Have you ever longed for
something only to find yourself filled with dread as it grew near?
It's been a crazy busy few weeks with the health of my mom, the latest is her battle with pneumonia - which at the age of 83 can be a scary thing for sure - and I have been spread pretty thin with some necessary tasks.
So as it got closer to this weekend, one that I have waited for so anxiously, I realized there was some uneasiness also creeping in - not as much relief as I anticipated there would be.
Beth Moore LIVE in my hometown of Knoxville TN! Since first learning of the possibility this might happen I have been so pumped!
Maybe you know what I mean? You look forward to something you know will be so good and life impacting, but as it draws close you begin to have a sense of almost discomfort that you don't understand.
This is how I have felt as these two days have approached.
Why have I been feeling this dread just under the skin these last two weeks? Why would something that I know will be such a blessing cause me to begin to experience feelings of apprehension?
As I've considered and prayed about this, it came to me. Some of it is that I am tired. Plain and simple. And we all know that when we aren't rested adequately it affects our thoughts, mood, and well everything.
But as a sense of almost foreboding began to materialize, and some conversations took place with some good friends this week, I finally recognized it for what it was. In that state of fatigue I was allowing the enemy to talk to me. I was giving voice to him.
As the day grew ever near to where I would find myself in an arena with thousands upon thousands of other women and girls lifting up the name of Jesus, the enemy has been quietly telling me I would be taking all the unanswered prayers with me. Satan was whispering that as I would sit there with my bible open so Beth Moore could led us through the Word that it would be with the weight of the things that are on my heart and mind of concern. And girls, that's its own big old state of weariness!
He was attacking me.Trying to get me to not be focused, not be ready to receive, and trying to place a wall between me and what my Creator has planned for me the next two days. Plain and simple.
So I opened my bible this morning to find this "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Hebrews 13:15
Can anyone say hit the nail on the head? God set it right between my eyes: if I'm tired, burdened, concerned, distracted, worried, waiting... under attack - its a sacrifice to still go, still do, still praise, to do the hard thing. But its the sweetest praise there is to Him! To bring it all with me, to lay it at His feet - bring it all as a sacrifice to Him and thank Him for using it ALL in my life. THIS is the good - to bring it and praise Him in it all, and through it all, with my sisters this weekend in that arena!
And if I do? If I praise Him, if I sacrifice those things and lift Him up, if I ask Him to use it in these hours many of us will spend together tonight and tomorrow to show me Himself? He also promises me this - "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 Can anyone say GLORY?! A revealing is always on the way Chicks! Don't let the enemy keep you from your divine appointment with HIM - whether its to get to Beth Moore this weekend or just to get quiet with your bible in your home - bring God that sacrificial praise, bring it all with you and lift it up. He wants it, He'll take it, and He will give us the most beautiful things in return - His presence, His joy, and His peace!
Joyful on the Journey,
Marisa
It's been a crazy busy few weeks with the health of my mom, the latest is her battle with pneumonia - which at the age of 83 can be a scary thing for sure - and I have been spread pretty thin with some necessary tasks.
So as it got closer to this weekend, one that I have waited for so anxiously, I realized there was some uneasiness also creeping in - not as much relief as I anticipated there would be.
Beth Moore LIVE in my hometown of Knoxville TN! Since first learning of the possibility this might happen I have been so pumped!
Maybe you know what I mean? You look forward to something you know will be so good and life impacting, but as it draws close you begin to have a sense of almost discomfort that you don't understand.
This is how I have felt as these two days have approached.
Why have I been feeling this dread just under the skin these last two weeks? Why would something that I know will be such a blessing cause me to begin to experience feelings of apprehension?
As I've considered and prayed about this, it came to me. Some of it is that I am tired. Plain and simple. And we all know that when we aren't rested adequately it affects our thoughts, mood, and well everything.
But as a sense of almost foreboding began to materialize, and some conversations took place with some good friends this week, I finally recognized it for what it was. In that state of fatigue I was allowing the enemy to talk to me. I was giving voice to him.
As the day grew ever near to where I would find myself in an arena with thousands upon thousands of other women and girls lifting up the name of Jesus, the enemy has been quietly telling me I would be taking all the unanswered prayers with me. Satan was whispering that as I would sit there with my bible open so Beth Moore could led us through the Word that it would be with the weight of the things that are on my heart and mind of concern. And girls, that's its own big old state of weariness!
He was attacking me.Trying to get me to not be focused, not be ready to receive, and trying to place a wall between me and what my Creator has planned for me the next two days. Plain and simple.
So I opened my bible this morning to find this "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Hebrews 13:15
Can anyone say hit the nail on the head? God set it right between my eyes: if I'm tired, burdened, concerned, distracted, worried, waiting... under attack - its a sacrifice to still go, still do, still praise, to do the hard thing. But its the sweetest praise there is to Him! To bring it all with me, to lay it at His feet - bring it all as a sacrifice to Him and thank Him for using it ALL in my life. THIS is the good - to bring it and praise Him in it all, and through it all, with my sisters this weekend in that arena!
And if I do? If I praise Him, if I sacrifice those things and lift Him up, if I ask Him to use it in these hours many of us will spend together tonight and tomorrow to show me Himself? He also promises me this - "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 Can anyone say GLORY?! A revealing is always on the way Chicks! Don't let the enemy keep you from your divine appointment with HIM - whether its to get to Beth Moore this weekend or just to get quiet with your bible in your home - bring God that sacrificial praise, bring it all with you and lift it up. He wants it, He'll take it, and He will give us the most beautiful things in return - His presence, His joy, and His peace!
Joyful on the Journey,
Marisa
