So I thought I'd post my 2nd memory verse for the year; I've joined a bunch of ladies from my church in encouraging each other to memorize 24 verses a year - two @ month. What nourishment it is to visit the FB page and just read verse after verse that people are memorizing - washes my soul with the greatness of God and His promises, directions and truth, feeds my mind, energizes my heart!
My current one is Isaiah 58:11,12 "The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your
soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered
garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those
from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the
foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of
the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In."
I come from a family of amazing people who struggle greatly with how to love themselves and each other . . . the cry of my heart is for each of them to find peace with God . . . my fantasy is that we would one day actually 'be' a family before our time here is gone . . .
But the loudest cry of my heart is for my children and grandchildren to know God, to follow Him, and to find strength, joy and life in each other as family. This verse calls to me HUGELY in the second half - oh to see waste places built, strong foundations laid, breaches repaired and streets restored so people can dwell there!!! Yes God - Yes! Please bring this to pass!
Yet I find myself skipping quickly over the words of the first half - it is hard for me to accept help. I learned early to depend on myself . . . my family was very busy handling all the turmoil we constantly dwelt in . . . no pity sought here, that's simply how it was. The trouble is my continual tendency to depend on myself . . . to have a hard time working with others . . . bristling at accepting help or assistance . . . even with God.
Here He promises to guide me continually, to satisfy my soul, to strengthen my bones - to BE water springing up within me! But I need to LET Him . . . one thing I've always loved about God is that He is a perfect gentleman . . . He NEVER forces Himself on anyone, even when it would be for their own good! He offers Himself and allows us to choose . . . and even when we come to Him He doesn't take over and demand obedience . . . He draws us with His kindness, He woos us with His love . . . He continually speaks of new ways, HIS ways, reminding us that we were NEVER meant to try to live separate of Him. Life separate from God is an illusion - to experience life is to live as a branch connected to the vine, drawing all water and nourishment from Him.
I struggle with this. And this verse couples my desire for the future of my offspring with my need to be vulnerable, dependent and trusting in my involvement with God . . . to open myself up to Him, believing that He not only knows what I need but will indeed provide it; to choose to spend time sitting quietly before Him so that He can indeed pour into me of His being, fill my mind with His thoughts, my heart with His passions and compassions, believing that He simply wants to BE with me, and have me being with Him.
So that's where I start my day today . . . and I welcome your prayers as I seek to open myself more and more to God. Praying that you seek Him in your day today too!
