This past Tuesday, Brenda and I were suppossed to go look for more rental homes. But we had a few small jobs to do first. My job was to reinstall Norton 360 on all three computers at home. This should have taken an hour at the most to do. It took 5 hours!!! Caleb's computer was so bad that I had to restart it over 20 times. Finally the work was done and the day was over. And we had not been able to go out looking for homes. So at the end of the day I posted this update on Facebook:
I was able to realize that the day was frustrating but still remind myself that God is good. I tried to delight a bit!
On Wednesday I got a call from a good friend of mine who is a former youth pastor. He now runs his own business that helps youth ministries run big event trips and missions and outreaches. It is called Eventsource Ministries and can be found here. Kenny May is a great guy and when I told him that I was looking for work he put his mind in high gear. His call on Wednesday was to ask if I wanted a part-time job with a company that he also works for called Sundance which delivers lost baggage to customers of Southwest Airlines. So I said I would love to have a job and he called his boss and based on Kenny's recommendation I was given the job!
Then on Wednesday night I spoke to the youth about how God still speaks to us today. Primarily He uses Scripture and it is the only authoritative way that we can be sure God is speaking. But God also speaks through wise counselors and circumstances and to our spirit in meditation and contemplation. We then spent 10 minutes in contemplation. I asked the youth to think about this verse:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
We had a great time of just thinking and contemplating what these commands mean. I found myself delighting in God all the more! On Thursday morning I woke up early but didn't get out of bed. Instead I lay there and thought about how much God loves me and I desire His presence with me. Later that day I rode along with Kenny as he taught me how to do the new job.
Today I spoke with the owner of Sundance and set up a face to face with him tomorrow at 1pm to go over details of the new job. We also checked Craigs List again for rental homes and we may have found our new place! Amazing how things are falling into place and it all started with a reminder to delight myself in the Lord. How does the rest of that verse go?
A couple of blogs ago I wrote how I envision Peter being emboldened by Jesus' offer to have the disciples enter the miraculous by telling them to feed the five thousand. They wouldn't, but saw the great opportunity they missed. Peter saw another opportunity as Jesus came walking on the water towards him. He asked to be invited into the miracle and Jesus said, "Come." I bet as Peter stepped out of the boat he was delighting himself in the Lord.
What do you think? How do you delight in the Lord? Can we choose to delight in Him even when things around us are not so delightful?
We certainly can delight in God during bad circumstances! We must remember that He is still good, and that He will use our circumstances for our benefit - even if we can't see how right now.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thank you for mentioning that God can speak through other means. It seems that some Christians believe that He only speaks through Scripture, and that if you believe anything else, you are deceived - especially if you yourself have experienced His voice in other ways!