It seems to be my eternal prayer that God will show me how all of these mismatched pieces of my life will somehow fit together. It's like God has allowed so many beneficial life lessons and experiences to come into my life but none of them really relate to each other.
To be extremely honest, I've been discouraged lately-- not because I don't believe God is faithful or that He is incapable, but because I'm so impatient to see where this mess I call my life will go.
I'm so thankful for all of the people God has placed in my life in the past and in the present, but why can I not trust God with the people in my future? The Lord is so faithful, yet I still struggle to fully trust Him. I'm not sure why that is. If you can figure that out, please, feel free to enlighten me.
My major? Not sure what it's for.
My future job? No idea.
What am I going to do after college? That's a good question.
Despite my discouragement and, at times, bad attitude, God has been so beautiful in showing me how even seemingly insignificant roles (or lack of immediate direction) can impact the world for God's kingdom.
My SLD and I are going through the book of Philippians with our two prayer leaders. Last week, I was blessed to be able to study and teach on how the church at Philippi (to whom Paul is writing his letter in the book of Philippians) began.
If you read Acts 16, you can see even in this very short passage the people that God used in the starting of the church at Philippi (which gave us the beautiful book of Philippians).
Maybe I'm biased, but I absolutely love Lydia. There isn't much said about her except that she was a seller of purple fabrics, "worshiped God," that "the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul," that she was baptized, and that she opened her home to Paul and Luke (and whoever else was with them) for the sake of the gospel... and eventually allowed Paul and the other believers to meet at her home (vs.14-15;40).
I find this absolutely incredible.
First off, women in Bible times didn't really seem to have much part in the spiritual growth of community. However, women of the early church like Lydia play key roles that are often overlooked.
Lydia did what she knew how to do, worshiped God in what she did and made herself accessible to fulfill whatever the need.
The believers in Philippi needed a place to meet to encourage each other and worship God together? Not a problem. Lydia was there to offer up her home and use what the Lord had given her.
I love this quote from 365 Life Lessons from Bible People:
To be extremely honest, I've been discouraged lately-- not because I don't believe God is faithful or that He is incapable, but because I'm so impatient to see where this mess I call my life will go.
I'm so thankful for all of the people God has placed in my life in the past and in the present, but why can I not trust God with the people in my future? The Lord is so faithful, yet I still struggle to fully trust Him. I'm not sure why that is. If you can figure that out, please, feel free to enlighten me.
My major? Not sure what it's for.
My future job? No idea.
What am I going to do after college? That's a good question.
Despite my discouragement and, at times, bad attitude, God has been so beautiful in showing me how even seemingly insignificant roles (or lack of immediate direction) can impact the world for God's kingdom.
My SLD and I are going through the book of Philippians with our two prayer leaders. Last week, I was blessed to be able to study and teach on how the church at Philippi (to whom Paul is writing his letter in the book of Philippians) began.
If you read Acts 16, you can see even in this very short passage the people that God used in the starting of the church at Philippi (which gave us the beautiful book of Philippians).
Maybe I'm biased, but I absolutely love Lydia. There isn't much said about her except that she was a seller of purple fabrics, "worshiped God," that "the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul," that she was baptized, and that she opened her home to Paul and Luke (and whoever else was with them) for the sake of the gospel... and eventually allowed Paul and the other believers to meet at her home (vs.14-15;40).
I find this absolutely incredible.
First off, women in Bible times didn't really seem to have much part in the spiritual growth of community. However, women of the early church like Lydia play key roles that are often overlooked.
Lydia did what she knew how to do, worshiped God in what she did and made herself accessible to fulfill whatever the need.
The believers in Philippi needed a place to meet to encourage each other and worship God together? Not a problem. Lydia was there to offer up her home and use what the Lord had given her.
I love this quote from 365 Life Lessons from Bible People:
"Lydia's response to the gospel was personal, profound and practical. She opened her own life to Jesus. She then led her entire household to committing themselves to Christ in baptism. Then she insisted on having the missionaries make her house their base of operation. To the extent that Lydia understood God, she obeyed.
She displayed a willing heart."
I really just love that quote.
Lydia may not have known that God would use her hospitality to be the "base of operation" for the missionaries at Philippi.
She may not have known that through the growth of the Philippian church would come Paul's letter to the Philippians.
She didn't know that the book of Philippians would be inspired by God and placed in God's fulfilled and completed Word, the Bible.
She also had no idea that millions upon millions of people would read it, learn from it and grow in their relationship with God from it.
That, my friends, shows the power of obedience despite "lack of direction."
That, my friends, shows the power of obedience despite "lack of direction."
And THAT is what I need. To obey "to the extent that I understand God."
In other words, I need to obey God with what I know.
I need to do what I know how to do, worship God in what I'm doing and make myself accessible to fulfill any needs that may surround me.
That is what I need to do.
That is what I need to do.
"To the extent that Lydia understood God, she obeyed."
True faith.
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