Beginnings - in the Lord's time
The first week of 2015 seemed like the perfect time to start a blog for the purpose of deepening my relationship with the Lord and encouraging others; a desire the Lord laid on my heart five years ago... You might wonder why so much time passed before I began blogging. My Heavenly Father was preparing and refining me for such an endeavor.
In the past five years, I've endured many trials and life changes which caused a greater dependence on the Lord. It may not always be revealed to us this side of heaven, but the Lord, in His infinite mercy, showed me in a few very difficult circumstances that "what man meant for evil, God meant for good". Through those trials, He sustained me and brought about amazing blessings that were above and beyond what I hoped or imagined. In any trial or affliction, we have opportunity to bless others with the Comfort in which we were comforted. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV I hope to bring those experiences and blessings through my writing as the Lord leads.
The Lord also provided me with ministry opportunities to women. A ladies bible study was beginning at a church I had just started attending when I felt a strong leading by the Lord to participate. The idea of taking part in this Bible study was outside of my comfort zone as I am by nature a shy person and have dealt with anxiety issues, but I obeyed... And just as the Lord ordained, the Bible study dealt with anxiety. My Heavenly Father used the lessons learned in the Bible study to bring about healing of my anxiety. When the fall session of the ladies Bible study ended, I prayed that the Lord would "drop a ministry into my lap" where I could serve women. By Divine appointment, I was approached to be a leader in that same ladies Bible study. By God's strength and by His grace, I served in that ministry position for four years. Through that ministry, I was approached to also serve as mentor for our local Mothers of Preschoolers Group where I served for three years. The Lord "stretched" me once again out of my comfort zone when I was approached to prepare and share a devotional of life lessons learned from God's Word to an audience of 60 moms, something that would have struck fear and apprehension in me not long before. But again, through His strength and by His grace, I actually enjoyed speaking in front of all those women! Both experiences were born out of obedience to the Lord's leading and as you can see, oh what blessings I received!
More life changes happened, and that ministry season of my life ended... To be perfectly transparent, I am recently in one of the driest seasons of my Christian walk. It has been difficult for me to find a balance between my family, working part-time and spending time in the Word and in prayer.
God still speaks to us in those dry times. He uses ALL our times for His Glory and our good. "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand." Psalm 37:23-24 ESV The Lord has used the past five years to prepare me both practically and spiritually to begin writing this blog at this point in time - in the Lord's perfect time... After being parched for this past season, I have a true thirst to drink up the Word of God and to share all that the Lord reveals to me.
Starting a blog is humbling to me. I am not an eloquent writer, but I love to share what God is teaching me through His Word and in my life experiences. This blog is just as much about my growth and accountability to the Word as it is about bringing gracious readers encouragement and hope. My posts will be prayerfully written reflections of how the Lord is blessing my life through His Word. "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:2-3. My hope in writing this blog is for the Word of God to dwell richly within me, that you would be edified, and that God would be glorified.
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Very nicely written!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Susan! Your words of encouragement mean so much!
DeleteHello, I was on google and chanced upon your blog. I just started mine a week ago. I like how you said the blog is as much your accountability to the Word. I reckon not a lot would focus on a sense of responsibility towards Christianity. How the Lord took you out of your comfort zone and lead you to be involved in was just great.
ReplyDeleteHi Evie, Thank you so much for your kind words.
DeleteMay the Lord bless your blog as you seek to honor Him.