Giving Thanks Daily: Day 551 of Giving Thanks

‎I once thought that I knew what my life would look like, how things would play out. I was a huge planner. Dreaming and planning was my MO. My husband says, “you can dream up the craziest stuff.” Yet, I kept dreaming, planning, waiting and doing and through the years, I became greatly disappointed so many times when things didn’t come out as I dreamed, as I planned, so much waiting and all that effort. Wow!

And the more I dreamed and planned, the more I waited and did. The longer the time, the more disappointment occurred. Now, I am not saying that there were no successes or victories in my life were not what I have dreamed and planned.

"Life is God's novel. Let him write it." ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

I once thought that God was too big to care about me. That my life was just many in the “flock”; that my cares and concerns were just too insignificant to be in His sites.

“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” ~Luke 12:6-7 and “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” ~Matthew 10:19-20

But in this part of my life’s journey, I hear God. I covet His word; I covet His promises and I believe that every part of me, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually is His. And in being His I am truly cared for. Through His love and tenderness, I have changed. And, most recently, my thoughts are thoughts of God, always, foremost and most importantly. I cannot imagine my life any other way. There is a security in who I am like never before.

I will admit, that when I first became a Christian, I thought “I better do this (accept Jesus), because what if I die, and I haven’t?” And, He still pursued me, loved me, allowed the Holy Spirit to work in me; but I wanted what I am moving toward today – deeply, sincerely and whole heartedly. How about you?

Are you in the waiting arena? Are you waiting for God to do everything? Are you waiting for God to prove that He is there by answering all your requests to get and receive things or to get “your way”?

Or are you sincerely leaning in and moving toward Him?
Do you want to wait until standing before God to realize what it takes to get to heaven? We can do nothing to earn our way - because Jesus did it all. It is what we do with the knowledge of the cross that "gets us in". Reject His gift. Accept His gift. Your choice.

I hear people say every day, “God has never done anything for me”. Oh how my heart breaks, and my prayer is that they can look to the cross and know that that “God” they refer to, did that! Humbled Himself by coming to earth in the flesh; lived a perfect and sinless life; suffered and lived through horrendous torture; He took on every sin ever to be lived out (past, present and future) and carried that weight as He hung on a cross and experienced excruciating and deadly pain; died to rise again. That, my friends is what your God did for you. And, because of “what He did”, you can choose to be with Him in eternity. What a gift. What a choice.

Thank You Lord for doing it all for me, and loving me now and forever, even before I loved and believe in and believed You. Thank You Jesus for doing it all.

“But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name--” ~John 1:12 (Amplified Bible)