Cast your burden…

These past weeks have been filled with many highs and lows, with a sense of hope and a sense of desperation.  I have a business that I have put my life into.  This business was not just any business, but a ministry to so many lost, hurting and broken women in our community.  Women would come with the intent of physical health, and would also receive spiritual and emotional health.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times I was able to pray with hurting women, give a word of encouragement or exhortation, and lead someone to the loving arms of the Savior Jesus.  Many of the members here consider this place a refuge amidst the storms of their life.  (Not my words, but theirs).  This business has existed solely to minister to the needs of women in this community and lead them to Jesus.  

However, my husband and I moved away almost one year ago.  We tried to sell the business with no luck.  We tried to hang onto it hoping that it could still be a blessing to women in this community, but we were no longer able to sustain it.  About a month ago, my husband and I prayerfully made the decision to close the business.  That decision was met with what I feel is the favor of the Lord.   I alerted my landlord of our decision, and he released me of all future financial obligations - I’d call that favor!   Since the decision was made, we have begun the process of closing our business, as well as making a final attempt to give away our business to someone who can run with it and make it a successful venture for themselves, carrying on the vision of making women healthy spirit, soul and body.  

We are in the final stretch of closing our business this Friday, yet I have women that are seriously considering the take-over of my business.  This is a time where my trust has to be in the Lord.  This is a time where I feel burdened, but my hope must be in the Lord.  He must remain on the throne of my heart, even in the midst of trial.  

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across a Psalm that seemed to speak to me where I’m at- Psalm 55.  I was specifically struck by what this verse says:  

Cast your burden on the Lord 10 digital cameras , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.   -  Psalm 55:22

Right now, I feel the burden of being in limbo.  I don’t know if in fact I am closing my business on Friday or if it will be transferring to a new owner.   It is an emotional roller coaster.  Yet I am encouraged.  It is so wonderful to know that I can cast my burden on the Lord and He will sustain me through this.  I don’t have to go it alone.  Even  more, he doesn’t want me to go it alone.   What a great God!

As of now I don’t know if we will close or transfer, but I do know the one who does.  I don’t know wether to prepare for closure or prepare to walk away at the end of this week, but I will cast my burden on the one who does, and he will sustain me.  Either way, God is still my provider.  Either way, God will remain on the throne of my heart.

Posted in Blog by Rebecca on 11-May 2009 | No Comments »

Seek Him

As I was in my quiet time with the Lord, I came upon this verse: Psalm 27:8.  The psalmist David writes

You have said, ‘Seek my face.’
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My heart says to you,  ’Your face, Lord, do I seek.’”  (ESV)

Another translation says it this way:

My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’
   And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming.’”   (NLT)

This is the state of a heart that is open to God.  Open to his great love, open to his mercy, open to his discipline, open to his refining, open to his shaping.  This is the state that I desire for my heart at all times.  

So often, we get inundated with the noise of life.  For me, it’s things like twitter, facebook, emails, business, church, etc.  I’ve noticed a trend lately: when I arise in the morning, I find myself checking my emails, facebook and twitter to see what I’ve missed.  When I go to bed at night, again I am checking these applications to make sure I didn’t miss anything throughout the day.  But God would say to me “Come and talk with me; seek my face.”  Don’t get me wrong, I do spend time in His Word on a daily basis.  I even spend time in prayer; yet I need to adjust my priorities.  The first and last thing I do during the day should not reflect a love for this world, rather should be to spend time with the one who loved me first, my Lord and Savior.   

The Psalmist says in verse 4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”  David had it right: his intent was to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple.  In the Old Covenant, the temple was the place that housed the glory of the Lord, the shekinah presence.  So David was saying, my desire is to constantly be in the presence of the Lord, to never leave it, to sit in awe of His presence and to seek His counsel at all times.  

What’s so amazing about God is that He wants us to be in His presence at all times, He even invites us to be enter into His presence.  He made available the way for us to have access to Himself by the ransom of His only son Jesus who paid the price for our sins and paved the way to restored relationship with Father God.  It is because of His Great Love for us that Jesus came, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again to defeat death, hell and the grave.  He did this so we could be restored to God and have relationship in His presence.  

So what does all of this mean?  It’s simple:  I resolve to keep God on the throne of my heart.  As He calls to me and says “Seek my face”  my heart will respond “Your face Lord do I seek” and my actions will reflect this heartfelt response.

Posted in Blog, Faith by Rebecca on 24-April 2009 | No Comments »

What I've been hearing…

My husband just introduced me to a really creative website: wordle.net. Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

As many of you know, I SOAP on a daily basis. This means that I open God’s Word, the Bible, and as I am reading I take note of a scripture (S) that stands out to me. I then make observations (O) about that specific verse. After observing the scripture in it’s context, I then apply it to my life by writing an application (A). Lastly, I write a prayer (P) asking the Lord to help me apply His Word to my life. Thus SOAP. I title each one of my SOAP’s in order to help me clarify the topic.

So, I put all of my titles in from January until now.  Here is my word cloud of what God has been showing me in His inspired Word, the Bible. You can click on it to open the link.

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Posted in Commentary, Faith by Rebecca on 26-March 2009 | No Comments »

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