself. So must we accept grace from God.
We cannot hoard today's grace for tomorrow or call on yesterday's grace for today. We cannot gather enough on a Sunday to last a whole week. We need to have daily contact with God, particularly in the morning.
"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11).
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With all the things going on, I needed to be reminded of this. God is going to take care of everything today. He's already worked out the future but needs me to trust Him for today. He will give me the all of the tools to get through today. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"...

I am learning to wait...

Waiting for God's Time
11 Samuel 2:1-11
Second Samuel 2 opens with these words: "And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron" (v. 1).
David found, as we will too, that we never lose anything by believing God and then patiently waiting on Him. But we will surely suffer if we take things into our own hands and rush blindly ahead.
The word "Hebron" means "alliance" or "communion" in contrast to Ziklag, which refers to self-will. Being allied with God and being in communion with Him, David was in a place to be led in the will of God.
David's reign began by reigning first over Judah. It was not necessary for David to take the throne; God saw that he received it. God moved him back to Hebron, and his own tribe anointed him king.
Seven and a half years went by, however, before the whole kingdom was put under his hand. David still had to wait, but it was God's time he was waiting for, not people's.
"There is a time there for every purpose and for every work" (Eccles. 3:17).
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Could the 7.5 years be a significant time frame for me as well?

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Do You Want an Answer?
This is the question we need to ask ourselves when we are seeking "solutions" to our problems. Often we want only an audience. We want the chance to air grievances, to present our excuses, to make an explanation for our behavior, rather than a cure. More often than not the clearest and most direct answer can be found in the Word, but it must be sought honestly.
"The way of the Lord gives refuge to the honest man, but dismays those who do evil" (Prv. 10:29 NEB).
We can approach God's word with a will to obey whatever it says to us about our present situation, or we can avoid it and say to anyone who would try to point us to it, "Don't throw the Book at me." The latter is an evasion, which supports our suspicion that our problems are, in fact, insoluble. The honest (i.e., humble) heart will indeed find the Lord's way to be a refuge.
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I do want answers; however, I am content to to wait on the Lord and on His perfect timing.
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Holy Spirit, enable your kindness to take root and flourish in me. Make me more like Jesus, who, though he was rich, was willing to become poor for my sake. In his name, Amen.

Something to ponder...

I got a message that on this day, God wants me to know...
that decision is only wishful thinking until you take that first irreversible step.

I can tell myself that I have already decided, that nothing now can stop me, but if that step backwards is so much safer than step forwards, what will hold me true to my path when the going gets tough? Sometimes, the right thing to do is to take that first irreversible step, the one after which my cannot go back. And right now, for me, is one of those times.

(from facebook)

For today..

Many of our prayers are directed toward the quick and easy solution. Long-suffering is sometimes the only means by which the greater glory of God will be served, and this is, for the moment, invisible. We must persist in faith. God has a splendid purpose. Believe in order to see it.
"Our troubles are slight and short-lived, and their outcome an eternal glory which outweighs them far. Meanwhile our eyes are fixed, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen" (2 Cor 4:17, 18 NEB).

This is from part of my devotions this morning. I have been laboring in my current job for almost 10 years. At times it has been a great joy, other times it has been a tremendous burden. The past few years have become increasingly difficult.

I've been praying for God's will. Each day I face that place with God's strength supporting me. Things just seem like they are coming to a close there. A job I have dreamed of for many years was to open in 8 months and now may open sooner. The thought is overwhelming. I am learning to face each day with faith that God is in control.

May God's will be done. (Lord, I'd really like that job, though...if it is your will)

Thoughts for today

"To change for others (or for someone else) is to compromise who you really are."
~Mona Lisa Smile

As this school year draws to a close I have been thinking/praying about the future. How much longer will God have me stay at CRHS? Mona Lisa Smile, may not be the greatest movie ever; however, there is much there that speaks to me. Julia Roberts character reminds me much of myself.

I am beginning to pray for a specific job. In 1.5 years what could be my "dream job" will be opening. Many feel this is what I have been being groomed for for 10 years. I want to do what God wants me to do.

CRHS is becoming increasingly miserable. People are leaving in such great numbers. 20+ teachers leave each year and that number hasn't slowed in 5+ years. It isn't a happy place to work. I constantly feel that I am expected to conform to a mold dictated by administrative powers. I stand against being "Simonized". I don't want to conform and don't think that I should have to. I crave a place where I am supported, respected and encouraged...and where I do not have to teach English!

So, while I do not want to change for others...I do want to change for God. I am trusting Him to open the door to a future job. (The more I pray about this the more miserable CRHS becomes.) I am leaning on his leading and provision for all things.

I can't wait to see the future unfold...