When Your Beautiful Day Turns Suddenly Gray!

What a season I’ve had.
It’s been so busy but beautiful!

I launched a discipleship system called Journey to Trust to come
alongside women and guide them into a deeper relationship with
God and it’s going great!

I’ve had lots of speaking engagements and God
gave me inspired messages to share.  I prayed and laughed and
cried with women in cities all over the midwest.

It’s been wonderful.

Have you had a season like that, busy but beautiful?
Maybe God has moved or whispered or have you had a break through.
It makes you think he must love you more than most.  🙂 

Right after Elijah has one of the biggest God-moments in the Bible,
we find him hiding in a cave, fearing for his life (see 1 Kings 19:1-9).

What?

Don’t judge. That happens to me.  A lot.
I have an encounter with God at an event.
I experience God’s presence and pleasure in worship.
I pray with a woman and she is set free!
I have a conversation with an event planner that’s a perfect fit for my talks.
My hair turned out perfectly.  (remember, don’t judge)
Life is so good!

Then I get slammed! 

A misunderstanding with someone I love.
An automobile I need refuses to function.
An unexpected bill arrives

A disappointment, a rejection, a heart wound.

I want to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb.
Like Elijah, I want to run away, hide in a cave and fuss at God.
Does that happen to you, too?

That’s when I find that I need to remember
the God who touched me in worship,
the One who whispered or convicted or healed or moved
is the same God who is with me in my misery.

When I find myself sitting in my proverbial cave,
I practice this simple strategy to get back on track.
I tell myself aloud all the characteristics of God I know to be true.

• He is Awesome (Psalm 47:2)
• He cares about me (1 Peter 5:7)
• He loves me (John 3:16)
• He knows my situation (Psalms 139:1-2)
• He created me (119:73)
• He celebrates me. (Zephaniah 3:17)
• He is all powerful (Jeremiah 32:17)
• He keeps his promises (Deuteronomy 7:9)
• He does not make mistakes (Psalm 18:30)
• He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11)
• He redeemed all my past messes and worked them for good. (Romans 8:28)
• He will never leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8) …

I think about all the times in the past that He has been faithful.
Times He has come through for me.

Just like he did for Elijah whom God gently restored, (1 Kings 19:9-21)
when God repurposed (2 Kings 2:1-25) and
when God renewed (Luke 9:30).

Think of all the times in the past that God has been faithful to you.
Think about Bible accounts:

• When He rescued Daniel, (Daniel 6)
• Restored David, (2 Samuel 12)
• Encouraged Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 32)

Stand firm, girlfriend, in who God is.
If he was faithful then,  He will be faithful now.
Because our God never changes.

Prayer:  God, please be my ever present help in times of trouble. I know that you love me and work all things for my good.  Remind me to be watchful for how you are moving.  Remind me that you have never let me down and I can trust you.  Amen

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV)