ALL FOR A PURPOSE

Romans 8:28 says this:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

Once this truth is firmly fixed in our hearts and we trust God to guide us in His wisdom, we will begin to see how the details of our lives are fitting into a specific plan that only a sovereign God could have designed. Even though we may not yet understand exactly what that plan is.

Yet along the way some circumstances don't make sense and we wonder, "Just how exactly does this fit into the big picture?" We don't always have the privilege of discovering the purpose of these events and we simply have to walk by faith, knowing that God will use them in some way. But sometimes a long while afterwards we can look back and see in reflection at least part of the reason why certain things happened in our lives.

Today I had two of those moments. The first came when I was reading email responses to my latest ministry update, and a special friend wrote these words to me:

"Remember once when you and I were talking,

and you said that you wished you had met the right man so that you could be married and have children because you love children so much? God always has a better plan,

better because He finds a way for Himself to be glorified and as a result we receive blessings too. 

Now you will have MANY children to love and care for, not just the one or two

that you could have naturally."

I still pray and believe that God has someone special for me someday, but what my friend shared is true. Had I been involved in a relationship, or perhaps married with a family, I probably would not be where I am today, preparing for full-time ministry to needy children in a country halfway around the world from where I was born. God knew that and He lovingly and carefully kept me for a special purpose that I could never have dreamed of and that now fills me with an inexplicable joy and hope!

The other moment came as I was doing my supper dishes. I have discovered that in Ukraine, things are done a little differently than what I'm used to -- here we use a sponge with a little bit of dish soap and some running water to wash the dishes. We don't fill up a sink with water, and there's no second sink to rinse in. And I have to wash up the dishes after each meal, because of the size of the kitchen and the relatively few dishes we have. Once the dishes are washed, they are put away in the cupboard - still wet - and left to air-dry. (I dry them sometimes anyway, because I prefer to do that.) Well, it occurred to me that God had prepared me for even this interesting change...

Back in 2005 when I moved to Cambridge, Ontario, I shared a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 other young women. I'm once again sharing an apartment with 2 other women, but that's not where the comparison stops. In that apartment in Cambridge, I quickly found out that my room-mates expected me to wash up my dishes and put them away after each time I used them, rather than letting them pile up on the counter or in the sink. At first that was a bone of contention with me because I was used to doing dishes only once a day. But it was her home, and I realized that I needed to accommodate her wishes.

I did not carry on that tradition over the past 5 years, but learning to do dishes in this way again has been a relatively easy adjustment -- in part because I had already developed the skill years ago. I used to think that was just for that time, but I realized today that even that living experience was preparation for what I would need to do 7 years down the road in another country! (Interestingly, back in 2005 I lived with a young woman named Tanya, and again, one of my apartment-mates is named Tanya!)

Psalm 139:16 says this:

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

None of these circumstances are a surprise to God, and let me tell you...it is a pure delight to be able to look back and realize how God has lovingly and carefully arranged the details of my life that most of the time I would deem inconsequential. Not only is nothing hidden from His sight, but He has planned it all before I was even born -- now that's amazing!

I hope this encourages you today that ALL that happens in your life is FOR A PURPOSE. Embrace it with faith and hope, looking to the Lord God, and you will be able to rejoice and give thanks "in everything."

GLEANINGS

So...I've been reading in Proverbs lately for my devotions and in case you haven't read them recently, just one chapter gives a person enough to chew on for a while.

I've been reading only a chapter at a time and meditating on it, asking God to speak to my heart through His Word...and He has!! (Really, I shouldn't be surprised, because He said that He would.) There are so many wonderful nuggets of truth in the Proverbs - I think sometimes we read too quickly and miss taking these precepts to heart.

So here's a few of my reflections from Proverbs 19 and 20...

Proverbs 19:3 says that the foolishness of man causes his heart to fret against the Lord. I believe God is saying through this verse that when we worry, we're not fretting over circumstances, but rather against Him, who is sovereign over every aspect of our lives. Puts a different spin on worry and reminds me of the other Biblical commandments regarding anxiety...

Proverbs 19:8 is a profound verse...stating that the pursuit of wisdom is not merely an intellectual act, but a spiritual one also. And also that keeping understanding - especially the understanding and insight that God gives us by His Word and His Holy Spirit - will help us find good.

Proverbs 19:11 cut me to the quick because this is so opposite to our natural human inclination. We would rather judge a transgression than "pass over it," but to practice this is to reflect a little of what God is like -- because He is patient with us, deferring His anger, and passes over our transgressions with His divine grace.

Proverbs 19:17 - it truly is important to God how we treat the poor...Jesus declared in Matthew 25 that whatever we do to those who are considered "the least" we are doing unto Him. I think this applies to everyone -- if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus and we follow Him, then whatever we do for anyone, ultimately we are doing for Him. And God is the One who will repay us out of His bountiful grace if we do good to others for His sake.

Proverbs 19:21 struck me...it doesn't matter what we plan for in our hearts, God's purposes will stand. So because of this - if we choose to surrender our plans to His purposes, ultimately we will find great joy and fulfilment.

Proverbs 20:3 -- it's true that it pleases God when we choose not to fight or argue or cause strife, but if I truly believed it to be an "honour" to cease from strife, it would change my attitude greatly, because I want to live an honourable life.

Proverbs 20:6 is a simple but challenging admonition - rather than talking to everyone about ourselves (our good deeds, character, etc), we need to just be faithful with what God gives us to do.

Proverbs 20:12 - at first glance, this verse seems to be a reminder to give thanks to God for our hearing and sight, but I believe it goes deeper than that. Since the Lord has made both our ears with hearing and our eyes with sight, we should seek to only listen to and look at the things that please Him...as that would bring Him honour for the great gift that He gave us.

Proverbs 20:22 - it is not for us to get revenge and ensure that judgment is meted out for evil...we are to wait on the Lord and He will save us. This is hard to do when we see so much injustice and wrong around us, but if we truly know in our hearts that our God "is mighty to save," then we can wait on and trust in Him.

Proverbs 20:24 is very profound - basically, God has laid out our days and our steps for us, so we should never think that we are in control of our lives, but daily ask God to show us His way and what His will is for our lives.

And finally, verse 29 -- Scripture makes it very clear that gray hair is beautiful. Why then do we fight so against it? If a gray head is beautiful on an older man, wouldn't it be the same for a woman also? Can we not believe God's Word and thank Him for the beauty of growing older? We can choose to be frustrated by the aging process and what we no longer have, or we can be thankful for the days that God has given us. 

Lord, please remind me to always walk in integrity, no matter what I do.

Help me to seek wisdom and keep the understanding You have given me, to use discretion both in words and actions and to forgive transgressions.

May I not become lazy or complacent - as this does not reflect well on a servant of the Lord - but to do everything as unto You. Help me to have pity and compassion on the poor, to accept counsel and instruction and to discard advice that does not match Your truth.

I want to trust You, to wait for Your salvation and to seek You in everything I do.

May I always be thankful for the days You have given me, rather than wishing for something else. And most of all Lord, help me to continually surrender the plans in my own heart to You so that You can truly lead me in the way you would have me go. In Jesus' name, amen.

A Woman of Wise Speech

I spent this past Friday evening and Saturday at the Northwest Women of Grace mini-conference here in Thunder Bay, and it was a refreshing, encouraging and challenging time.

The theme was "Becoming a Woman of Wise Speech", which is always a timely and appropriate area to focus on, especially as women, since conversation is such a huge part of our lives. The key verse was Proverbs 25:11 "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."

I was struck by the number of verses in Proverbs that address the way we speak and the areas in which we need to be changed to reflect the character and qualities that God wants to see in us and that will be of benefit to others around us.

Something else that stuck with me is a quote that was shared by our speaker, Janet Surette: "I am the master of the words I have not spoken and a slave to the words I should not have said."

Lord, may I allow You to guide my words so that I need not be ashamed or burdened by words that I ought  not to have said. There is so much in Your Word that teaches me in this area...

As Psalm 139:23-24 says, I need to allow God to "search me and know my heart," to "test my and know my thoughts; to see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." If I daily am willing to allow God to change my heart, then what flows out of the abundance of my heart will be pleasing and good.

James 1:19a says that "everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak." This is an area where I need continual growth since I like to talk, and another quote that was shared that impacted me was "Seek not to be interesting, but to be interested." If I am truly interested in the other person rather than what I can say, then I will be more prone to listen and talk less.

Proverbs 15:28a says, "The heart of the righteous ponders how to to answer..." I need to think about a) what I would say before I say it, b) how to say it, and c) when I should say it.

Colossians 4:6 says to "let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

As Proverbs 22:17-18 says, I need to "incline [my] ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply [my] mind to [His] knowledge..." This will bring pleasing results in my interactions with others. I need to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) and study and apply His Word to my life.

Ephesians 4:29 says "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Lord, please help me to choose to characterize people by the good in them rather than the negative; to praise them to others; to focus on the good and to verbally encourage others.