When You Think God's Not Listening

     It seems like since this new year has started, my commitment to my relationship with God has been phenomenal.  I am reading my bible daily, studying a devotional book, and laying before him in prayer to seek his face and deepen the intimacy of our relationship.  One of my main prayers is for God's will to be done in my life and for me to be able to hear Him.  Not only hear Him but to be obedient when He speaks to me.  During my prayer and supplication, I also toil with the issue of asking for my own desires such as a new job or even relocation.  I want to be a person whose spirituality can out-weigh the flesh and I would rather ask God for more spiritual gifts than temperal things.  In the midst of my praying, I still sometimes find my self looking for the answers to solve my "problems".
        Recently, I found a job opening that I had been waiting for and immediately I began the application process.  I was applying online and accidentally closed the browser and lost all of my information.  I was devastated due to the fact that I would have to start the application process completely over.  After weeks of putting it off, I went back to fulfill the application, complete it, and submit it to the company.  I just knew that God was going to grant me this wish after the way I'd been praying and then had to struggle to complete the application after losing all of my information.  In the ensuing days, I'd been checking the company's website for recently closed/filled positions.  Then one day, I saw the job I'd applied for had been filled.  You can imagine the hurt I felt because I was thinking that my chance had finally come along.
     Have you ever felt this way?  You know that you've been praying and asking God for something and then you don't receive it.  It's a disappointment, another let down, and you feel as if God is not listening to you! Then you start to question and blame yourself.  What am I doing?  Why can't I get what I want?  Let me share something with you.  God is listening to you and knows more about your wants and desires than you do.  It may not have to do with anything you have done, but have everything to do with God's timing and Him blessing you when He feels ready.  Your own desires are things that God has put in you so that when you receive them, He will get all the glory.  Don't ever get discouraged and depressed when you feel like your prayers aren't being answered.  Sometimes it takes changing our prayers and asking The Lord for His will to be done instead of telling Him what we want.  Stand still and know that He is God.  Sometimes when you think God is not listening to you, make sure that you are listening to Him.

Rising Above to Get a Clearer Picture

     Have you ever been in a sand storm before? If you have, you know that while inside the storm you cannot see anything.  You may even put your hand up right in front of your face and not be able to see it.  It is not until you get above the storm that you can see around you with clarity.  This was the introduction to a lesson on telescopes that I taught to my students during an astronomy unit.  As soon as I read it from the textbook, I immediately felt as though God had chosen that moment to speak to me.
      Whenever we are in a situation that is unpleasant to us, we can never see how it will end or the light at the end of the tunnel.  It is just like the saying "You can't see the forest for the trees".  We are too busy in our mess and looking at our mess that it is impossible to see the solution when so often it is right in front of us.  Similar to the Children of Israel who were so "stiffnecked" and grumbling in the wilderness, taking 40 years to complete a journey that was supposed to take only 40 days.
     Does this sound like you?  Are you currently in a situation that is so dusty and sandy that you can't see clearly in front of you?  Whenever this has happened, do not be consumed by your mess and blinded by the sand that so thickly prohibits your vision.  You must listen to God, for he wants to elevate you above your situation.  Once you look up and rise above your current, temporary position then can you see clearly where God is trying to move you.  So what does this mean?  I want to encourage you to let God elevate you in the midst of your trials.  Just when your thoughts are overcrowded with your current condition and all the hell that's going on around you, rise above it all and look to God.  Then will you be able to see clearly and get to a place of peace and understanding where you can follow God and He will lead you where He wants you to go.


Praying Blessings Upon You All,

Pretty Divine

In Everything Give Thanks!!!

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5: 18)

     Tis the season to be thankful, but do we really need a holiday to tell the Lord thanks and express our sincere gratitude for not only all the wonder things He has done for us but just for the great God He is??!!  Just tonight I was in the vanity across the hallway from my nephew's bedroom. His mom was getting him ready for bed and he was saying his prayers.  As I listened to him pray, I noticed that his prayer was simply giving thanks! My six year old nephew prayed a continuous prayer of thanksgiving!!!  The only thing my nephew asked the Lord for was a good night's rest and protection from hurt, harm, and danger.  And this was at the end of the prayer after he had given God thanks for everything else!  It amazed me how we as adults, myself included, can pray and just ask God for things the entire time, with a lot of what we ask for being temporal things as opposed to things of the spirit.  We ask for jobs, money, a husband, a new car; all things that cannot go with us at the end of this journey called life!  What we should be doing is thinking on the goodness of Jesus and constantly thanking Him for what He has done, is doing, and will continue to do in our lives.  My nephew really embodied the essence of the scripture presented in 1Thessalonians 5:18 by literally giving thanks for everything.  He thanked the Lord for our house, everything in his room, his parents, and their ability to have the money to buy him toys.  I could feel the sincerity of his prayer and thought I should be more like him and take the time to thank God for EVERYTHING!  That is what God wants us to do; give thanks for everything!!!
     So during this season, while you are with friends and family or maybe even alone for the holidays, take the time to do God's will for your life and thank Him for everything.  Nothing is too small for which to be thankful.


Praying Blessings Upon You All,

Pretty Divine

Yes I Will Trust You Lord!!!

     Summer 2008 was the best and worst summer of my life.  I had the best job I'd ever had as a Zoo Camp Counselor and was about to embark upon my senior year in college.  But then, in the very first week of June, God called my step-father home to be with Him and what a shock it was to us all.  Family, church, community; everyone grieved the loss of this great preacher, husband, and father who left behind his wife of almost nine years, my mother.  To say the least, this was a difficult time for my family with the sudden loss of someone so special.  We didn't know where to turn except to each other.  During this time, my role in my family changed from me being the spoiled youngest child, to the nurturer and protector of my mom.  I found strength in God and was able to strengthen and encourage my mom during what was probably the worst season of her life.
     In preparation for the funeral my brother and I decided to do a tribute in the form of a song.  We sang Donnie McClurkin's "I'll Trust You Lord".  To me it was more of a way to minister and comfort my mom when she needed it most.  This song is a series of questions that make you think of how no matter what occurs in your life, one must trust God.  Even though we found ourselves angry and confused, we had to give the situation to God and honor Him with our trust, knowing that God doesn't make any mistakes.
     What does this mean to you?  Are you grieving over the loss of a loved one?  Are you searching for that career to set you up for the future?  Are you coming out of a bad situation and feel like all hope is gone?  Don't worry, don't fret! Your blessing you'll get, if you wait on it! He'll do it, just for you!!!  Just place whatever your current trial or tribulation in God's hands and say "Yes I Will Trust You Lord!"

Praying Blessings Upon You All,

Pretty Divine

It's the God in Me!!!

     I am one who is trying to do better at self evaluating.  I want to be all that God has created me to be, and throughout that process I am striving to evaluate myself daily.  Not only on my job, but at home, with family, and even while spending time with friends.  Not all of my feedback about myself to myself is good and I am always finding things to change and perfect.  Ultimately I want to grow as a person and be a Virtuous Woman who possesses the Fruits of the Spirit, and is endowed with the very Essence of who God and Jesus are!  That being said, I have noticed a change in myself that has really affected most areas in my life.  Being that it is a positive change, I am overjoyed about its presence in the aforementioned aspects of my life!  Upon recently, I have noticed a positive and worry-free attitude about myself (concerning my job and where I am at this point in life) and I can only attribute it to one thing; The God in Me!!! Every morning I wake up thanking God for all that He has done and all that He is and then I ask to Him or actually claim victory over my day.  When people, or even I, ask myself about this change and positivity, I know that it is not me, myself, but the God in me.  It is almost as if it is beyond my control and even when I want to have a negative outlook or think about where I'd rather be and what I'd rather be doing, the God in me steps in and takes over!! And I am thankful for that.
     If you're in a situation that is not typical of how you pictured your life, but as you're in that situation, you and others around you notice that you have a calm; worry-free demeanor; just attribute it to the God in You!!

Praying Blessings Upon You,

Pretty Divine

Hates sin, but Loves the sinner

     I don't know about anyone else but when I try to do good, evil is always present.  And when I succumb to the devices of the enemy I always feel horrible and immediately repent.  I know that no sin is greater than the other but it is hard for me as a human to equalize the wrong I do when I feel that some sins have a greater weight than others.  Not excusing our sin by any means but the Word says in Romans 5:8 " But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

     Now who wouldn't serve a God that loves you so much, that he would lay down his life for a friend!  God hates sin, but loves you and I so much that in the midst of our sin against Him, He still loved us enough to die on the cross for us.  We just have to love him enough to abhor evil sin and flee from it to his arms.  It is not enough to just honor God with lip service although he abides in the praises of His people.  We need to honor Him through outward, observable service in order to reach others to motivate them to do the same.  

     There is nothing more to say but "Go, and sin no more." (John 8:11)  Know that God loves you, walk in authority, and when evil is present step boldly and claim, "I shall not fall for there is One who loves me so much that He died for my sins!"

Praying Blessings Upon You All,

Pretty Divine

Peace

Isaiah 26: 3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

     Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you were just merely existing and not living?  You know the vision you have for your life and are sure that God's purpose for your life is bigger than where you are, but you feel stuck and don't know how to get out of where you are and get to where you want to be.  Well I have definitely been there, and though I am not yet where I want to be, I have learned to focus on the positive instead of the negative.  It was not easy and this peace and understanding came from going on a 30 day fast.
     My present career is okay for now, but it's not in a field in which I wish to continue.  I constantly feel as though I am doing it for other people and getting no satisfaction from it for myself.  During the time I was feeling at my worst, my focus was on the negative aspects of my job and how bad I wanted to be somewhere else.  I was not at peace at work and constantly frustrated at home.  I immediately knew something had to change and decided to go on a fast.  This fast was entitled "Look Not At The Situation But to Him".  During this fast I spent 30 days in constant prayer and communication with God and also refrained from watching YouTube (which was taking attention away from God) and I only drank water. My goal was to focus on Jesus, who could change my situation, instead of looking at the situation itself.  I also kept a sort of journal and wrote "letters to God" nightly.  During this fast, I was also seeking an answer on whether or not to renew my contract at work.  With everyday during my fast, things got better and so did my attitude toward my job.  I am not saying that all was perfect but I just received a peace that allowed me to be able to feel better knowing that this was not my problem to solve but the Lord's.
     The date that my fast ended fell on a date that I would be out of town, but in a place where I always seemed to hear a direct word from the Lord.  I was at church that sunday and the preacher invited people to the alter for prayer.  I stepped to the alter and began to pray to God asking for an answer but also that it be His will and not my own.  The Lord spoke through the preacher of the church and told me that I could not fix the situation but needed to release it to Him and allow him to take care of it.  I was so grateful for that confirmation and immediately knew I had to take a step back and stop trying to fix the situation myself.  Ever since that day at church, God has still been keeping me in perfect peace and I continue to keep my mind focused on him and not the situation of my career.
    Going through this situation, I can tell that it is only the Lord that has been keeping me as peaceful as I am.  In all that I do and all that I go through, I will continue to keep my mind stayed on Him and trust in Him to keep me in perfect peace.  If you are going through a situation where it seems as though there is no peace around,  take a second to reflect on what has your attention.  Give it to God, trust Him, and he will keep you in perfect peace.

Praying Blessings Upon You All,

Pretty Divine