Unattainable, Insurmountable… Possibilities

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.     Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I woke up this morning with God-sized things on my mind.  My thoughts are filled with dreams that seem unattainable, challenges that seem insurmountable.  Historically, it’s a thought pattern that has led me down the paths of anxiety and faithlessness.  For the moment, though, I’m simply wondering.

I’m wondering how God might come through this time.

I’m wondering what I should do next - today, tomorrow, next week, next month, a minute from now.

I’m wondering if my dreams are realistic or simply pie-in-the-sky.

I’m wondering if my actions are selfish and irresponsible.

I struggle to balance faith and work.  

My heart knows the God who provides - Jehovah Jireh.  He has provided so many times - miraculously, abundantly.  But He has also brought the manna - just enough for the day.  

Even the manna had to be gathered and cooked.  And when the children of Israel eventually arrived in the Promised Land, there was milk and honey, but there was also work to be done.

I’m in layoff season with my job right now.  I love the freedom of the season, and I find myself trying to figure out how I can have this kind of schedule flexibility all the time.  I’ve been able to spend precious time with family and friends, helping, serving, and simply enjoying the company.  I want to do more of that.  But the problem with the flexibility of layoff season is that it doesn’t have paydays, and on planet earth 2024, particularly in these fun days of shrink-flation, the paydays are kind of important.

I find myself pondering situations that could look pretty bleak if God doesn’t come through.  But really, isn’t that the case with everything?  Without the Lord, all of life is pretty bleak!  So why would I expect my circumstances to look any different?

And so for the areas of concern, I’m trusting God with them.  He does come through.  He always has.  It’s not generally in the time and way that I think things ought to happen, but I pray that I’m getting better at dealing with that.

But beyond the concerns, there are the dreams - big dreams.  I want to be like the lady who I just read is on her way to see my loved ones in Brazil.  She’s going for the tenth straight year.  I haven’t been since 2019.  And so I’m praying that the Lord would show me how to build a life that affords both the freedom and the funding to go visit and serve.

And so I opened my morning reading to a verse I had previously highlighted - Proverbs 16:3 - and I was reminded again of the faithfulness of my good God.

I am committing again my energies to Him.  I am asking Him to show me details of the work He wants me to do and the methods for doing the work effectively.  And I’m choosing to look with anticipation to see how He establishes those plans.  

I’m setting today as an “Ebeneezer” moment (see 1 Samuel 7:12).  The Lord has brought me this far.  I may not know exactly how things are going to come together, but am confident that He will not cease to be faithful.

I’ll keep you posted right here.  That’s really the heart of this blog anyway, to chronicle the wonderful ways the Lord works and speaks, and to prayerfully encourage someone else along the way.

I’m praying that whatever you set your heart to do today, God would bless you in it.  Commit your work to the Lord, and together let’s watch Him come through!

…Just a thought…