Category: God guides

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Finding the courage to leap

I had a decision to make, but no courage to do it. So I went for a walk to think things through. But as I did, a squirrel hopped beside me from tree to tree. Then it leapt out into space, its little arms flailing. It wanted to reach a tree on the other side.

I stopped to watch, holding my breath. Would it make it? Would the branch break? Would it fall to its death?

It managed to grab hold of the tip of a branch. The branch sagged, but the squirrel pulled itself up. It scurried off… This was a message for me. Courage wasn’t a feeling. It was a choice. It counted the cost, but still took the first step. So I hurried back home and made that phone call. God kept me safe…

(photo by Catherine Dempsey: ww.pexels.com)

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Don’t be afraid when life changes…

We can write out the perfect script for our lives. We can live out our story with all our heart. We can set the scenes, but things don’t always go to plan.

We cry out to God and he hears our prayers. And then he steps in with his clapperboard. He tells us that the script is in need of change and that he has known it all along. But it takes us time to accept the pause and to realise that our first script was riddled with plot holes.

So, now he is writing and keeping it secret. Now he is changing the narrative. Don’t be afraid. Go with God’s plan.

(photo by Matin Lopez: https://www.pexels.com)

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When taken hostage by gaslighting…

It can be deeply painful when someone hates us for doing good. It hurts when our sense of justice is mocked, because it doesn’t bow to their demands. The Bible puts it so well. ‘You have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness’ (Amos 6:12). These kinds of people will try to poison us, to gaslight us into agreeing with their reality.

But the Bible guides us when we are in danger of being taken as a hostage: ‘They shall never enter my rest’ (Psalm 95:11). We can say, ‘NEVER!’ We can say, ‘No! You can’t come in! You will not disturb my rest.’ We can choose who we let into our lives. We can choose those who love good.

(photo by Leonie Fahjen: pexels.com)

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When others shut us down…

It is possible to do something excellently and still get rude remarks. It is possible for others to envy our work and try to shut us down. Our natural response might be to protect ourselves, to run away and hide.

In the Bible, someone experienced the same, and this man hid out in the wilderness, inside a cave. But God asked him, ‘What are you doing here?’

That man poured out his heart, but God gave him another perspective. He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord…’

Those who are envious will try to force us into hiding, but God pulls us out into the open. He shows us that next good thing to do.

(from 1 Kings 19:9-18) (photo by M Venter: https://www.pexels.com)

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The two halves to every promise

God knows how lost we feel in our dark times, so he calls out promises to guide us. Yet, when God gives a promise, like, “They have greatly oppressed my from my youth… but the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked,“* I tend to focus on the first half. I stay there, remembering the injustice and pain. I forget the second half of those verses.

God wants us to acknowledge our grief. He does. Yet it is essential to read on. For in every oppression God gives the freedom to move on. In every entanglement he cuts us free.

God’s promises always come in two halves. Our fear – his faithfulness. Our pain – his presence. Our confusion – his compass, leading us on.

* Psalm 129:2-4

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blue-jeans-3036405/

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What is your God-adventure?

What if someone told you, “Forget about your God and just do what I say”? What would you do? Would you listen?

God knows that many voices shout out, confusing us, but he still speaks: “Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention. Forget your people and your father’s house” (Psalm 45:10) Those near and dear might try to control, might want to keep us ‘safe’, but God wants to take us where we have never gone before.

He asks us to trust him, to take a step into the unknown. He stretches out his hand and invites us to grasp it. “Come, follow me,” (Matthew 4:19) he calls. And we can, into his adventure, individually designed for each one of us.

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash