While this blog is mostly about writing, my writing, at its foundation, is meant to glorify the Lord. My stories are about the intersections between people's daily lives, loves, and faith.
So, this Sunday, I want to write a bit about my faith. Each morning, for the last two decades, I have read at least a page of the Bible. That may translate into a chapter, or more, or less, depending on the book I'm in. Doing this has me on my third go-around of the entire Bible and I'm happy with that feat. I started this practice on my 40th birthday, so it's never too late to start.
Over the years, I've added a daily devotion book. Then, this summer, I was asked to review a 10-week Bible study that is probably going to take me longer because some of the daily lessons are very long.
With my full-time job and writing on the side, the way I fit in my devotion time is to do so over breakfast. No one else in my family is a morning person and that time is set aside anyway so I don't forget or find myself skipping this time with the Lord (unless traveling, sometimes I don't have the time for all of it). I don't eat for very long and then focus on whatever God is telling me.
I won't say I always connect to God the way I should, or that I listen. Sometimes, I go through the motions. But sometimes, praise Him, God speaks to me in the Word and in the words. I know He's really serious when he sends a verse to me in my devotion time, in the sermon at church, and on social media. Earlier this summer, I saw a verse on Facebook that struck me so I wrote it down on a post-it note. I stuck the post-it note on my computer monitor and prayed about it. "When the time is right, I, the Lord will make it happen..." Isaiah 60:22. The very next day, God brought about several things in my family's lives that I'd been praying over for a long time.
A few times in my life, I have heard the small, warm voice of God telling me to trust Him, that He will take care of me, and He will help me through it. Each time, I was already praying.
Dear Readers, I pray this post brings you hope if you need hope, steadies your faith if you're shaken, and joy.
If you would like, please share a time when God has reached down and held out His hand to you. I'm sure the truth will lift someone else, like me.
I prayer walk every morning, weather permitting, and then read my devotions/Bible study while I eat breakfast, too. I usually journal about how a specific scripture speaks to me or applies to my life. Taking the time to write down a verse, apply it to my life, and then write a short prayer helps me focus on how God wants to grow me through His Word. He always has something to say if we just listen. Thanks for sharing, Christina!
33 years ago God showed me, in my dreams, that the man I ah started dating was to be my husband. Every night, for years, I had the same nightmare, something dark chasing me and every night I would wake up right before that dark evil caught me. Shortly after Jimmy nad I started dating I had that nightmare again. Only this time, when it got to the spot where the evil caught me, I turned back to look and ran right into someone who caught me. As I turned to see who had caught me all the darkness, the evil, vanished, and as light Nd warmth surrounded us I looked up and it was Jimmy. then I heard God’s…
Thank you so much for sharing this. The scripture you shared from Isaiah was just what I needed. You said you found that in a post and it encouraged you. Well, just know that you have now encouraged another. And, God has answered an abundant number of prayers for my family this year that we have been praying about for years. We had ups and downs, but He has been faithful through it all. God bless you for this uplifting post.
Today the Lord arranged all the aspects of church to reiterate a theme to me. The sermon, the songs, the time of confession, and even the kids' Sunday school lesson I taught, all reminded me that God is at work in my weakness because HE is the one who is strong. HE is the one who is mighty to save. HE is the one who is at work, not me. And in the word of one of the songs we sang today, "And while I'm waiting, I'm getting stronger. My faith is rising, and I will run on. While I'm waiting, I'm lifting up on wings like eagles. I believe, I will trust in you."