God is a God of peace. Disorder, chaos, fear, and anxiety have no place in our Father. Sitting on the beach, a place of peace, I found myself full of anxiety about the upcoming school year. It hasn’t even started yet.
The enemy has been attacking my thoughts, and I have not been too positive about starting school. In June, I said goodbye to the school I have been at my whole life. I have always loved that school and still do. It wasn’t until the last few months of my junior year that God opened my heart to embracing a new season. I knew my brother and sister would be changing schools, and I couldn’t imagine doing my senior year without them. Jesus used the first chapter of Deuteronomy to give me confirmation about leaving Bethel. On the sides of the pages in my Bible, I wrote the things listed below:
-It is time for a change
-Keep stepping
-Walk into and through the doors God has opened for you
-Stop trying to be and do what only God can be and do
-Take possession of what God has given you
-Don’t be afraid or discouraged
-The land God is giving you is good
-Be willing to go where God is leading you
-Don’t give in to the voices of discouragement
-God goes before you and fights for you
-Remember how God has carried you this far
“And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place.” -Deuteronomy 1:31 CSB
-God has been making a way and preparing you and many others for this journey
What new adventure has God set before you? Are you welcoming this new season or are you, like me, struggling to find clarity? Don’t get me wrong. I know God has called me to this new place, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing senior year anywhere else. I am thankful for this new season. It is a stepping stone of transition. God is doing bigger things than I can even imagine. In one of his books, Mark Batterson wrote, “Take a step of faith when God gives you a vision because you trust that the One Who gave you a vision is going to make provision. And for the record, if the vision is from God, it will most definitely be beyond your means.”
Wow. God gives us visions beyond our means so that He can receive the glory from our stories. As most of you know, I desire to attend Liberty University. It is my dream school. On July 18, 2018 I experienced God’s faithfulness like never before. One little navy blue box meant much more to me than the college acceptance letter itself. My acceptance to Liberty had God’s fingerprints stamped all over it. Standing in my bedroom, I was reminded of the journey God has carried me through thus far. He has never left my side. He has always been faithful. I have really been thinking a lot about God’s faithfulness here lately. Our Father never changes. He is absolutely perfect. God doesn’t have to have us, but He chooses to love on us daily. His love is true. It is the only thing that can satisfy my soul.
As I savor the last days of summer, I don’t want to doubt what my God can do for me. His love is so forceful! God’s creation really points back to Him. It is beautiful and full of peace. As God’s creation, we also reflect our Daddy.
I want to be salt and light. In the CSB version of the Bible, Matthew 5:13-16 states, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Our lives are not about us. Like light, I want to let people know someone else has been where they are at. They are not alone. There is always something more with God where you are at. The Light drives out all fear. Like the ocean, I long to leave a residue of Jesus on people. At the touch of salt, wounds may sting, but they will eventually heal. The salt reaches people the ocean will never see. I pray that we, as God’s children, carry God’s Presence with us in such a contagious and real way.
Let’s not worry about our lives. Matthew 6:25-34 states, “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
This message really stood out to me whenever Shiloh Collect sent me a print containing the words “do not worry about your life.” In the midst of applying to scholarships, starting my senior year, and striving to have strong faith, God speaks these words into my sprit. Perhaps you need to be reminded of them too. Your circumstances are not bigger than your God. Our Father controls the waves. He controls everything. We aren’t the ones in control. Only God can make the impossible things possible in our lives. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” -Luke 1:37 CSB
Never stop seeking our Father’s heart, my friend. There is more in store than what we can see. Our Jesus carries us on His shoulders. He holds our burdens, desires, and cares inside of His strong hands. Let’s rest inside of His freedom. We can’t let Satan attack what God is going to use most. We have victory and peace because of Who our Daddy is!
I love you guys and am so grateful for you.
Haley
Undeniably His 