With Jeff seeking what God's new chapter in life and work would be for him, I find myself back to the place where I have to live my life trusting in Him on a daily basis.

Not knowing what the future brings can have quite a spiritual impact on me.  You might say it builds character.  But not just any character.  It's building in me the dependence on my Heavenly Father and building a Christ-like character in me. 

Now that makes me sound saintly, doesn't it?

Oh I'm far from perfect, and I'm far from being the spitting image of my Savior.  I like to plan, I'm a list-maker.  Unfortunately, I entertain the "worst case scenarios" ... I guess I do this in order to prepare myself for what could happen?  And that can lead to worry and that takes me away, takes my trust away from where it is designed to be...in His hands.  And there are many days when I flip flop like a fish out of water. 

"It's going to be okay"
"But what if ..."
"God knows exactly where we are, He's been here, and He's already where we'll be tomorrow"
"What if we have to move?"
"I'd like to move, but what would that mean for family left behind?"

And so in this season of not knowing, God is building my character by demanding my trust, and commanding my ways...and I can't see where the next step is...
like walking blindfold, I have no idea what to expect next- but I know who is leading me, and even if I have to countless times return to the point of trust, I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hands.

I was at Wal-mart today and was chatting with a woman who knew Walter from school.  We talked about the importance of Christian teachers.

We were talking about the faith of a child, and how when we grow up to adults, we often take the Word in an egocentric manner.

We grown ups often read, hear the Word of God and immediately start thinking of ...ourselves.
What does the Gospel say for me?
How do this apply to me, how can I apply this to my life? (which are good questions)
What has God done for me?  What will God do for me?
How can God heal me?  and on and on

I find Walter and Carrie asking different questions.
Who is God? 
Does God still love the devil?  (Oh yes, Walter asked me that when he was five!)
Does God get mad?

They want to know more about who God is.
What does He look like?  What is heaven like? 

I look around at creation and see God - the trees, the sunset, the wings of a butterfly...but I don't always go to the Word to see who He is.
I read the Word and try to learn something, but I don't always go seeking to find out who He is.

One day years ago, I started going through Psalms and I underlined any word that God was.  I may need to go back to that and remind myself of who God is, and in that may I find myself in awe of this amazingly BIG God who is everywhere, everywhere in a spacial sense and everywhere in a time sense.  And may it humble me that this God of wonder and majestic above the wisest and most powerful of kings...chooses to have me as his daughter and heir to the throne.

Thought I'd share my newest work with my blog friends...
the web page for the (rough) recorded version is at the bottom...

Soli Deo Gloria (2x)

In Everything under the sun
Glory to God alone

In Everything in Heaven's Realm
Glory to God alone

Our hands lifted high
our palms open wide

His (Your) anthem that we bring
Only to you our King


http://www.tnjohnsons.com/mod/podcast/file_site.php?file_id=14

God was, God is, and God will always be.

God was.  The God we serve today is the same God who spoke to Moses, the same God who tenderly breathed life into Adam.
But is that what it means when we say "God was?"

I think it means just that...He is the God of Moses and Adam and everything and everyone that has lived in the past.  And we serve that very same God.  But also I think it can mean so much more. 

God's reign spans over yesterday, today and tomorrow.  God reigned, past tense, over yesterday, true.  But He still reigns over yesterday.  Present tense, still reigning over what already happened.  The sins we have committed, have been paid for.  We do not have to pay for them if we believe in His ultimate sacrifice, sending His only son Jesus Christ to pay for them.  And God knows the sins we will commit tomorrow.  And they have already been paid for!  Praise the Lord they have already been paid for!

I think it allows us to view the past and what has happened in a victorious light and to understand that time is not to God what it is to us.  That He can still reign over something that has happened is almost impossible to understand.  And that is the beauty behind the so many mysterious of God.  And helps us understand that He reigns over today because He's already been here.  He's omnipotent in that He's everywhere, but He's also everywhere in the concept of time.  Reigning over the very beginning of "time" and the very end of "time."

And that gives me a sense of peace that cannot be shaken

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11 and 12

Come, let us seek the One who already knows.