Today when walking home from my psychology class, I got the opportunity to slow down and experience the “silence” of God breathing through nature. Isn’t it phenomenal to watch a bird coasting on the wind? It’s wings outstretched, soaring and plummeting in the wind’s power. It just stole my attention to watch such a simple act of worship. Kelly’s words came to my mind as she shared what the Lord had been teaching her weeks ago, “there’s this spider that I was reading about in a magazine. it lives in a bubble under the water…” she went on to explain so many details about this little spider that I honestly fail to retain, but the end remark is impressed upon my mind for eternity, “that spider is glorifying the Lord in doing exactly what it was created for.” I watched the bird glide on the wind’s strength and a smile came to my face as the phrase came to my mind…

Soli Deo Gloria. [All Glory be to God Alone.]

The trees’ colors. None are the same. Each one’s leaves rustling in the wind. Each one glorifying the Lord. We most certainly couldn’t have created that. They are all proof of our Creator.

Soli Deo Gloria.

That’s my Wonderful God. That’s my God.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Soli Deo Gloria.

So it’s 3am. Why can’t I sleep? Why have I been struggling and tossing and turning since I layed down at 11? What is it that You are wanting to tell me? What is it that You are wanting to say? What should I be listening to? Who do I need to pray for? Who do I need to encourage? What passage do I need to read? Can I have a little direction here? Will You send Your guidance? I need Your thoughts, Lord. I need Your mind. I need Your devotion and Your strength. I need Your patience. I need Your peace.

I need You.

Please come meet with me.

I want You here. Please come.

[Tomorrow’s going to be a struggle. Well, at this point… today is going to be a struggle. Please hold my hand, God. I can’t walk it alone.]

So what do you do when the Lord opens a door that has never been opened before? What if He has always told you to go through a certain door, but now you look down the hallway and realize that another has been opened? Do you continue doing what He has always told you? Or has He opened that door for a reason? If He has, then what reason? Maybe it’s for the purpose of testing your persistence to follow the path He has set before you. Maybe He is guiding you to a new path in your life.

So which is it?

Refer to His Word. Refer to His guidance set out thousands of years before your name touched the minds of your parents. But what if you find conflicting answers. What then? Go back to the last thing He told you and stick with it until He changes your mind. Ok. That I will do.

God, if you are wanting me to switch courses, You are going to have to bluntly tell me. Please keep my mind, ears and eyes alert for Your direction. I will follow Your lead, Lord, to the ends of the earth. You are my First Love. Please, God. Guide me on the path that will most glorify You. I love You. I trust Your lead.

Lord, grant me joy in the midst of scarcity.

You are the one defining ‘need’.
You are the one defining ‘good’.

Mold me to accept your definition.

I love You.

I trust You.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul awaits, and in His word I put my hope.”
-Pslam 130:5

Excerpt from a letter:

“It’s funny how daily we are given the opportunity to surrender our all and choose the abundant Life of Christ. Some things are easily placed on the alter, while others feel like they are nearly torn from our arms. But, alas, our Isaacs must make their way to the alter no matter how much we feel the act defies the Lord’s promise to us. God’s plan is best and even when I feel most tempted to rip my Isaac from the alter; His plan is still best for my life. I speak these words partially for your mind’s ease, but mainly for my own as I find myself in occasional moments of fear and doubt. Living Biblically was a choice that I made at baptism and yet sometimes it still surprises me when self-sacrifice hurts.

My God is good…

My God is bigger than my fear.

My God has already conquered my fear.

I shall try my best to live according to that Truth and trust in Christ to carry me through my lacking.”

I’m nothing without You, Jesus.

make me less,

You More.

“Honor is fidelity to a system of fixed values and relations. Is there anything today, even in the imagination of the Christian, for which we are willing to pay the price of self-sacrifice? Any ideal left, any clear-cut goal, any control of passion? Surely there is somewhere, but it is hard to find… I write in the hope that those who know what honor means will be cheered to see that they are not entirely alone. It may strengthen them to find that, even in recent decades, there are those who recognize something far greater than their own passions, even though for the world at large there seems to be nothing else of any consequence. The majority will sacrifice anything-security, honor, self-respect, the welfare of people they love, obedience to God-to passion. They will even tell themselves that they are obeying God (or at least that He doesn’t mind) and congratulate themselves for being so free, so released, so courageous, so honest, and ‘up front’. The greater the potential for good, the greater the potential for evil… A good and perfect gift, these natural desires. But so much the more necessary that they be restrained, controlled, corrected, even crucified, that they might be reborn in power and purity for God.”

– Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot

God, You speak so boldly and loudly to us.
May I dare to live up to Your standard in my life.
Your standard, Lord, not my own.

I love You, Lord.