When God Says No

My husband and I had been praying about a situation a few weeks back. We were seeking Gods will as to what step he wanted us to take next. We fasted and prayed, then cast our fleece. I was waiting with excitement because I just knew Gods answer would be yes. Then came the resounding NO! My heart sank. I thought oh surely this couldn't be. It felt so right. Everything was perfect. I had already made plans and could see our future. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Gods plan is always better. He has our best interest at heart. You see, the problem here was I had already planned it all out. My plan is not perfect. Gods plan is perfect. I could have chosen to disobey and push to have things my way. I may have even gotten what I was after. That would have been a disaster. If we don't let God direct our path, we will become lost. Even though I am sad because he said no, I know he has something better planned. When we can get past our small petty mind and have faith in Gods plan, we can bloom where we are planted and reap the Showers of blessings sent down from above. My prayer is for us all to be found directly in the center of Gods will. 

Little By Little

My daughters’ back door has been leaking when it rains off and on for about 6 months now. We cleaned out the gutters and that helped for a while. We are always going to fix it later or tomorrow, which never seems to come. The leak is small and only happens when it rains hard. The damage it has made because of our negligence, is now big. A small leak has now swelled the wood on the bottom of the door facing and made the bottom of the adjoining wall soft. If we had nipped it in the bud and fixed it when we first noticed it, we could have stopped the later damage. I have said all this to get to the lesson that God has showed me. Sin enters in our door little by little but causes much damage. Jesus is the door we use to enter into heaven. He is also the door that blocks out the sin of this world. Just like my daughters earthly door has become weak by neglect, our spiritual door can become weak from sin as well. We might start off by neglecting to read our Bible. I myself have said not reading my Bible just once won’t hurt. I will catch up tomorrow. We bend a little here and a little there. We lower our standards. Then little by little the world starts to trickle in. It isn’t enough to make us sit up and take notice but it is enough to do damage. The Bible tells us to: Abstain from all appearance of evil.”  1Thess. 5:21 KJV It is because it is so easy to get entangled with it. We don’t realize how easy it is for sin to enter in and spoil our soul. We think just a little bending of the rules won’t hurt. The Bible also tells us in Matthew 13:33 “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” Just like it only took a little water coming in the door to damage the whole wall, it only takes a little compromising to damage our entire soul. So, the Lord has taught me that the very second I realize there is a weakness or even a breach in my spiritual life, DON’T ignore it! Take action to stop it right then and there so there won’t be any damage later.