Knowing God's Will For My HEART

 

Knowing God's Will For My Heart

I have been praying and praying for a long time now about knowing God's will for my life....for our family.  It gets hard sometimes because you want God to give you an immediate answer, and that is not how our God works.  God does not run on our time.....He runs only on HIS timing.  But prayer is the greatest tool we have to talk to God about the desires of our hearts along with the frustrations of having to wait and wait for that answer.  Make sure your waiting for God's answer....not the answer you asked for.  God always knows best and His answer may not always line up with what we were thinking, but He knows our future and what is best for us. 

But, there is one thing I can do.  I can know God's will for my heart.  When Olivia was a little girl, she was such a happy little one.  Her eyes sparkled every time something new would come along.  With all the wonder of a three year old, she found excitement and wealth in little things.  It really did not take much.....a brand new crayon, a ladybug on the windowsill, a squirrel on the bird feeder, a bracelet made from yarn, funny shapes of pasta and flowers blooming fresh from the ground.  Olivia found them all exciting and was soo very happy and grateful for them.  She would always scream for me to come see her surprising new discovery and I would rush over to see her delight.  One night at meal time, we asked Olivia to say the blessing over the food and she thanked God for all the wonderful new discoveries she had made that day.....forgot about the food.  I loved it, and am pretty sure God knew her heart while she was giving thanks for everything else.  Now that I look back on it, Olivia's life at the time was a reminder of the verse in Bible, " Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done!"  Col. 2:7  There is nothing sweeter than for a child to open your eyes and remind you of all that we have to be grateful for.

I've always been amazed at the children of Israel.  Have you ever seen such an ungrateful lot?  God frees them from their chains, drowns their pursuers, shades them with a cloud by day, provides them with a nightlight at night, brings forth water in the midst of the desert, gives them bread from heaven, talks one on one with their leader and promises them beautiful new homes in a land that will be all theirs.  What slave would have dreamed to have soo much?  But they are not thankful.  Worse....they complain!  I wonder what would have happened to their story if they had not complained.....if they had grateful hearts full of thankfulness.  Falling into the trap of murmuring is easy to do.  God's will for our lives does not include griping and grumbling.  We are called to an attitude of gratitude. 

Its and old saying that every cloud has its silver lining.  Days may seem bleak, and gloominess may settle over our hearts, but there is always something to be thankful for.  No matter what happens in a day, look for that glittering glimpse of heaven around the edges of gray.  May God bring us up short in the middle of a murmur and cause us to remember HIS will for our hearts......which is thankfulness. 

Knowing God's will for our life sometimes causes us to learn many lessons......one of which is patience and waiting upon the Lord.  But knowing God's will for my heart...is easy.  Gratefulness, being thankful and giving thanks even in the mundane.  Thank you Lord for reminding me.