I've always heard people say, "Just be still and let God work." What an absolutely amazing line, but how often do people really understand it, let alone do it?
For me, this line has been the essence of my Summer. Actually it can be traced way back to our most recent Spring. In such time I have seen God push, pull, stretch, press, and challenge me beyond imagination. Furthermore, my overall sense of Pride has been abandoned and replaced with a heavy load of Humility. Likewise, this summer has opened my eyes to the clearest of truths. Simply put, when God opens a door, who am I too shut it in refusal?
Not to say that walking through it would be an easy task, I believe it to be quite the contrary. In fact I have found each door to be uniquely different in weight and size, yet I have still managed to fit through safely, only to find a new challenge on the other side.
It's here where the lessons have been learned. What makes a person better is their ability to trust God through any process, no matter the difficulty. I've learned that the immediate will (most likely) be difficult during any type of change, perhaps even unbearable for the common man. But that's just it! I now know that with God, I am not like the common man.
Phil 4:13: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Perhaps undervalued due to its repeated use, but very true nonetheless.
About Me
- Jonathan Hornkohl
- Circumstances for Clapping Hands is a blog about reasons to give praise to God, despite my circumstances. As Henry David Thoreau once addressed, “There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.” The challenges: 1) Find value in everything you do and 2) Find joy in doing it.
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A wonderful preschool teacher taught me about "Really" being still and let God be God...Sometimes He lets the roaring winds of a hurricane outside force us to sit and be still and wait upon him. Thanks for the reminder and wonderful thoughts today.
ReplyDeleteKNOW that He is God....Listen.
It's hard to be still and let God do His thing. I am so impatient and fidgety by nature, so for me - waiting and listening is difficult, but I know it's necessary.
ReplyDeleteI look at people like Jonah. God told him to go somewhere, and he went in the opposite direction - not wanting to go through the door God had directed him to, and didn't really listen to God until he was in the belly of a fish!
Being still and letting God works means giving up things, sacrifice - and often going through not-so-pleasant things (like the humble pie you mentioned). But it's so worth it.
Thank you for your post and sharing out of your journey...it's such an encouragement to me. I, myself am in a season where learning to be still in life is difficult and stretching at times, and yet God is teaching me to not be moved or shaken by those things that seem so out of balance and even chaotic on the outside. I believe God allows those things to take place in our lives to refine us and teach us to be so completely dependent on Him - ultimately, that's the best place to be at. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I got the book, "Un-Christian"! It looks SO good and I can't wait to start reading it!
ReplyDeleteDionne, the Jonah story is so real to me, especially after we got to visit Joppa, the town where he was spit up, the town of second chances.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Spilling Heart, let me know what you think: it's been really dry and has taken me a while to get through, but the principles are good and are sticking in my mind. Another great one is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I'm going to lead a small group on that this Fall.