Contentment

Lately, there have been some things in my life that have been weighing heavily on me. I will not go into details...but tonight as I was reading my Bible I stumbled across I Corinthians 12. I think the devotional reading that went along with it speaks volumes, and I'd like to share it.

It's called...Being Our Best

for most of our life, I think we fight God. we keep trying to show him what we were made for. we keep giving him better ideas. we keep working for something bigger and greater than anything he seems to have in mind. for many of us, by the time we are in mid-life, we feel we somehow missed out on some of the great things we were born for. we fight with God over this.

God made me with special ideas in mind, but I wish I could have been in on the planning...my skin would have been more olive-colored & flawless, my hair more coarse, with some curl in it. my shoulders broader. my eyes wider-spaced. i would have completely removed the lazy part in me that I have to fight with all the time.

I come to you, however, knowing God made me not to impress you. not to be on book covers. not to be an authority. not to be perfect or a genius. not to make a million dollars!

God made me to be uncomplicated in my faith. to watch my children & kites & sunsets & rainbows & enjoy them. to take your hand regardless of who you are or how you look. to listen to you. to accept you right where you are. to love you unconditionally.

God made me to be real. to be honest. to be open. to never compare myself to you, but to strive to become my own best person. to have character & dignity.

The additional scripture reading to go along with this is: Job 5: 6-9(6)For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. (7) Yet man is born to trouble surely as sparks fly upwards. (8) But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. (9) He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

When Breanna was getting ready to have her open heart surgery, my family pastor drove to Indy to be with us & to pray with us during the surgery. He referred to that very verse....'God performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.' We witnessed that every hour they came out during the 11 hour surgery telling us how smoothly her surgery was going. Everyone was praying that He would give me the peace to make it through the surgery...and very few people know this...but except for the times they would come out to update us throughout the surgery...I slept. He eased my heart...and healed my child! What an awesome God we serve!!!