“Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands — because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols.” Ezekiel 20:15-16

Our choices can keep us lost in the wilderness or free us to move into the promised land.

Have you ever felt like you were called for more? That you were sure God had a bigger or better plan for you? But for some reason you are stuck – roaming around in the same place – unable to find a way out. There’s a good chance God HAS called you to a greater purpose, but you’re stuck where you are because you won’t let him lead you out. You are doing what you’ve been doing, holding onto the past you’ve known, but letting Go and letting God will lead you into the Better Place God has for you.

“This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord , “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:10-14

God wants to bring his people out of the wilderness, out of the place where they’ve been held captive, back into the place he made just for them. But the hardest part about moving forward is leaving behind what you know. There’s a comfort in living in a place that’s known, even if that place has you enslaved to sin or holding you back from something better. The place you’re currently in could be hurting you, stopping you, but it’s what you are used to and the other side seems so much scary even if it looks more beautiful and fruitful.

I’ve had to leave a lot behind to be able to move forward in the path that God has for me. It’s been scary, it’s been unknown, and sometimes I’ve felt all alone, but I trusted God and His plan for me. What I don’t know doesn’t even compare to what God does know….God‘s way is greater than my way, his thoughts higher than my thoughts. When I let go of all that was holding me back and trusted in him, He has moved me forward, out of the wilderness and into His Promised Land.

Are you currently lost in the wilderness? Don’t let the past, what you know, hold you back from an even greater future….God’s promised plan for you.

“And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord. “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.” Ezekiel 16:14-15

The Giver of all good things and the creator of who we are and all we are is our Heavenly Father. So, Why do we waste the gifts we’ve been freely given? And Why do we let others take from us the gifts God gave to us?

We become prideful and forget where it all came from. Then the world whispers to us that it was in our doing, our accomplishments, and we slowly slip into the trance of using all of us for the attention of the world.

God adorned Israel was beauty, strength, flourishing fields, and mighty armies. The greatness of Israel gained the attention of their neighboring kingdoms and communities and directed their attention off of God. So Israel became prideful over their own beauty and squandered their own gifts. They begin giving themselves away and selling off their gifts to the other kingdoms. Instead of looking to God and pointing the other kingdoms to him, Israel clung to all of the attention the world would give them.

The gifts we’re given, the you unique ways God created each of us, are meant for a purpose and within that purpose the greater purpose of glorifying him.

I’m a child of the 80s, and I’d say we had some of the most talented child stars to ever be on the big screen and sitcoms. I’m sure when they started out they were just using the gifts they’d been given but then the world began to trap them. Fame began to lead these children astray and their lives began to spiral out of control. As I’ve gotten older, I truly have felt horrible for them, I’ve wanted to help them, reach out to them and see them Restored, but these actors wouldn’t know me or speak to me if I walked in a room. These actors, these childhood stars, they are just normal people, created for a purpose and placed in this world. And, honestly, I see the same thing that happened to them, happen to people all around me.

Even I could’ve squandered the gifts God has given me. I could’ve gotten consumed in my own head and began to give all my gifts away, but God got my attention and has kept it for over 20 years now. Every time I feel like I’m starting to do things in my own power, he humbles me. God reminds me that every gift I have is fully from him. Nothing I have, nothing I do, is from my own doing. It is all His, and so the loudness of world doesn’t crowd Him out, I keep my eyes on Him daily. Anytime he nudges, I follow the direction he’s given me, even when my selfishness tries to hold me back. I will always choose to use the gifts he’s giving me for his purpose and not lose them for my own.

God has gifted you too. He has adorned you with beauty in his creation of you in this world. He has a purpose for you and wants you to use it to point others to him. Don’t let the world change your mind or steal you away. Keep your eyes on him so you use your gifts wisely. Keep your mind on him so you don’t give your heart away. The gifts you have are gifts from God, use them for His Glory and not your own.

“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:17-19

At some point in our life we will find ourselves wandering in the wilderness or exiled in a place far away. At first we may be frightened at where we’re at but over time we become adjusted by the bitterness that overcomes us, the changed mind that fogs our vision, and a hardened heart that stops us from living. We may find it hard to breathe, no way to think, and nightmares overcome our past dreams. We become captivated by the captivity that holds us back from the life we were called to, no longer seeking to leave because we no longer see a way out. But in these places God never leaves us, and He never stops calling us home even if we can’t hear His call.

The Israelites had been taken captive, they thought they were left for dead in a far off land. So they chose to go the way of the people in this land, instead of seeking the way of their God. Yet God never stop pursuing them. Their hearts may have become hardened, but God kept wooing them to his own. Eventually, God got the attention of his people, he gathered them from the places they had gone and he restored to them a heart that was fully his, placing upon them a new spirit that refreshed their souls.

He opened their eyes to see, their ears to hear, their minds to know, and their hearts to feel His love so they could live freely in the land He called their home.

There have been multiple times in my life where I find myself so far from the place God had called me. I find myself wandering in a land I do not know and can’t seem to figure out how I got there or how to leave. But never in any of those times has God ever left me or been far off from me. Even when I couldn’t see him or feel him he was there. My mind had just gotten foggy and my heart consumed because the world had betrayed me into believing it was what I should be seeking.

God kept calling to my heart and I kept yearning for him. As I would turn to him and seek him, every-time, I would see him more clearly. He kept pursuing me as I finally ran toward him and he restored me to himself. It was so freeing I felt as though I could fly. I was again breathing the fresh air of the place He’d called my own. His spirit was upon me and His presence was embracing me; the world no longer had me bound to it.

When God calls you home, when he plucks you from the hands of captivity, he doesn’t just return you the same, he returns you restored – fully healed, fully alive and fully free to live the life he has for you.

“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” Ezekiel 1:28

There’s a lot of things, screens, sights and sounds grasping for our attention. Out of these things, we have to make a choice. We can choose to see the darkness – the destruction, abominations, all the things negative, or we can look for the light – the goodness, the signs of the presence of God, His Glory.

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine was distraught over all the horrid things going on in Afghanistan. She began praying for the people and the country and asking God to reveal Himself to her there. As she looked back at the screen she saw a young man walking through the darkness with a Captain America shield on his backpack. This may seem insignificant to you, but to our family and our friendship, this is a symbol of God’s presence and goodness. You see this one simple symbol, is a memory God gave to us from the short life of our youngest son, Hayden “Emmanuel” meaning God with us. And every time we travel, every time we are afraid or hurting, God will reveal this sign in some way and make us smile, reminding us of His love for us.

❤️💙

In the midst of darkness, my friend saw a sign of God’s Presence.

❤️💙

This world is full of darkness, and if that’s what we focus on, that’s all we will see. The darkness will then cause fear, fear in turn will cause seclusion as well as chaos, and the bitterness that takes root will cause hurt and hate.

However, this world was created out of the Goodness of a Loving God. Each day of creation, God complete something new and said, “It is Good.” So, even though there is darkness from the sin that was brought to the world, there is also light. This light is His Presence – God’s Glory, and we need to look for it.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6

We need to lift our head up from the screen and pray, we need to look out the window and see God’s presence in the trees and flowers, in the plants and birds, in the ray of light or in the rainbow after the storm. We need to step outside and smell the rain on the horizon or feel the cool breeze of the invisible wind. He is all around us as we come and go, as we sit and listen, as we scroll and troll, He is there.

God is making himself known if we only looked for Him. Even when we can’t see Him the rocks will cry out His name.

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:5-7

Grow where you’re planted, even in the times in between.

We are all waiting on something. Waiting for the perfect job, waiting for our dreams to be fulfilled, waiting on the right person, waiting on the cure, waiting for things to be made right, waiting for our children to be out of diapers, waiting for our children to return to the Lord, waiting for the call from God, waiting to be called home, waiting for Jesus to return. No matter what it is that you are waiting on, the hardest part in the wait is the time in between.

All of Israel has been overtaken at this point in Jeremiah and had been exiled to Babylon. They were fully aware of the promises of God and knew he’d bring them back to their homes but they didn’t know when. The people were searching for signs, anxious for answers, but through the prophet Jeremiah, God said to wait.

God told Jeremiah to encourage the people with these words, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. He had confirmed that he had plans to return them to their land and homes, but until that time came they were to settle into where he had brought them. The people of Israel were to plant their roots in Babylon, grow their crops and their families there, stop anxiously awaiting the future and start living fully in the present.

God has plans for you, but part of His plans are to grow you in the waiting.

God desires for us to live fully in the place He’s planted us. He will move us when we need to move, he will fulfill the plans he has for us when the time is right, but until that time comes we are to wait well right where we are.

Don’t worry about the timing. Don’t hold off plans to buy that house or take that job or go on that date or have a baby or make a friend or plant a garden. God doesn’t want you to stop living as you wait on him, he wants you to flourish where you are so that you can reflect him in that place.

In the waiting, live; in the waiting, love; in the waiting, grow where he’s planted you!

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. ”
Daniel 3:16-18

Have you ever been in an Even If situation? Quite possibly you are in one right now. A time where you are praying that the hard thing you’re in will go away or get better, but Even If it doesn’t you will stand strong in your faith and hope in God.

God does not change in any circumstance. He is Good and for your Good. He is who he is and he always will be. The great thing about this is that in every circumstance, God promises to be with you and promises His Good for you. He is able to save you, He is able to answer all of your prayers in the way you desire….But sometimes, His Will will be different than you’re will, and His plans different than your plans. This is His Sovereignty.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20

He is Able, But His Will Be Done.

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

Daniel’s friends knew God could save them, but they prayed even if he didn’t they would still have faith and hope in him. Jesus knew his father could take the wrath of the world away from him, but even if he didn’t he trusted the wisdom and sovereignty of God. I knew God could save and heal my little boy this side of heaven, but even if he didn’t I would still have hope and faith in him.

Even if….He didn’t; I still do.

It’s hard to always trust God’s will or understand his ways, sometimes we never will. But if you know in your heart that he is Lord and you trust that he loves you and is for you, even if it doesn’t go the way you wanted he is still good and knows what’s best.

My Hope, Faith and Trust is in Jesus, Above All. He didn’t choose to save my son this side of Heaven BUT I know He is Good and I still Hold onto Hope in Him.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17-18

Your circumstances can’t affect the joy you can experience.

Things are rough right now for many people. Whether it be death of a loved one, financial downfall, marriage issues, troubled children, friendship division, racial tension, or our future hopes going down the drain, most of us have something that is causing pain and confusion. But even in the darkest night or the dreariest day, we can still experience joy.

Joy doesn’t derive from our circumstance, joy comes from the Lord.

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalm 16:11

Every day as we wake, we have to Choose joy. No matter what, God’s mercies are new every morning, so what happened yesterday has been washed away. And even in our darkest days, we have the opportunity to experience the greatest joy in His presence. Sure, we can choose joy in the morning, we can be resting in God throughout the day, but then in moments, minutes, hours of the day, our joy can turn into mourning, into hurting, into yearning. Yet, in those times, when our joy is being stolen away, we can go back to His presence and be filled with joy again.

I can honestly say, I have experienced wonderful joy over the years, but I’ve also experienced days of pure darkness.

Darkness came when I was trying to change my circumstance instead of resting in God’s presence. I was trying to claim happiness by seeking fun instead of choosing joy by seeking God. Happiness, you see, is like a roller coaster that thrills and chills causing excitement and anxiety; yet, joy overflowing comes as you draw close to God, allowing only His Presence to fill your deepest needs and His path to lead you into the way everlasting.

In the present days, even when things seem dim, when I look out the window and see all the problems around me, I’m Choosing Joy.

It takes an intentionality daily of not focusing on the world and instead resting in the Lord. It’s turning off the notifications on your phone and noticing the gift of creation in the Fresh Air outside. It’s only checking your texts and messages a few times a day, and checking in with your spouse, your children, or encouraging a friend that you haven’t spoken with in a long time. It’s turning down the noise of negative news, TV shows, movies, and turning up truth through prayer, books, podcasts, Worship music and the Bible. It’s choosing to give your time to things that matter and not let your time be taken by things that don’t.

Joy is a choice that is given freely by the Lord, but we must rest in his presence to experience it because the world will try to steal it away.

“Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’ Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.’” Jeremiah 35:18-19

Before looking at the next generation and placing judgement on what you see, take a look in the mirror and see what you’re doing to lead them well.

How are you acting? What decisions are you making? Are you being faithful to God? Are we loving others well? Are we helping those in need? Are we walking in the ways of the Lord or are we dancing with the waves of the world?

The generations that are following us (in some cases our own children) are watching every move we make. They are making decisions and creating actions by what they see.

If you’re worried about the marriages to come but your children don’t see you fighting for your marriage the likelihood of them fighting for theirs is minimal. If you think the faith community is dwindling but you don’t make church a priority in your family – why would your children grow up to go to church?

God told the Rekabites that because of their faithfulness they would always have someone that would serve the Lord. He told the Israelites that their children and their children’s children would always have a place in the land he was giving them if they remembered what He did for them in Egypt and the wilderness and talked about it and taught as they go.

“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 4:9

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Everyday I have to tell my kids to do certain things, but if I didn’t do them myself, the chance of these things sticking is minimal. It’s called leading by example, servant leadership, and scripture declares that we are to lead the next generation well. Why do my kids read their Bibles? Not because I tell them to, but Because they see my husband and I do it. Why do they want to help when they see a need? Because they’ve seen broken hearts healed and that’s how they’ve seen us lead.

What are you doing that will be a reflection to the next generation? Choose your daily words and actions thinking about them.

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’” 2 Chronicles 36:22-23

God chose to use an unbelieving, non-Hebrew, Persian King who held Israel captive to rebuild his temple in Jerusalem.

God can use anyone for His purposes, even the most unlikely. What we have to realize is God created all and is still creating every person in their mothers womb.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

He has a purpose for each person even if they don’t believe in Him.

“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”Romans 9:16-18

And yet in knowing that God can use the power of someone we perceive to be evil, we still fear what they will bring. But God has also promised good for all of those who believe in Him. See, God can do both because He is ruler above all.

“In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time —God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:13-16

Because of God’s power and Jesus’ work on the cross, we have no reason to fear the evil of this world. We don’t need to stress over what is to come, bad things will come, but Jesus has OVERCOME!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

God used Pharaoh, he used Rahab, he used David and Bathsheba, he used Saul, He used Paul, he used Joseph and Peter, he used Judas, he’s using you, and God will use anyone else he chooses —for his purpose for his kingdom to do his work in heaven and on earth. God is in control everyday and everything is being done in his will. We have no reason to be afraid of the rulers of this world because He can use them to build His Kingdom just as easily as He can use you.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

We live in uncertain times — honestly, time has always been uncertain if you think about it, but with more fear-filled people in the world there’s more fear in the uncertainty.

The only way to flourish, to live fully, bearing fruit, is to step unafraid — free of worry — into the world. So how, with all the uncertainties, can we be free of worry? How can we live unafraid? There’s only one way, by fully trusting in God.

When I say trust, I mean trusting in His sovereignty — trusting that every decision, circumstance, and situation is seen by God and filtered through HIS wisdom and knowledge. Even when we can’t understand what’s going on, God knows. Even when the world seems to be spinning out of control, we realized that it’s actually spinning by HIS control. It’s not allowing the things we don’t understand to keep us locked in our homes or secluded from other people. It’s trusting in God by going outside, meeting new people, growing relationships, dealing with the hard things when they arise, laughing together, helping others, working hard at everything to Glorify God.

The only problem is, saying you trust in God and actually trusting God is very different. It’s easy to say it, but it’s much harder to actually do it. To trust in anyone you’ve got to grow to know them more. Think about it, You never fully trust an acquaintance. So, to trust in God you have to know Him more, you have to build a relationship with Him, and that takes making TIME for Him!

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

If you’re wanting to live fully you’ve got to start with Prayer. And once communication is open, to begin to know His thoughts and ways, you’ve got to Go to His Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

Now you’re ready to step into the Dark where only His light shines. Take daily steps of Faith. One step alone into the unknown world will grow your trust in Him by leaps and bounds.

“He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

So what would it be like to never Worry? Living Fully by Trusting God, and Flourishing in the Uncertainties of the World around us.