Reflections from "Experiencing God" Study

Summary Statements from Today's Lesson:
* To know and do the will of God, I must deny self and return to a God-centered life.
* I must reorient my life to God.
* I must focus my life on God's purposes not my own plans.
* I must seek to see from God's perspective rather than from my own distorted human perspective.
* I must wait until God shows me what He is about to do through me.
* I will watch to see what God is doing around me and join Him.

An interesting statement from today's study: "You never find God asking people to dream up what they want to do for Him."

Basically, God doesn't need or is limited to your "Big Dream." So if we are sitting there "brainstorming" what we can do for God to please Him...we are probably on the wrong track.
INSTEAD:
* We should wait until God shows us what He is about to do...and join Him
* We watch to see what God is already doing around us and then decide to join Him.

So the author gave some examples from scripture illustrating this point. God was doing or had planned something...and then Abraham, Paul, Gideon, etc. were invited to join Him.

I wasn't as familiar with the example for Gideon so I read the entire chapter. Then I was blessed by a scripture tucked away in the text, II Chron. 16:9 "...For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him."
AMAZING!! Does that sound like a statement from a demanding god, who punishes anyone who gets in His way? No, it is a picture of a God who desperately wants to be in fellowship with His beloved, and is constantly searching them out to strengthen them and give them hope.

These past few weeks, I have asked God to help me with my "unbelief" and He has been faithful. My circumstances haven't changed, but as I write this I have such a sense of peace about what is going on. I'm not worried, and I feel strengthen, encouraged, hopeful...

Perhaps a change of scenery and a little "reorienting" of my life is just what I needed.